Hello Home, Eleonora Cantera
For anyone who has ever met Gotain's founder Eleonora, it feels given that behind the door to the apartment in Vasastan hides a colorful home. Effervescent, full of energy and unique - just like its owner.
The turn-of-the-century apartment in Vasastan was originally a churchmaster's residence, but when it finally went on sale two years ago, it could not be resisted by its current owner. From the first time she stepped into the apartment, she saw the potential, with spectacular pillars, herringbone parquet and original details, but much also needed to be updated and renovated. A summer, a bathroom, a kitchen and many hours with the paintbrush in hand later, the apartment had been filled with more color and textile than it had ever been before! From light thin linen curtains in the kitchen to a paradise of velvet in the bedroom - here lives undoubtedly a person who knows her curtains.
The fact that curtains came up as an idea was actually entirely a coincidence, but that Eleonora Cantera would be an entrepeneur was never a question. Eleonora founded Gotain in 2017, after considering everything from jewellery to ski clothing, when she suddenly needed new curtains for her own apartment.
After feeling both confused, overwhelmed and even patronized by most curtain manufacturers, she kept coming back to the question, should it really be this difficult? In an attempt to sort out the confusing choices, the overwhelming amount of fabric options and the long delivery time, Gotain emerged, where without compromising on quality, custom-made curtains would be made available to everyone.
When the day came to decorate the apartment, there was one thing Eleonora was absolutely sure of - she wanted to find a classic style that was disconnected from trends, but of course with its own twist. The core of the style became a sober base of bright colors and natural materials, but where selected furniture and details were allowed to be the center of attention with consistently strong accent colors. The choice of color is not something she stressed about - if it goes wrong, you simply just repaint!
A challenging part about the apartment has always been the ceiling height, which reaches almost four stately meters, which makes most furniture that moves in more reminiscent of miniatures. Many things only just passed the threshold and then quickly went back around when they turned out to be too small! Eleonora quickly realized that the key was to invest in a few selected larger pieces of furniture, and build the interior based on them. She decided on the huge mirror in the living room, the dining table that easily can serve 10 guests and a custom-made sisal rug, which together became the core pieces for the rest of the decor.
After several years of working with curtains every day, one thing Eleonora has realized, is that it's not about how much you know, but about how well you can explain it to someone else. And with that, we can not let go of Eleonora without having asked one last question…
What is the most important thing to keep in mind when choosing curtains? I believe there are two things that make curtains really become something extra in your interior decoration! The first is to invest in a generous amount of fabric, rather too much than too little, to get wonderfully draped waves. The second is not to let the curtains be too short - there is nothing more dull than curtains that hover sadly over the floor and are not let to touch down!