- Start
- World of Byon
- Bubbles with Fanny Castro
- Start
- World of Byon
- Bubbles with Fanny Castro
Bubbles with Fanny Castro
Dare to mix colours, patterns and eras. I do it every day by using colours and different shapes, soft tones and lots of textiles.
Who lives here? Our whole family
Instagram? @atelierfannycastro
Works with? Designer and self-employed
Ciao Italy! More particularly Moneglia. Fanny Castro and her family lives here part of the year and we have visited her to get inspired. The stone floors stand out in her apartment. Blue details are matched with azure tones of the Mediterranean and fruit forms are crowded on the table. The interior decorating feeling is “mix and match” and the experience of summer and the Mediterranean has been maximized.
Fanny works as a designer and she loves the Italians’ life philosophy. Their relaxed feeling about their homes, which at the same time are decorated in a playful but simple way.
– In Italy you socialize in a totally different way than we do in Sweden. Here you meet outside or at restaurants and bars instead of at home. In Sweden the home has become a status symbol to show off. Here you’re not as obsessed by having the perfect home. I prefer a balance for sure, says Fanny.
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Tell us about your apartment in Italy. Where is it, how long have you had it for and why Italy?
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The apartment is in Moneglia, Liguria, and our family have had it since 2011. After visiting Moneglia every summer since 1997, mum and her partner decided to get a place of their own for our family to use. One of their best decisions ever.
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What’s your morning routine when you’re in Italy?
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If I wake up early my partner and I usually take a morning hike to the neighbouring village Lemeglio. There you have the best view over the Mediterranean and you can see the village Moneglia from above. An absolutely stunning walk! After that we walk back to the village and order a morning cappuccino. You know that you’re not drinking a cappu after breakfast in Italy, right?
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Tell us how you choose to decorate with Byon’s products.
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I want to create summer when I’m decorating with Byon’s products here in Italy. I want you to feel that it’s summer by the Mediterranean when drinking your morning coffee in the lemon cups on the balcony. Or when you see the reflections of the sun in the lamp Oceana. I have also chosen to add green nuances with the help of the Pathi pillows and the blanket Edien.
Summer by the Mediterranean
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Which room do you think is the most difficult to decorate? And why?
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Here in Italy it’s the living room, because it must fit a dining table, a couch and bookshelves. I think we have managed pretty well though. I also have to remind myself that everything doesn’t have to be perfect all the time, and that it’s part of the interior decorating process.
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What does playfulness mean to you and how do you include it in your everyday?
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Playfulness means to me that you dare to look inside yourself and listen to what you like and not to what other people would like to see in your home. Dare to mix colours, patterns and eras. I do it every day by using colours and different shapes, soft tones and lots of textiles.
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Who is the most playful person you know and why?
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The most playful person I know is my best friend Sofia. She’s an illustrator @sofiawall illustration and she makes the nicest illustrations I know. Her home mirrors her playfulness and there is no other person who can make me laugh as much as she does.
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If you could choose an interior decorating style that describes your personality, which would it be and why?
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Italian 60/70s. I love dark or red marble and showy lamps which find their place in an otherwise fairly clean home. Love to have a few carefully selected statement pieces.
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What do think is the most underestimated material in interior decorating and why?
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A lovely stone floor, as we have everywhere in the apartment. It does so much for a room. I love to see the sun shine through the balcony and light up the fine pattern on the floors.
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Which is the biggest interior decorating trend right now you cannot really understand?
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I really don’t understand people’s obsession about applying stuccos in their apartments that shouldn’t have any. I have seen it in so many places that people renovate a 50s apartment and put up stuccos. Sorry, but why?
Sweet dreams
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Which is your favourite room and why?
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The living room. Because it’s here you can gather the whole family and spend time together. Especially down in Italy. Someone sits on the balcony reading, another one works by the dining table and mum definitely sits on the couch and checks out one of her thousands of series.
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Which is the most momentous tangible you own? Tell us why and its story.
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I am not that attached to things for too long as I like to exchange or sell stuff I’m tired of. But all my hundreds of shoes I refuse to get rid of are special in various ways. For example, a pair of Gucci shoes I got when I turned 30 and celebrated in Paris. It was really great to pick out a pair together with my sister and best friends. The most important gift I have received is my Gubi lamp 9602, I got it from my partner when I turned 35. I had wanted it for so long and was extremely surprised when I got it. I will always have it in every home we live in.
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Which is the latest place you visited that gave you interior decorating inspiration?
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I think Riccardo Barsottelli, who owns the hotel Locanda all Colle in Toscana, has a magical decorating style. We were there for the second time last Easter and I get inspired every time I’m there. It’s a mix of the 50s to the 70s blended with modern elements. One thing I love is that he uses red marble in the kitchen, which is really magical. So, I’m obsessed now by the thought of having red marble in my kitchen.
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What is your best interior decorating tip to someone who has just moved into a new apartment/house?
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Take it easy, let it take time to decorate. Get to know your new place and don’t be afraid to change things you thought would be perfect but actually don’t fit in. And clear out things before you move in, get rid of everything you don’t use. That’s something I regret we didn’t do before moving into our current home.
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Three favourite products from Byon.
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I love the Opacity drinking glasses, plate Grape which is magical and beautiful to use for aperitivos. And last but not least the Oceana lamp which fits in extremely well with the Mediterranean.
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Can you give us any Italy tips?
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Gosh, I have lots of tips! But three places you cannot miss are Moneglia, Ciampini in Rome and to take the boat to San Fruttuoso in Liguria