This Hat Designer’s Barcelona Apartment Is Full of Eclectic, Quirky Items
Adrienne Breaux
·4 min read
Sol Pardo is the founder of PARDOHats and rents this apartment in Barcelona. She's inspired by "travels, colors, textures, culture, fun" as well as "bohemian and modernist [style]." Credit: Lula PoggiCredit: Lula Poggi
"Many objects are designed by me and/or together with other artists," Sol describes of her proudest DIY. Credit: Lula PoggiCredit: Lula Poggi
"As a creative director, I like to have art objects made by people and friends that I admire," she writes. Credit: Lula PoggiCredit: Lula Poggi
What’s the oldest thing in your home?"A plate that my artist grandfather painted in 1945." Credit: Lula PoggiCredit: Lula Poggi
What’s the one thing in your home that people always ask about? "Some statues of a couple made with clay from Lanzarote: 'Los Novios del Mojón' represents a man and a woman who form part of a marriage commitment and is a symbol of fertility. I collect these dolls." Credit: Lula PoggiCredit: Lula Poggi
What’s the BEST purchase you’ve made? "A painting by Pepo Moreno that I bought many years ago and now he is a much more recognized artist than when I bought it." Credit: Lula PoggiCredit: Lula Poggi
If your home had a zodiac sign, what would it be and why? "Virgo, the same as mine, but with Aquarius ascendant." Credit: Lula PoggiCredit: Lula Poggi
"It's visual chaos, but organized and balanced, with constant movement," she writes. Credit: Lula PoggiCredit: Lula Poggi
When asked if Sol has any house rules for her home, she says the first one is not to wear her clothes. Credit: Lula PoggiCredit: Lula Poggi
But then she also says that folks should: "Leave everything exactly where it is, no matter how much it seems like it was accidentally left in that space." Credit: Lula PoggiCredit: Lula Poggi
Her last rule: "Don't break anything because everything is a treasure brought from somewhere different, which I can no longer recover. They are unique objects." Credit: Lula PoggiCredit: Lula Poggi
Is your home a shoes-on or shoes-off home?"Shoes-on, but I would love to implement this idea. As my apartment is modernist and the floors are cold, I don't want to subject my guests to another temperature." Credit: Lula PoggiCredit: Lula Poggi
Some of the ceramics in the dining room are from Maison Paradis. Credit: Lula PoggiCredit: Lula Poggi
How do you spend time in your home? "My favorite place is my room, more precisely my bed." Credit: Lula PoggiCredit: Lula Poggi
"I love reading, working or watching movies in the comfort of my bed. I do it everyday. It’s a way to spend time with myself," Sol writes. Credit: Lula PoggiCredit: Lula Poggi
Usually great decor starts with one piece that inspired it all; what’s that in your home?"The colors of the floor in the house and that each room has a different modernist design and color." Credit: Lula PoggiCredit: Lula Poggi
What was the thing that was the final piece of the puzzle? "A mural by Ignacio Carmona, a friend of mine, who drew me so I can sleep peacefully. Every element of his design was thought of to generate a good night's sleep." Credit: Lula PoggiCredit: Lula Poggi
What’s your home’s dirty secret? "My closet wardrobe is absolute chaos." Credit: Lula PoggiCredit: Lula Poggi
Sol Pardo has rented this 840-square-foot Barcelona apartment for three years, and in that time she’s filled it with quite the array of quirky furniture and objects. The robust and varied collection perhaps reflects the interesting life — and careers — she’s had.
“I was born in Buenos Aires in 1989,” she begins. “My artistic career is marked by three main pillars: art, design, and crafts. Hence my peculiar development in the world of sombrerería, creating ‘portable objects on the head.'”
Sol is currently the founder of the brand PARDOHats, “which was born as an experimental project that later reached the business world, anchored in the value of the rebirth of sombrerería that builds concept, generates identity, and marks distance.”
And when it came to decorating this space, Sol says the biggest challenge was “being able to compensate for the low light input with decorative environments in the house.”
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