BABY CAN WE BE BOBO CHIC?

Your home is your sanctuary
Damn this chair…

Anyone who knows me knows of my obsession when it comes to interior design. I may not have any outstanding degree on it, but interior design is like porn to me. Anyone who knows me even better knows that I can have quite an acquired and expensive taste with a very French bobo meets minimalism Scandi chic, and a hint of tropical Aztec prints.

If Youporn was purely interior design, I’d be searching tropical and cactus plants meet in terra cotta pots.

Unfortunately, the great challenges of Zurich is its extremely high prices to begin with. Leaving IKEA as your best buy for convenience and price. And nothing worse than your sanctuary looking like an IKEA catalogue.

Bargain like an Asian

I recall when I first moved to Switzerland, I carried with me my essential deco that meant nothing to anyone, but meant everything to me because of the memories it carried. Also, I simply wasn’t earning enough to actually furnish my first WG room of 12 square meters. In these moments, the Asian in me used to bargain buy on Ricardo.ch, pick up stuff on street (cause God knows only the Swiss are wealthy enough to throw out good stuff), and explore all the Brokis around town. The broki in Manesseplatz is by far my favorite because everything literally rounds down to CHF5. If you’re looking for something more upscale, Brokenhaus by HB and Frau Gerolds are pretty good too.

I then moved to a wonderful under-the-roof loft apartment in Enge. The dream. Sadly, this apartment came with an expiration date, thereby allowing me to bring all my collected essentials but leaving me with limitations on what I can do creatively. As you should know, the Swiss are extremely strict when it comes to apartment alterations. Albeit everything else really. It’s exaggerated and over the top sometimes, but guess what, that’s exactly why they thrive as a society.

First real home

Now having found myself a perfect sanctuary amongst the Jewish community, who by far have been the most sympathetic and welcoming community I’ve come across since moving to Switzerland, I’ve allowed my creativity to flow and have taken a decent amount of time and effort to build something and turn it into a real home. && although I seem to constantly remain cash poor, I’ve been decluttering and started upgrading to a style that reflects a classier, adultier, and more tasteful selection by investing in quality.

Can anyone redirect a girl & take all her money?!

Discovering unique, small and/or local interior brands via Instagram (next to Pinterest) has been by far a very good source of inspiration and one I am more than happy to support, like Berlin-based Muju maps who make beautiful city prints (now awaiting delivery). But as a fan of local, offline is my struggle. As much as I remain cheap and loyal to the Brokis in town, I believe Zurich has many more beautiful undiscovered shops, like Da Draussen space shop. (It’s not what you think. It’s amazing.)

It does take time, patience, a bit of DIY and a willingness to dig, but essentially, overtime, anyone can build their home into something magical and turn it into a storyline of their life. Every piece in my home tells a story.

Because remember that your home is a sanctuary. It is a place of creativity, a place of escape, a place to share moments and a place you are happy to come home to every single day because you are in your element. Ït is a reflection of the person you are and should always be respected by you and those around you.

Start collecting beautiful things on Instagram
@msgoodlife.ch