Was there an aspect that stumped you?
I love working with wood, metal, stone, and marble, and, depending on the design, I like to combine them. I like to use touches of different materials to bring them to life harmoniously, and I always favor balance and refinement.
This design philosophy is reflected through the interior doors, which are decorated with a grid of hollow joints to create rhythm.
I really liked to design the sitting room area with the woodwork partition inspired by Mondrian’s paintings, acting as a claustra that materializes the space. Punctuated by cutouts and openings with inserts of colored glass, the partition evokes a stained-glass window.
If someone was inspired by this space, what is one thing you would tell them to copy/buy?
The owner’s dressing room and bathroom illustrate my approach to design and the chic and contemporary style that I like to create. Dressing rooms can quickly become monotonous and even oppressive, so my approach was to integrate the storage units into the space as much as possible. Thanks to the colors that harmonize with those of the walls, the cupboard doors have a unique, sober, pure, and warm style.
The entrance gallery is decorated with a pink-and-red lacquered aluminum sculpture called Wings of Desire, created by Frédéric Crouzet and suspended above a black-and-white carpet designed by Réda Amalou at Toulemonde Bochart.
Bénédicte DrummondThe closet, which was custom designed, comprises large, light, solid oak handles that decorate the doors with a unique graphic concept.
Bénédicte DrummondDid anything take you over/under budget on the project? How do you and the client make the call?
The renovation of old spaces often reserves surprises. As the work progressed, we encountered numerous technical obstacles due to the age of the flat that, without intervention, would have changed the spirit of the project. Our daily presence on the site and the rigorous monitoring of the work enabled us to react quickly and to inform our client of the changes to be made, both on a technical and budgetary level.
How long did the project take?
It took five months to design the whole project and a year of work, including the authorizations we had to obtain to change the old common networks.
The bathroom, covered in beige Portuguese stone, opens up to the closet and the shower through vertical openings in the wall that are accentuated by black steel frames.
Bénédicte DrummondIn the kitchen, the white Carrara marble island is lit by the black steel suspension light designed by Frédéric Crouzet.
Bénédicte DrummondWhere did you source the major pieces? Where do you like to shop?
I love to hunt for pieces in Paris, especially on the Left Bank in Saint-Germain-des-Prés—for example, in the Galerie Triode for glass objects, or in the Marais (Right Bank) for its photo galleries such as La Galerie de l’Instant. The flea markets also comprise wonderful decorative objects and furniture in different styles, and are an endless source of inspiration. I like to travel to the Netherlands, and more particularly to the Histoire Gallery in the city of Utrecht, which has a beautiful selection of pieces from designers of Northern Europe.