Pad Peek: Dina’s Nomadic-Romantic Apartment

Today we’re peeking into the romantic-nomadic (aka Rom-Nom, ha ha) apartment of Dina Zapris. Dina (who works as a mutual fund accountant) sees her home as her creative outlet. She fills it with colorful finds from thrift stores and Craigslist, and mixes in family heirlooms and other meaningful pieces. Born in Massachusetts, Dina spent her childhood summers with her grandparents in Greece, then moved there with her whole family in her teens. After moving back to the US for college, Dina has infused her Boston area home with, as she puts it, “elements of my diverse background, and the warm summers I remember in Greece”.

“One of the most treasured pieces I have is a colored-pencil drawing of a Greek church I have hanging on the wall.” Explains Dina.  “I remember lying on our living room floor with my mom when I was a little girl and watching her draw it out and seeing her carefully pick out the color for each line. She didn’t end up finishing it until years later when we lived in Greece. She is definitely a source of inspiration for me. From the furniture, if I had to pick just one item to stuff in my car, go cross country and start all over, out of all my things I would choose this green tin-top art deco table I got as a gift. It feels like it brings nature indoors and makes me feel so happy.”

Adopt An Idea: Even a non-patternful sofa or chair can get in on the pattern play, when you use colorful textiles to cover the cushions, the back, or even the whole thing! An easy way to hide old cushions too, without the expense of reupholstering.

With 9 (!!) windows, Dina’s 2 bedroom apartment has an enviable amount of natural light. “I spend most of my time in the living room…because of the great natural light it has. Sunlight is a blessing in the cold Boston Winters. When I first walked into the apartment 3 years ago, I knew I had to live there because as a long-time renter I knew how hard it was to find such a bright apartment in the metro Boston area! Another pleasant surprise that came with the house was the dining room. This wasn’t something I had been thinking I would ever want or need, but now that I love this one so much, I can’t imagine not having a dining room in my next place. The dining table is a claw-foot pedestal table I was lucky to find on craigslist for $60 bucks”.

For Dina, the real value of the things she surrounds herself with often comes back to family and history. “My entire persona is depicted in my home decor. I can appreciate brand new shiny things, but there’s so much more meaning for me when something has been lived in and loved for many years. When something has been passed down from generation to generation, it takes a spot not only in my home but in my heart, as well. I have a Pena print on the wall in my dining room because my beloved late grandma’s name was Rena, which in Greece is spelled with a ‘P’ to denote an ‘R’ sound. She was a very influential woman for me and this print is an ode to her and an inside joke I can smile at when I pass by it.”

“My Chinese zodiac is a Tiger.” Dina continues. “I have a vintage silk tiger rug hanging over my bed, which was given to my grandpa back in the 60s when he was a car mechanic as pay for his services from a grateful customer who had no money to pay him at the time, but wanted to repay him in some way. So he gave him this tiger wall hanging. How cool would it be to do that nowadays”?

Dina’s take on her home really echoes many of the qualities we love about the Romantic Bohemian vibe.  “I would describe my home as a colorful, cozy, home away from home. Being almost five thousand miles away from my family and a country where I spent the formative years of my life, I’ve cultivated my home to represent a reflection and a reminder of the fact that I have lived a unique life up until this point, and that I have ‘bloomed where I have planted’ myself”.

Thanks for the peek into your pad, Dina! For more of Dina, check out her Instagram!

~Danae Horst
All photos by Janee Carroll