Houses from Within, Tel Aviv 2010 was a month ago. I was fortunate enough to get a press pass (thank you Aviva!) so I drove around Tel Aviv like a mad woman dashing from apartment to apartment. I saw 19 places in all and I’ve decided to start off the reviews with my favorite apartment from the whole weekend – Hila Caspi’s home. It’s a small flat in north Tel Aviv but I adore how she maximized the space, light and interest in the apartment.
The whole flat is around 70 square meters. The floor is cement (which was a major trend this time around – so much so that by the end of the weekend I was bored of it), the kitchen is shiny white (another trend which had me yawning by the end of the weekend). However, this was the first place I saw both in, so I was still excited while photographing the place. So why do I love it so much when it holds two pieces that I find rather tired and unoriginal? She has the most brilliant use of space for her tiny flat, some totally unexpected design elements that really got me and she has possibly the best made bed in Israel.
I’m so not kidding there.
And even though she had no color on the walls and basically the place was a bit of a blank canvas – it wasn’t dull. There was artwork, for one, and loads of really lovely homey old furniture artfully mixed with the new modern pieces. Slivers of color were everywhere and she also had actual foliage in the flat (ok, on the windowsill, but close enough).
I know the picture is a bit dark – but can you see the bed? It’s made. With real European size pillows and bolsters! There’s a lovely coverlet on the bed and even a luxurious throw blanket. That alone made my day. But the on-suite bathroom also really did it for me.
See – better photo of the best made bed in Israel. Oh – and if you want to understand what I mean – check out some of the other home tours on Tchochkes. People here will sleep on anything with almost nothing. It’s kind of sad really. But this bed gives me hope.
In case you haven’t been reading Tchochkes for long (or ever before) I live in a house the size of a postage stamp. 100 sq meters of small. And there’s only one bathroom. Which I share with 2 small boys. 2 small gorgeous boys who have horrible aim. And 1 who has a thing about peeing in the tub (he’s 4, we’re praying he’ll grow out of it).
I can’t even tell you how much I would love this bathroom in my bedroom (but we’d have to find a place to put a toilet to make it truly wonderful). That would be even better than a walk in closet (but to have all – well, that’s just a dream.) And the fact that she’s found a way to make this tiny flat so warm and inviting and cozy with TWO bathrooms is just amazing. I love the antique style cabinets, the wall tap sink and the all glass shower keeping the space open. The bathroom here is up on a step from the bedroom. I’m not sure how that works for cleaning, but the bathroom floor is tile and the main floor is cement – so my guess is that it cleans well.
Another bit of the apartment that I loved was the tiny small balcony with wood floor. The balcony is separated from the house by floor to ceiling glass walls and doors.
As you can see from the picture above, privacy can be had by closing the white sheers. The glass walls keep the airiness and light of the flat. You don’t feel the size of this place at all.
Looking in from the balcony.
From here the main bathroom looks somewhat staid. But look in that mirror…
Love the old school pictures – but there’s even more that I loved in this bathroom…
Why is the angle so weird for the picture above? Because I was standing below it. This piece of artwork is on the bathroom ceiling. The tub is beneath this artwork. I’m assuming that it doesn’t get ruined by the humidity of the bathroom due to the high gloss laminate and window right above the tub. I loved this, so whimsical and totally unexpected. I just love it when I find design elements that shock me. It doesn’t happen all that often anymore. Bravo Hila Caspi for this alone.
In short (short?) I loved her flat. The mixture of modern with old furniture, the unexpected elements, the warmth, light and airiness of it all. The amazing use of space without feeling cramped. I left there dreaming of hiring her to fix up this minuscule dwelling of mine.
Shira Abel is the CEO and founder of Hunter & Bard, an award-winning public relations and design agency that works with scale-ups and enterprises on building their brand, awareness and thought leadership.
As CEO of Hunter & Bard, Shira oversees a team that manages public relations, marketing, design, and brand development for clients across multiple industries. She develops strategies for organically growing companies through sincere digital engagement and the application of behavioral marketing.
Clients include JELD-WEN, Benchling, Sixth Continent, Totango, Folloze, Radix DLT, Axa Tech, Allianz, and many more. Shira is also a sought after corporate speaker and marketing mentor, and has spoken at events such as Confluence and Content Marketing World, and taught at institutions such as Kellogg School of Management and S. P. Jain Institute of Management and Research in Mumbai.
Read more about Shira’s company Hunter & Bard at https://www.hunterandbard.com
Lovely lovely lovely.
Although I have to say something about the bed – it looks beautiful I know. But just looking at it makes me uncomfortable. My husband and I can only sleep on a bare bed, low non-fluffly pillows and thin covers. That would mean throwing all that STUFF off the bed and putting it back again. Would drive me mental 🙂
Lisa – you’ve been in Israel for too long 😉
-s
Shira,
I completely agree with you about the beds! I recently moved from NY to TA and am constantly amazed by the consistent lack of bedroom aesthetics here. I have yet to find what I consider a normal bed, above 30cm from the floor, with pillows or a headboard. Has the bed situation on Israel always been this way and why, I wonder, is everyone sleeping so low to the ground???
I enjoy reading your site. I am an avid design blog reader and it is great to read about design in Tel Aviv. Thanks!
I think of all the rooms we’ve done, this is my favorite.