who will: ALe Barchana-Laurand (26), cin the real world (29)
where: Maccabi Street
seniority: One year and three months
Meterage: 60 square meters
Ella and Gabriel make a living in anything that isn’t design, but they are completely artists at heart. Artists of the rare type who do not perceive themselves as such, but simply create out of the need to give. Ella is a student of psychology and linguistics, volunteers at a kindergarten for special education, gives private lessons and sometimes embroiders. Gabriel works as a cyber researcher in high-tech, volunteers at a center for victims of sexual assault, sometimes works at the clothing store “Shetim” that he likes, occasionally babysits and sometimes also takes pictures.
Artists at heart. Ella and Gabriel. Photography: Noam Ron
Both are primarily people’s people, so their apartment is a collection of gifts, connections and stories that have formed along the way. At first it was the independent path of each of them separately, and slowly it became a joint path. “It’s an apartment with a grandmotherly atmosphere. It’s very, very old,” says Ella. “We received it in a difficult condition and invested a lot in it to make it what it is today. We arrived with a lot of equipment, so within two weeks we turned it into a home. We connected with the business owners in the building that is run like a small community, as well as with the older business owners in the neighborhood. We do all our shopping We do it with them. It just feels more right, more belonging.”
Grandma’s atmosphere. Ella and Gabriel. Photography: Noam Ron
“Most of the apartment is made up of second-hand items. Either ones that were handed down to us, or ones that we bought in different markets in Israel and abroad, or ones that we got from our grandmothers (grandmotherly atmosphere, yes). Here and there he hides a piece of furniture or an accessory from a super designer that Gabriel buys for huge sums. But since we moved in together, it happens less, I balance it out.” “The house is as colorful and complex as we are, and we feel a great identification with it,” adds Gabriel. “I even suggested Ella dress up as it on Purim, but she was less forthcoming.”
the living room
“This is our favorite space in the house and also the busiest” explains Gabriel. “We bought the green sofas from a 2nd hand site which is already vintage in itself, but we really wanted green sofas and they were at a great price. Next to them is one of my favorite purchases, the turquoise dresser from the Bitat that we announced as the flower corner.” “Every Friday, Gabriel buys me flowers for my home, which we put here in a vase, above which hangs a floral embroidery that I made myself to celebrate the place,” adds Ella.
A dresser built by Ella with the menorah of the neighbor Yigal on it. Photography: Noam Ron
The flower corner and Ella’s embroidery above it. Photography: Noam Ron
“On the other side is a dresser that I built sometime as a child, above it is a Moreno lamp from our downstairs neighbor Migal. The TV dresser was left to us by the previous tenant. We turned it into a small, symmetrical shrine with magazines from the stand in the center. Underneath it is an antique suitcase that Gabriel fell in love with, which came from somewhere in post-war Poland The second world, where he stores all his photographs.”
The temple of the TV stand and Gabriel’s suitcase below it. Photography: Noam Ron
The rainbow dresser
“The dresser was arranged by Ella in a wonderful composition according to the colors of the rainbow, and it has endless sentimental details,” says Gabriel. “Scattered in it are African dolls that my grandmother brings us from South Africa, and on it is also placed the yellow Nokia phone that I had when we met – an iconic item for us. We met OK Cupid, and it was a funny time because you couldn’t send pictures or emojis with him. It was really hard for Ella To understand me then. It’s still hard for her sometimes.”
The rainbow dresser. Photography: Noam Ron
The yellow Nokia phone – an iconic item with a historical story. Photography: Noam Ron
“I used to study photography, so we have a lot of books from the genre. But the one dearest to my heart is that of David Goldblatt, also because it comes with an extraordinary story. He is my favorite photographer, and when we went to my grandfather’s grave in South Africa I discovered that they are buried side by side This, really neighbors. It moved me very much.”
A book by Gabriel’s favorite photographer David Goldblatt. Photography: Noam Ron
the work corners
“Our two work corners are in the living room, in opposite corners of the space. They also represent the contrasts between us,” Ella laughs. “My corner is aesthetic and efficient, and Gabriel’s is only aesthetic. I have a comfortable and spacious vintage desk, a supportive computer chair, and even a sign that tells Gabriel when he can bully me and when he can’t. Gabriel has a small, narrow glass table with a lot of accessories on it, leaving him no space to work ; an embroidered chair by Gaga Design and the expensive and impractical dresser from Anthropologie, or as she calls it – the salt shaker. Oh, and he also has a sign, which says that he can be bullied all the time.”
Ella’s work corner: aesthetic and practical. Photography: Noam Ron
Gabriel’s work area: only aesthetic. Photography: Noam Ron
the exhibition
“We call the corridor in the house the exhibition. It is covered in dark wood, which directly separates it from the rest of the house. We went for the dramatic look and chose to hang all kinds of works along it. There is a print here that I brought to Gabriel when he was discouraged from looking for an apartment in the city, a ceramic tile from Portugal, a print by Noa Gofer that we are very fond of. Lovers, oil paintings of my grandmother who was an architect, and a painting that Gabriel made for me.”
The exhibition in the corridor. Photography: Noam Ron
A print that Ella brought to Gabriel when he was discouraged from looking for an apartment in the city. Photography: Noam Ron
the kitchen
“The kitchen is the second center of the house. We like to cook, bake and host, so it’s nice that we have a large and spacious space here for that. The dining area consists of a stainless steel table by a designer that we bought second hand at a great price, and a chair from Bitat that Gabriel somehow managed to buy for 800 NIS instead of 7,000. All the sellers fall in love with him and he gets crazy discounts. On the table he collects Gabriel’s whiskey bottles. Every evening he finishes with a different glass with ice, and he chooses between them according to his mood. We both love coffee so when we saw the vintage coffee machine This one in the marketplace, we left everything and went to get it. We buy the beans at the market and grind them every morning. We are addicted to the smell.”
Vintage, whiskey and top designers. The dining area. Photography: Noam Ron
The coffee machine purchased in the marketplace. Photography: Noam Ron
bedroom
“The bed is extremely symmetrical. Everyone has their childhood doll from home on their side, and of course we have separate blankets, it saves fights. The side chests were purchased from a design store, on which are lamps made from antique dowry wheels from Primitive Design. The most important piece of furniture in the room is the orange leather sofa. Someone Abnormal advertised her for delivery on the Marketplace and within an hour I was at his place. She captured our hearts at first sight.”
Everyone’s childhood doll. the bedroom Photo: Noam Ron
The orange leather sofa. Photography: Noam Ron