My name is Sofia; Clara's my middle name. I'm a 90s girl, born to British parents, on an avocado farm in the south of Spain, with no electricity, no running water, three dogs and heaps of fresh fruit. A whole lot changed when we moved to Switzerland when I was around 10 years old, but I'm still a country girl at heart and an avid avocado lover.
I studied at the Ecole hôtelière de Lausanne which is actually where I started the first version of my blog, but it was 2 years ago, when I made the exciting but somewhat scary decision to focus solely on my blog and interior design work. My goal has always been to fill my days doing things I love: decorating spaces, cooking, being creative and working with amazing people.
I work independently between Lausanne and London, predominantly as an interior designer. I mainly decorate office spaces, apartments and restaurants.
In September 2016, five friends and I opened Le Pointu, a restaurant in Lausanne and in October 2018 we opened our second restaurant, Loxton, also in Lausanne. These are my two biggest decor projects to date. On the weekends you can find me in one of the two establishments cooking brunch recipes from my blog.
My blog is my creative outlet where I share DIY décor ideas, recipes I've created, fashion and beauty favourites and insights into my life as a creative entrepreneur. Moving forwards, I plan to share more about the highs and lows of working freelance, as well as shining the spotlight on other inspirational entrepreneurs.
I try to keep content coming regularly here on the blog and frequently post videos on my YouTube channel. You can also follow along on Instagram for daily updates.
If I'm not in the photo, I've almost always taken the photo myself. If I am striking some sort of ridiculous pose or trying to look as "natural" as I can when I'm in front of a camera, it's normally Hannah Shan, a talented Lausanne-based photographer and good friend of mine or just me and my tripod.
For blog photos I use my Canon 70D with a Sigma 35mm F1.4 lens. For vlogs and most of my Instagram photos, I use a Canon G7X and when Hannah shoots, she uses a Canon 5D Mark III.
How do you pay your rent?
I'm very fortunate to be able to make a living doing work I love. I work predominately with private clients on decor projects, some of which I share here on the blog. I also do little bits of sponsored work with brands but I only ever feature products that I love and that I would be willing to pay the market price for myself, and I'll always let you know if it's sponsored in the post. I also make a small amount of money through affiliate links where I get a percentage from brands when my readers shop through the links I provide. This has no impact on the price you pay.
If you have a personal question, feel free to ask in the comments or on Instagram as unfortunately, I can't reply to all emails of a personal nature. If you're looking for help with decorating a space or are a brand looking to get in touch, feel free to send me an email via hello@sofiaclara.com.
Working as a freelancer can sometimes get lonely and you have to be generalist: an accountant, a business person, a writer, a photographer, etc. I am lucky enough to be able to work with two other female entrepreneurs who lighten the load and fill the many gaps in my knowledge and skillset.
Originally from Romania, Magda co-founded Minthical – a branding, web design and social media company. Her team of experts gave my website its most recent overhaul and are just fab! Magda has a great sense of humour, replies to emails faster than anyone I know and is always up for going for drinks together after long days in our respective offices.
Originally from the Philippines, Hannah is a professional lifestyle photographer who works in and around Lausanne. Hannah's superb eye for detail and fun loving personality has meant we've now been working together for almost 3 years – we actually met through Instagram! She has this incredible ability to make anyone feel comfortable in front of the camera.