A Life in Shanghai, Told Through Objects

Joana Molgaard, a native of Brazil, has spent much of her adult life moving between cities and cultures, including seven years in Beijing and Shanghai since 2019.

She and her Danish husband, Thomas, live in a ground-floor flat on a historic downtown street. The residence feels more like a family portrait, filled with color, music, personal collections, and traces of Shanghai's past.

Joana and Thomas had some experience of life in China before arriving in Shanghai, which made the home hunt easier.

A realtor from Thomas's company showed them houses during a pre-visit. They wanted to live in Puxi, needed four bedrooms, and wanted a property with a gym and pool.

Their first Shanghai property met all those criteria. The family stayed on the 29th floor with stunning city views for three years. After the Shanghai lockdown, their interests shifted.

"With two kids, we craved a change and more outdoor space," Joana said.

The answer turned out to be close to where they lived. Their new house offers a unique experience: a ground-floor flat in a smaller property with its own patio and garden.

"I love that we live on the ground floor and have a patio and a garden," she said. "It feels like living in a house, but we also enjoy all the benefits of being in a compound that includes a front desk and property services."

The property had been closed for several years, the garden was neglected, and some of the original decorative features were less than appealing.

"It wasn't great!" Joana recalled. "But it had so much potential."

That potential allowed them to develop something truly theirs. Joana and Thomas wanted a space that expressed their personalities rather than just transitory furniture after years of living as expats and renting homes.

Their tastes are wildly different. Danish Thomas likes minimalism, basic forms, and neutral hues. Joana, Brazilian, loves color, decoration, and unique items. The brief became clearer with two young children: the home needed to be personal, pleasant, and useful without being too formal.

Edda Joyce, the owner of Estilo, skillfully managed the interior design, uniting these diverse personalities. Instead of imposing a style, she established a framework that accommodated the couple's diverse tastes and family life.

The home feels collected rather than overdesigned. Pieces from China sit alongside reminders of the family's international background, while references to music, film, history and travel appear naturally throughout the rooms.

"We like to keep the decorations simple, but personal pieces show where we come from and where we have lived," Joana said.

The patio and garden are probably the most significant changes. A former abandoned outdoor space now boasts comfy seats, plants, dramatic lighting, and a BBQ, making it a family favorite.

For a family that enjoys having friends over, it is also an extension of the living space.

There is nothing particularly formal about entertaining here. Instead, the setting reflects their preference for relaxed gatherings, good food, and easy conversation.

Among the most distinctive elements is Joana's collection of Shanghai street signs. Sourced from neighborhoods that are disappearing or facing demolition, the signs have become both decorative objects and tangible fragments of the city's vanishing history.

Joana began collecting them after meeting architect and photographer Hisham Youssef during a talk about the book, 'Vanishing Shanghai.'

"I loved the talk so much that I bought the book and asked him if I could join his urbex missions around town," she said.

Youssef had spent years documenting Shanghai's old neighborhoods and collecting street signs from depopulated areas. "I was lucky enough to collect some of those signs myself."

The two continue to explore different parts of the city together, discovering corners of old Shanghai that are rapidly changing.

Her fascination with the city's history has grown steadily over the years.

"The first few years in Shanghai were a bit messy as we had the pandemic and I also had a baby, so I was overwhelmed. But once things calmed down, I started reading about Shanghai's history, and my interest just kept increasing," she said.

She joined Historical Shanghai tours, which are a wealth of city knowledge, and read extensively about Old Shanghai. Curiosity has entered her home through books, objects, and city reminders.

Joana found a 1977 Chinese edition of "One Thousand and One Nights" while out with Hisham and treasured it. She brought the book home after finding it in an abandoned lane. She keeps it on her shelf as an unexpected Shanghai artifact.

"I love anything in Shanghai, really – anything that symbolizes the city, was made here, or makes me think of the city. I'm crazy about shikumen, lilongs and Haipai culture."

For her, these objects are a way of holding on to a city in constant transition.

The living room was designed to accommodate the entire family while remaining welcoming to friends. Instead of a formal showpiece, the couple wanted a space where kids could live, guests could gather, and everyone felt comfortable.

Thomas's passion for music is another recurring theme. His office includes his guitar alongside references to the films and music he enjoys, giving the room a distinctly personal character.

Joana has her own corner, surrounded by color, Shanghai history books and fitness equipment – a small space that reflects her interests and daily life as a fitness instructor and travel consultant for Brazilians coming to Shanghai.

The master bedroom takes a less conventional approach to the usual bedroom layout – and, according to Edda, may have raised a few feng shui eyebrows along the way.

"With the luxury of space, I decided to float the bed in the middle of the room, facing the large window and its lovely view of the front garden," Edda said. "A different position, an entirely different way to enjoy the room."

The arrangement makes the garden part of the bedroom and imparts to it a boutique hotel feel. For Joana, waking up to the view of the trees is particularly soothing, while the window has also become her personal reading corner.

The once-bare white walls called for more character. After some negotiation between the couple, patterned wallpaper was introduced on both walls, adding rhythm and intimacy to the space.

Bright artwork, plush cushions, and a bold red side table reflect Brazil, while Danish-designed bedside lamps add a playful mid-century touch. Contemporary eclectic and mid-century styling complements the apartment's original ceiling moldings and grand circular marble light.

The guest washroom offered another opportunity to bring the couple's contrasting influences together. The brief was simple: black and white.

Edda initially had one pattern in mind, but Thomas introduced an unexpected source of inspiration – a patterned tile the couple had brought back from Rio.

It became the starting point for the cabinet door panels, adding a distinctly personal touch to the room.

The couple's collection of decorative objects is similarly personal. Rather than following a particular design style, they have chosen things that speak to their experiences and interests.

Joana is especially drawn to Chinese revolutionary iconography, as well as objects and artworks connected in some way to Shanghai and China.

These pieces give the home a strong sense of place while also reflecting the years the family has spent living in the country.

For Joana, collecting is therefore not simply about decoration. It is also a way of documenting the city she has come to know and love.

After years of living between countries, Joana and Thomas have developed their own definition of home. For them, it is not necessarily tied to Brazil, Denmark, China or any other single place.

"After living abroad for so many years, we both find that the cliché phrase 'home is where the heart is' actually applies," Joana said.

Their apartment has become a place where the family can settle into everyday life – a place that accommodates their different personalities, their children, their friends and their shared history.

"It's where we feel comfortable and safe and where we belong," she said. "Even after I come back from a trip to Brazil, it's this place that, once I enter, I can say, 'It's good to be home.'"

In a city known for constant change, the home offers something more lasting: a personal landscape shaped by family, memory, and the places they have lived along the way.