Anolga lives with her three children in a 140m2 4th floor apartment in an 18th-century building in the Marais. Architects by training, she and her husband have slowly remodeled the spacious flat, adding rounded walls to break the classic straight lines of the space, adding built-in storage -- including floor-to-ceiling bookshelves throughout the house -- with curved lines and painted in purples and plums...
The furniture is a mix of lived-in oriental rugs and comfortable couches and modern touches like a whimsically ragged light fixture in the entry made by a Swiss artist and patches of bright green flowered carpet recuperated from the European Parliament building in Strasbourg. A painter friend custom painted armoires in the teenage twin girls' rooms and gave a long hallway a textured, polished finish to bounce light around and avoid the feeling of a dim long corridor. And Anolga has made a number of DIY wall sconces using handmade papers from stores like Calligrane on the rue Pont Louis Philippe that cast a glow throughout the house.
- Kristin Hohenadel blogging from rue Vieille du Temple, Paris, France. She can be reached at kristinh @ apartmenttherapy . com
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Comments (7)
this looks like a home that people actually live in! not something that looks like the residents copied magazine photos. very nice, thanks for posting
Very cozy and homelike, but nothing of particular design-worthy note. I find the colors in the first image of the foyer with the maroon backdrop, purple chair and 'garden' rug unattractive, although I do like the irridescent paper used in the kitchen ceiling fixture.
Witty and gracious, it is very much a space I would feel comfortable in.
Just because it is French does not mean it has style!
I guess I would hope for more from an architect couple. The space doesn't seem to be utilized well (at least from the photos). And the decor has some nice aspects but overall it doesn't come together.
Say what you will, the entryway is a delight!
I stumbled across this in my 'favourites' folder again.
I have to say, I love the homemade wall mounted lights made out of maps and handmade paper. I would have had to scrub my house to within an inch of it's life to make it look presentable but here there's no need The 'look' of the home (yes folks, it looks like a home, with messy children and all!!) still shines through the normal debris of life.