Alavida Barcelona, a project where beauty and order reign in the home
Transforming spaces, transforming lives: the art of Joana Vidal in Home Staging.
Joana Vidal needed a change of life, a purpose. And it all started by changing her house... She put it up for sale without much success, until, without knowing it, she did a home staging and sold it in a jiffy. There she also discovered her life purpose, to help other people to find their whys, to help them to change through their home. Nice, isn't it?
Tell us about yourself and your work. Where did your vocation start? Any first memories?
I firmly believe that beauty and order have a direct impact on how we feel. After a long time of tidying, organising and adapting to each space I lived in, I realised that I was continually looking for changes in my home and I was doing it because I was the one who really needed a change.
I started by writing down in a notebook all the feelings I had and ended up describing the life I really wanted. It all started with taking care of myself and selling my flat to move somewhere else. I already had a purpose.
The flat had been on sale for a long time without a single visit and I decided to change its image. Without knowing it, I did a home staging and transformed it into a serene space with neutral tones, which hastened the sale!
Finally, my dog and I moved to an amazing place with exceptional sea views and access to a half-private cove where we spent many, many moments.
The process of change was already underway. It started with my own home and became a way of life. Now I love change and I help other people to achieve theirs through their home. I create spaces with purpose, to live in them with a different vision and emotion, to sell them or to turn them into a business, always starting from the person's vital moment, from their why and what for.
Sometimes, we need a change in our lives to gain strength and start again. The same thing happens to housing, they need a change to go to the market from a different place.
Beauty and order have a direct impact on how we feel.
What do you find most satisfying about your work, and is there anything you are particularly proud of?
I love the moment when I start to think about changing a space, when even on the street I connect with the inspiration I need and everything is related to the house. I love the moment of inspiration!
But in the end what really fulfils me and is why I do my job, is the person or family behind each home. My vision of home staging is divided in two, the purpose of the person selling and the aspirations of the person buying.
Last summer I did a home staging in Barcelona for a family that was moving to Madrid and wanted to rent their house. It was a real challenge in which they emptied, depersonalised and decorated a three-storey house, garden and swimming pool in just one day. We did a two in one, practically leaving everything ready for the move and the house ready for the photos.
The family got really involved, we even ate pizza sitting on the sofa watching TV! They were with me talking and laughing all the time... It was exhausting but great at the same time, the truth is that I remember it with great affection.
What is your creative process like, what are your sources of inspiration, any particular music while working?
I love silence... I get distracted easily and the truth is that I can't be with two things at the same time, because I don't concentrate on any of them. When I'm driving, I play loud music, sing and dance, but when I park, I take it off completely and concentrate.
Inspiration... I love this word. I can spend hours looking at a space; I look at a wall and think/feel its change, I make a mental render, this is my basis for the whole process. I also have hundreds of images saved and classified for inspiration that I then choose and transfer to a moodboard to start with the selection.
Favourite colour, book, film and record - in that order! ;D
I don't have a favourite, I always have two favourites for everything... two colours, two books... Don't ask!
I am attracted to the colour red, but the colour I always choose and which is present in my life is green in a soft English tone.
When it comes to books, it gets complicated. I like two styles so I have two of each... Rescue in Time and The Pillars of the Earth (novel); Believe in You and Be E.P.I.C.A. (personal growth and branding).
Twister and Flashdance are two of my favourite films, without a doubt.
"Escapology" by Robbie Williams is my classic and lately I listen to Melanie Wehbe's album "Bloom" on repeat.
Is your home a reflection of who you are? Tell us what it smells like, your favourite corner, your favourite decorative object or piece of furniture, if you treasure a collection...
Definitely yes, my house is my reflection, at home there are two of us and it is a fusion of our reflections.
There is almost always music, we laugh a lot and talk at length. There are never any awkward silences.
We live in a flat in the centre of Barcelona with high beamed ceilings and large windows. We have a corner with plants of different sizes and a large handmade wooden table with iron legs, with only two wide and comfortable armchairs as chairs. There is a sofa in the centre of the dining room that we unfold every night and it becomes a great place to dine and watch movies.
In order to maintain order and cleanliness, once a week we do a thorough job and one thing we always do when we are finished is to go through all the rooms ringing our precious Tibetan singing bowl.
My favourite corner is a small space where what is there is not from big designers or well-known brands, but two restored pieces of furniture and a recovered lamp next to a small precious painting full of meaning.
If you could buy anything right now and take it home, what would it be? Anything!
A terrace with swimming pool and direct access to a cove of fine sand and calm water.
A great plan at home always includes...
Tasty food and lots of excitement!
Do you have a signature dish?
I love making desserts and sweets, although if I'm honest I'm crazy about the unique and special pesto pasta that we "make" at home.
Where is your favourite place in your city and abroad?
I love to spend hours reading in winter and sunbathing in summer, in a very small cove that very few people know about in Sitges, in Barcelona.
I also love Amboseli National Park in Kenya, with the Kilimanjaro Mountains in the background and its large herds of elephants.
Anything you want to tell us that we haven't asked you, speak now or forever hold your peace!
My work has two completely opposite legs, but they are based on the same motif: the vital moment of a person, his change and his purpose.
I am a Home Stager and House Coach. With Home Staging, I help to depersonalise homes in order to sell or rent them faster. With House Coaching, I help people to positively manage the changes that have come into their lives, and I do this by personalising their home using life coaching techniques.
