Welcoming your guests – with Carol Szabadkai from Hungary

Carol is a friend that I first met on the Internet in a group called “Mães Internacionais” ou International Mums. It’s a group dedicated to Brazilian Mums around the globe. Home Decor Ideas

She was born in Brazil but has been living in Hungary for the past 12 years, since she met her husband, who is Hungarian.

Her background is in Communication, so don’t be surprised with her creativity.

“In Hungary my diploma wasn’t very useful professionally speaking, but I guess I am using it for life. It was then, during my college years that I started learning how to be creative and innovative. In my opinion this is one of the few courses that teach you to open your mind instead of focusing on something. That’s a very important exercise”

Carol is very fond of home décor details. She likes warm colours and cozy spaces. She also likes mixing up new and old (me too, me too!!!). “Whenever I can add a splash of something antique in my place, I do it!”

“I’m a very romantic person and a bit old fashioned, on the other hand I’m very open minded – I discovered this side of mine when I

saw myself not only accepting but adapting to a different culture (living in a different country is far away from being a walk in the park!).”

“My home décor style reflects very well my personality: mixed up harmony”, she says.

As soon as she moved to her own home she saw it like a white canvas, “beautiful, but lacking in colours or character; a very safe style”, she says.

According to Carol, in Hungary, the entry hall is usually a problem cos people always take off their shoes whenever they enter to a house (that’s a Hungarian custom) piling up them right there by the entry, causing a terrible mess.

Every entry hall should be as tidy as any room in your house, specially because it’s the front room, the first area a guest steps in inside your home, your “business card”, if I may. Have you ever heard that the first impression is what remains? So, if you are like Carol and me and love having a welcoming home, you should not forget about your entry way; don’t leave it on the bottom of your list.

“Having a shoes closet is very important if you want to keep it organized, however, new house, an endless mortgage, and tons of furniture to buy pushed the shoes closet to the bottom of our list”, she says. However Carol was very fortunate as her mother-in-law was about to donate an antique chest of drawers.

A chest of drawers? What that has to do with Carol’s shoes storage?, you might ask. It has everything to do with her shoes storage!

As Carol became the new owner of that old chest, she was very excited cos finally she would get rid of the shoes piling up by her entry door.

“Using that antique chest plus a bit of a warm painting colour, in an afternoon I totally transformed my Entry Hall.”

She painted dark red… not the chest but the wall behind it and gave the piece of furniture new life! “I used the drawers to accommodate the most used shoes and handbags and voila! The only missing detail is a mirror in a nice frame, which I intend to do soon to complete the look”.

Hmmm, okay, I confess, I couldn’t resist and put together a few combinations. Sorry for the bad Photoshop though, but I did it having my 18 months-old on my arms =0|

“I hope everybody likes it. I’m very proud of this corner in my home.”

As you can see, Carol found a new use for that old chest and brought it back to life in a prime location =)

Well done, Carol! I’m sure this entry room remake will inspire many creative minds around here.

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Carol writes a blog in Portuguese, Carol Brasil/Hungia where she talks about her day-by-day life. She also is the manager/author of  Donas de Casa Anônimas, a website dedicated to Portuguese speaker housewives. So if you can read Portuguese, I recommend! ;)