“What always surprises me about living in Paris is how free I feel,” says opera singer Sophie Arama, who lives with her husband, Felix, and their two daughters, Zoé and Pia. “It feels like my place — like I can dance or sing anywhere in the city. I can’t imagine living anywhere else.” Here, Sophie gives us a tour of her family apartment…
LIVING ROOM
Sofa: Blou. Coffee table: similar. Rug: Color Therapis.
On creating an exhibition-like environment: I like to leave magazines open, as well as meaningful books lying around on tables. When people walk into our home, I want them to feel comfortable picking things up or sprawling on the rug or wandering around. I never want people to feel confined to the sofa, trapped in the formality of being a guest.
Sofa: “old Ikea sofa reupholstered by Color Therapis.”
On apartment hunting: On the day we first saw this apartment, there was a major public transport strike across the city. At the time, our two daughters were still very young, but we decided to brave the chaos and make the journey. In the end, we were the only people who showed up to the open house! The agent said it was meant to be.
Chairs: Baumann, similar.
On hosting friends: When guests come over, I like to prepare a buffet spread on the table. I make a variety of salads and sweet potato crisps. I usually serve a cheese board with smoked salmon, breads, focaccia, roast vegetables, and crudités. To drink, we offer whatever wine we have on hand, plus gin and tonics. For my friends who don’t drink alcohol, I like to serve sparkling water or lemonade in cocktail glasses, with a lemon slice or raspberry.
DINING ROOM
Dining table: “from Portobello Décoration, a furniture shop in Le Marais.” Dining chairs: thrifted on leboncoin.
On birthday celebrations: For my children’s birthdays, I like hanging homemade garlands and setting out large coloring papers and felt pens on the floor. For my daughter’s second birthday, I got a little carried away and organized a bingo game for the kids. It was a little crazy considering the babies couldn’t read.
Egg candle: Merci.
On family hangs: We tend to spend most of our family time at this table. One of our favorite things is having long breakfasts together. We can spend an hour here, even on school days. We eat simple breakfasts, like cereal, or baguette and butter, along with fruit. On the weekends, we’ll walk to our neighborhood bakery for croissants and pains au chocolate.
On a family heirloom: I started piano lessons when I was 15. This piano originally belonged to my brother, who took piano lessons before I did. These days, I mostly use it to play scales and warm up my voice.
On finding a passion: When we were growing up, our neighbor taught classical singing. My brother and I would overhear singing coming from his apartment. When I was a teenager, my parents signed me up for a lesson, and my teacher introduced me to another student, a dramatic soprano called Marjorie Muray. She had a big, wonderful voice, and hearing her sing opened up a whole world to me. At that exact moment, I knew that singing was what I wanted to do with my life.
KITCHEN
On an unknown part of the job: Opera singing is an intensely physical profession. We need to be disciplined and in shape like athletes. We are also constantly anxious about how we are treating our voices — and being considerate of our neighbors when practicing!
On party playlists: When hosting dinner parties, I’ll usually just turn on the playlists I made for running. The song types vary dramatically — one track will be an opera aria, then it’ll turn to rap — which sometimes creates slightly awkward transitions. But I like how the mix brings an unexpected, slightly surreal feeling into the room.
GIRLS’ BEDROOM
Bunkbed: La Redoute. Rug: Color Therapis.
On children’s shops: The girls’ bedroom is my favorite room in our apartment. For decor and clothing, the children’s shops in Paris I adore are Bonton, Le Petite Souk, and Merci.
On sisters’ personalities: My older daughter is reflective, sensitive, and observant. One day, when I was framing a poster, I crumpled the poster because I wanted to give it a bit of texture. A couple of days later, my daughter came to me with a drawing she had deliberately crumpled and said, ‘Here, Mom, I crumpled it for you because I know you like crumpled things.’ My younger daughter also has an expressive, artistic personality, but is more extroverted — it feels like she’s always dancing!
On a party decoration worth every penny: I don’t remember where I found this swan piñata, but I do remember it was expensive. Still, I loved it and ended up getting it for a birthday party. We placed it on the floor in the middle of the party, so the children could eat the sweets inside. Since then, we’ve used it as a decoration all over the apartment. It turned out to be a good investment.
Desk: vintage. Mirror: thrifted.
On a Paris activity with kids: I started taking my girls to museums when they were babies. Museums are perfect for children because they are so calm and quiet, and kids have space to walk around. Some people worry kids are too loud to go to museums, but I think museums need life. I like to take my girls to contemporary ones, like Lafayette Anticipations and the Bourse de Commerce Pinault Collection.
PRIMARY BEDROOM
On real-life bedtime routines: After the girls go to sleep, I often spend the evening working in bed. I know it’s not cool, but at this stage of life, I don’t have much time for hobbies. But when I don’t need to catch up on work, Felix and I will hang out in the living room and watch a film on the projector.
On finding beauty in the ordinary: One day, my daughter made me a drawing, saying she drew it ugly in ‘an artistic way,’ and that’s why I would love it. And she was right! When my daughters move out to build their own homes, I hope they will always look for beauty in ordinary things, even something as simple as a fork. Life brings many challenges, but it is also beautiful. We just have to look for those beautiful moments.
Thank you so much, Sophie!
P.S. More beautiful house tours, including an empty-nester’s serene oasis, and a 430-square-foot Stockholm apartment that bursts with color.
(Photos by Leela Cyd.)
