Growing up in Flatbush, Brooklyn,La La Anthonysaw Manhattan as a different world. “You didn’t really know people who lived in the city,” thePowerstar recalls. “It always felt like it was for the big-time folks, for when you finally made it.”
William Waldron
In their light-filled living room office area, next to a trophy she took home for out-rapping the Spice Girls’ Mel B onDrop the Mic,are her NAACP Image Award, a poster from the Broadway playEclipsed(which she co-executive produced), and framed letters fromMichelle Obama, whom she calls, “one of my mentors and a friend.”
Though she did hire a decorator to spruce up the three-bedroom, three-bath place with a “cool, young, modern” vibe, Anthony says she prioritizes comfort over flash.
“I’m not about living a museum and not being able to touch things,” she tells PEOPLE in this week’s issue. “I care more about it being a family home than an elegant home.”
William Waldron.
“I want my son to have fun here,” she adds. “There’s a reason why there’s a basketball hoop in the living room!” (La La, who’sseparated from NBA star husband Carmelo Anthony, does have strict rules regarding when the nationally ranked middle-schooler is allowed to shoot baskets indoors.)
Kiyan also has a custom Xbox decorated with his dad’s likeness and the phrase “Stay Melo” and framed collection of every jersey he’s worn since middle school. “By now there’s a couple more,” La La says. “It’s super cool.”
The actress’s favorite place in the 2,300-square-foot loft? It’s a toss up between her closet (converted from a third bedroom) and her serene bedroom.
The former takes up “half of my apartment, easily,” she jokes of the rack-filled room. It holds special pieces from throughout her career, including the first pair of high-end heels she bought herself, herPowercharacter’s favorite Versace top, and a sparkly ’70s-style jumpsuit she wore to friend Dwyane Wade’s Disco-themed retirement party from the NBA.
Her cream and pale pink-hued bedroom is is “super chill” and filled with candles — “I have 500 million,” she jokes — and a favorite decorating trick: preserved roses. “Where else are you gonna find flowers that you can keep in your room for a year, which is why I probably have so many of them.”
Despite her big-city zip code, Anthony “just wanted something that felt like a home,” she says. “That’s how I felt when I first came in here. It fits for my life and for our family.”
source: people.com
