Sofia Lima & Sara Lima
We are Sofia and Sara Lima, sisters born and raised in Portugal, both graduates of Arts & Design.
Despite our age difference and graduating in different years—2007 and 2012—we have followed remarkably similar paths since university. Our journey has been filled with travels, youth projects, and activism in environmental and social causes, but most importantly for this story, we both left our hometown after graduating to create our first homes—one in Porto, Portugal, in 2007, and the other in The Hague, Netherlands, in 2013.
Our passion for arts, decor, and design was nurtured from a young age by parents who encouraged us to explore our identities. This freedom was evident in our ever-evolving rooms, which became spaces for experimentation, planning, and transformation. “Go clean your room” often turned into a full-scale redesign, with furniture being rearranged, taken apart (sometimes with our parents’ help, sometimes not), and testing new decor styles.
Rearranging furniture or trying new decoration styles was our form of therapy, long before we knew about concepts like Feng Shui.
“Now, we are building our future and lives with the persons we love and our homes show our stories: where we came from, the places we went and where we are going to.”
Establishing our own homes allowed us to further explore our creativity and independence, transforming our spaces into decor playgrounds. Our homes narrate our stories—where we've come from, the places we've visited, and where we're heading.
What about the name, you may wonder?
When we launched our store, our beloved grandfather had just passed away.
Naming the shop "Luís Viajante" is a tribute to him. "Luís" was his first name, and "Viajante" (meaning "traveler" in Portuguese) reflects his early career as a traveling salesman—a profession that no longer exists, known in Portuguese as "caixeiro-viajante." He was instrumental in founding an association related to this trade, embodying an associative spirit that left a lasting impact.
“We are travelers too, and the objects we sell are themselves products of journeys of revival, from different places and heritage.”
Our grandfather always supported our creative endeavors, sourcing materials from traditional artisans and craftsmen.
He was the one going from one place to another in order to make things happen, going always and only to traditional commerce. His approach profoundly influenced how we perceive objects and their true value.