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In this special edition of Sweet Digs with IKEA, we’re opening the doors to Elise’s bright and airy two bed Berlin ‘altbau’ (which literally means ‘old building’). We’ll see how she’s brought pops of colour into her open, minimal space and how it sometimes doubles up as her dance studio.

Watch this week’s Sweet Digs to see how they live and be sure to visit the #IKEAFestival. https://www.ikea.com/festival/

In Partnership with IKEA.

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High rent, small spaces, nosy neighbors — we put up with A LOT of things to live where we love. In Sweet Digs, Refinery29 gets a peek inside the homes of the coolest people we know, from tiny studios to sprawling houses, and ask the real questions like, "Wait, how much is your rent?"

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Transcript
00:01Hi, I'm Elise. I'm opening my doors to show you my sweet digs. This apartment is
00:08roughly a hundred square meters. We have the spare room which also serves as an
00:13office, the bathroom, a kitchen, our bedroom and a living room. I'm a dancer,
00:21a choreographer, a creative and movement director and I'm the founder of Therapy
00:27of Dance. Therapy of Dance was sort of created for me as an antidepressant and
00:34it's since been a gateway into this world of taking care of my mental health
00:40and realizing that actually a lot of other people connect with this method as
00:47well. I think it's really important to talk about mental health. My personal
00:54strategies have evolved over time. The number one thing for me is exercise. The
01:00next has been therapy so actually sitting down with the therapist to talk has been
01:05awesome for me. Having a conversation with a friend can be as therapeutic as sitting
01:10down with the therapist. Just like going to a dance class might be just as
01:14therapeutic as meditation for you.
01:22Berlin influenced me, my style and everything about my home. We are now in our
01:30living room. My favorite thing about this room is the light. It hits this
01:35beautiful piece of art painted by our friend Harry Edwards. Marino, my husband, he
01:41found these chairs at a second-hand store. Because they're retro we couldn't
01:46actually find any other chairs to match so we combined them with these cute
01:51Laifana chairs from IKEA actually. Mixing and matching the colors felt like a fun
01:56thing to do. This space transforms into a studio. I actually get this table and pull
02:02it all the way back and then I have all of this space to choreograph. I feel like our
02:09bedroom is really considered and colorful but also calm and relaxed. This we picked
02:20up from a furniture market here in Berlin. We have these epic steel drawers that we
02:27picked up from a market as well. I really love this industrial look. Also the way
02:32that forces me to fold my clothes so well because they're constantly on display. I
02:39love to have flowers all through the house just like we have tons of plants. The
02:44way that this place reflects my style as a person is open and practical and minimal.
02:54The apartment is really helpful for my mental health. Just having the space to be alone.
03:01I think in this day and age we're so bombarded with stimulus all the time that it's really
03:07important to sit down and just stare at a wall sometimes and process whatever it is
03:12that's going on in your brain. This is what we like to call the studio which is my office.
03:19This is my synthesizer keyboard which is where I like to make up silly songs. It's a really
03:28creative space for me and it's important to have space in the house that isn't connected
03:34to sleeping or eating or relaxing. This is quite an energizing room for me and I'm super grateful
03:41to have this space. The bathroom. Two things come to mind in the bathroom. First is the bath. I would
03:52gladly spend an hour in the bath every day during winter if I could. Another thing that I love is
03:58this old vintage poster of dolphins and corpuses. So we're going to go to the kitchen next. Cooking
04:07should be really social so I think a kitchen is nice when people can hang out. I like to think
04:13I'm a good host. I take a lot of pleasure in having my friends come around. Sustainability is very much
04:21a value in our household. The cool thing about living in this apartment is there's a nice courtyard and in
04:27there is a hazelnut tree. So if I'm motivated enough then I might make some hazelnut ice cream if we're
04:34lucky.
04:37Home to me isn't necessarily a place. I've lived in a number of countries now and what I keep coming
04:48back
04:48to is my body. So learning to feel present and confident and this makes me feel at home.
04:58What I do love about this home is that I share it with Merino and we've created memories here.
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