Interview and Home Tour with Cristiana of @from.c_to.z

I know, I know...I always say I am excited about my home tours...but this time I REALLY am!

One of the most common questions (or concerns) I get from families is "how can I have a Montessori-inspired home in a small space?"... the next is "how do I do it when I am working full time?" ...and finally the third is "what if my child doesn't attend Montessori school?" Well all of those topics are addressed here!

Today's tour and interview is with Cristiana of the Instagram account @from.c_to.z

One thing I really love about Cristiana's feed is that each post is inspiring...but in a totally down to earth way. She makes the activities that she does with her daughter seem so doable. Cristiana is knowledgeable and oh so modest.

I can not wait for you to read this interview. Enjoy!

Tell me about yourself...

My name is Cristiana. I live in Romania together with my partner and our 3yo daughter Z. I am an economist by formation, with an MSc in International Hospitality, but unfortunately (or fortunately, if you take the pandemic into consideration) I do not work in the hospitality field at the moment.

We live in a small apartment in one of the most beautiful cities in Romania, surrounded by mountains. My daughter goes to a regular kindergarten, but at home, we are strongly influenced by Montessori, with a dose of forest schooling and RIE thrown in our parenting mix.

When did you first learn about Montessori?

I had heard about it before I had my daughter, but started actually studying it once she was born. Two things naturally guided me towards Montessori.

First, I knew there had to be an alternative to the color and plastic "explosions" I was seeing in the homes of people with children. I am a minimalist at heart, and I wanted our home to continue feeling calm and airy.

Second, I hated most of the "contraptions" made to restrict the movements of babies - bouncers, chairs, playpens, fences.

At some point during Z's first 3 months, my mother gifted me Tim Seldin's book - How to Raise an Amazing Child the Montessori Way, and that's when it all clicked. I was actually doing some of the things mentioned in the book without even knowing they were "Montessori". So we started doing more.

Then we really delved deep once we started feeding solids to our daughter, following all the Montessori principles - the glass cups, the kitchen helper, independence to choose what and how much she will eat, the weaning chair. We just continued from there.

Art Area

How have you created a Prepared Environment in your home?

I did not decide one day to start preparing the environment. We did small changes according to Z's needs and are still updating our spaces as she grows. So I cannot say we started with a certain thing on one day. We do not homeschool, so we do not have a full setup of Montessori materials. Instead, we use what I call "stations" - for art, for imaginative play, for her self care items. They just developed organically, once she started showing interest. Probably because we started when Z was still a baby, we have never "Montessoried" our home, it just evolved like this over time.