Our regular Interiors features take a look through the keyhole into the homes and businesses of some of Shanghai's well known faces.
For Taylor Yang’s Shanghainese parents and grandparents, living in the former French Concession has been a longtime dream of theirs. “When my parents were young, this neighborhood used to be ‘the place.’ They call it shangzhijiao (上只角, a term in the Shanghainese dialect for posh areas with Western-style architecture and other cultural influences),” she says. Their dream eventually became hers as well.
Yang has now lived in the former French Concession for the last 10 years, and in her current flat – a small studio at the King Albert Apartments on Shaanxi Nan Lu – since 2012. Completed in 1930, the complex consists of 16 four-story-tall buildings with two apartments per floor, and three bedrooms within each. Yang’s flat is a subdivided unit that used to be the dining room of a larger apartment.
With a penchant for vintage-style knickknacks, friends of Yang’s have always complimented her on the French romantic feel of her home. Here’s a look inside.
Yang lives here with her pets: a miniature pinscher named Dawg (seen on this photo), and her cat Freddie.
Both Yang and her cat Freddie consider the Frenchstyle bed (which was purchased on Taobao) to be their favorite spot in the apartment.
Though it’s just 30 square meters, the studio feels very spacious thanks to its high ceiling and a large row of airy French windows behind the bed, allowing plenty of natural light to flood the room during the day.
Black and white family photos and a vintage-style makeup box share space with Yang’s favorite jewelry pieces on a refurbished antique bedside table she found at a wholesaler just across the street from where she lives.
A framed Black Eyed Peas setlist (with Fergie’s coffee stain) from a charity concert in Shanghai years ago – a gift from a former colleague and good friend – sits on top of Yang’s kitchen cabinet.
Yang’s grandmother, who always enjoyed dancing to her favorite tunes, passed down a collection of old Chinese records released during the Cultural Revolution to her.
Photos by Mario Grey
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