Let there be light

This apartment in the heart of Tel Aviv offers plenty of space and sunshine.

By GLORIA DEUTSCH
home apartment light windows 521 (photo credit: Gloria Deutsch)
home apartment light windows 521
(photo credit: Gloria Deutsch)
‘People from England love the light here in Israel so much they can’t get enough of it into their apartments,’ says interior designer Liz Harris, who also hails from Britain and understands that need to flood the living space with Israeli sunshine.
The owners of this Tel Aviv holiday apartment looking out to the sea with a great view of Jaffa in the distance are very attached to Israel and, at home in England, are active in fund-raising for the One Family Fund which aids terror victims. They visit very often and until they acquired the flat they always stayed in hotels until, at some point, they decided it was time to have a home here. They needed something with plenty of bedroom space to accommodate their married daughter, two single sons and the grandchildren, so when they found this place with three double bedrooms they knew it was just right.
The fact that it is in the heart of Tel Aviv made it all the more attractive as they love to explore the small backstreets of the neighborhood and when they are not walking they are cycling and discovering all the lesser-known but quirky attractions of the city by the sea.
For the décor they chose clean lines and easy-to-maintain furnishings and fittings so that when they come for a visit they can unlock the door and walk straight in to a fresh, clean environment.
This is helped by the fact that a management service looks after the apartment when they are not here.
The real-wood parquet floor has a faint blue-gray tinge to it, which is echoed in the similar shades of the twoseater sofa. For the windows, the designer chose Roman blinds rather than curtains.
”They don’t take up any window space for one thing,” she says, “and with drapes they blow all over the place when the window is open so I prefer to dress the windows with blinds.”
Almost all the furniture is locally made and all the paintings are by Israeli artists. The off-white walls create a pleasant background for some striking accessories such as the long, billowing light fitting placed next to a large supporting column and the African carved tree placed against one of the walls.
The coffee table, made here, is a textured cream wood while the dining table is made from a large oval glass top on a geometrical stand. The dining-room chairs are white leather while over the dining area hangs another unusual glass light fitting, a shimmering waterfall of glass.
A breakfast bar separates the kitchen from the rest of the living space. The kitchen itself is fully equipped with every appliance and the cabinets are made from dark and light gray lacquered wood with stainless steel backsplashes. A roll-up cupboard ensures that unsightly kitchen utensils stay out of view.
The entrance hall is mirrored so the sea is reflected in it. The only other piece of furniture in this part of the home is a small hall table made of Perspex with carved Indian blocks set inside. Around the corner is a wall-mounted television with display space around it and plenty of storage underneath. From this part of the lounge a door leads out to a breakfast balcony overlooking the city spread out below.
The owners were so enchanted with the view that they wanted to be able to see it easily from the bedroom and even the bathroom. So they had half the bathroom wall taken away and can now enjoy the view even while sitting in the bath. The bedroom is furnished almost entirely in white with an easy chair in cream leather stamped to look like crocodile.
They are so happy with their new apartment that the owners now visit Israel even more frequently than they used to, sometimes on their own, sometimes with their children and grandchildren. And they are so pleased they picked Liz Harris – an old family friend and herself a new immigrant – to design the interior for them.
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