Names: Muriel & Ed
Location: Paris, France
Size: 645 square feet
Moved in: August 2007
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When Muriel and Ed first saw their now spacious and light-flooded 5th floor walk-up in the 10th arrondissement, it was not exactly love at first sight. "It was horrific!" says Muriel, adding that the place was filthy, stuffed with the previous owner's furniture, had too many walls, and heavy curtains hid the light from the south-facing windows. "I just couldn't work out the space because there was so much crap in it."
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But the price was right, and Ed, who is a British photographer, had already started knocking down walls in his head. "It was so cheap, I kept thinking that there had to be a way to work it out!" he says.
So they opened up the space, knocking down a wall to make an eat-in kitchen where there once had been a narrow kitchen with a bathroom on the other side of the wall. Their builders dug a tunnel in the floor to move the bathroom and the separate toilet room to the other side of the apartment. They brought in architect Petra Marguc, who suggested that they create an interior window between the master bedroom and the kitchen to let light in during the day, and knocked down walls to create paths for light and cross-ventilation from both sides of the flat. It is now a spacious two-bedroom with ample room for the couple and their five-year-old son.
Muriel and Ed had signed the papers before they discovered that cheap linoleum and layers of paint were covering beautiful original 19th-century floors, which have been restored. They stripped off decades of wallpaper and painted the walls white, and were careful to respect the flat's period details, including a working fireplace with an original mirror and carved ceiling details.
They used similar natural terracotta floor tiles in the bathroom and kitchen, and red accent tiles on the walls of both rooms. They installed an IKEA kitchen in a beige color so that it would blend into the background, and furnished the kitchen with brocante finds like a suspension lamp over the kitchen table found for a euro, secondhand tables and chairs and a vintage photograph of a cricket player found in London. "In a small space, I think it's important to not have too many things going on," says Muriel, a French journalist with a British mother. Beige and red are repeated throughout the space, giving it a harmonious feeling. Red accents are scattered throughout the house in an offhand manner, from the living room rug to the teapot. On their long balcony, a red rose is in bloom, even in winter.
Apart from the IKEA kitchen and modern sofa, they prefer to shop in Paris brocantes and vide-greniers, but they lucked out by finding a vintage club chair that some departed soul had miraculously left on the street. "It smelled like Gitanes," says Muriel. "It took a long time to air it out!"
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- Kristin Hohenadel blogging from rue Vieille du Temple, Paris, France. If you have an idea for a European house tour, please write kristinh @ apartmenttherapy . com
Is this Muriel Quoix?
view julien1's profile
I mean, it's a nice space, but it's just filled with random stuff haphazardly arranged. Hardly a candidate for an apartment tour. A bit of color on the walls and fewer plants would help, for starters.
view Bolder's profile
Cute, but that leather chair has definately seen better days. I think this is taking shabby chic a bit too far.
view citygirlincountry's profile
I love it! This is closer to how most of us live.
view GZgoingMod aka Geraldine's profile
i think it's really nice, very cute!!
most of the houses on here look way too sterile and like no one with a soul lives in them.
by the way, most of us regular people don't have the style guru eye, so they probably don't think their stuff is placed haphazardly...
view venus_thames's profile
I like it. It's a real home that looks cozy and warm. Like someone said, it looks like how most of us live. Charming!
view junklover's profile
I like it too--the bed's made and the toilet seat is down...what more do you want?
If I wanted to see some fanchy schmanzy place all staged for photographers and dolled out for a good photo--I'd buy a magazine. (And, occaisionally, I do.)
But this is great. Don't see enough of this. Love seeing real homes.
view Alana in Canada's profile
Hard to believe this is only 645 sq ft. Loved it!
What's with the Ikea ads in the slideshows?
view southender's profile
That chair is so bad, it's almost good. I find myself disgusted by it, yet ... I want to sit in it. Je ne sais quoi, indeed.
view teensleuth's profile
I love this house tour and this home: warm, sunny, and interesting renovation, sunlight, bookshelves, wood floors. Fewer plants????? No way. I think this place is just lovely, chair and all.
view Tara Emelye's profile
It's great! Cozy, welcoming...a place I would love to spend a lot of time.
...And "fewer plants" is one of the most ridiculous critiques of a space that I've ever read on this site. Seriously? I swear, some readers really just want to see furniture showrooms and nothing else.
view trygve's profile
The leather chair is great. Perfect to curl up in with a good book (and the cat can sit on it and I don't think I'd mind!)
view crash's profile
Weird- I met Ed last month when he came down to the S. of France to photograph one of my students! I'd post photos of my apartment, but what's the point? My landlady won't let me do a thing, and I am here for just a year. Kids' artwork and Moroccan rugs are my only personal addition to the unfortunate honey-pine heavy, country kitsch decor. Sigh. At least I have AT...
view truckeekid's profile
we just got back from Paris late last night, and I miss it already. I never tire of seeing Parisian interiors, and this one is very charming in a typical Parisian way. Maybe with more of these interiors the Parisian (and typically European) aesthetic will begin to become more appreciated...
view mschatelaine's profile
The wood flooring & windows in the living area are amazing. I love the light. Too many plants? No such thing. It makes me want to go back to Paris and chill.
view millzee's profile
Very nice. Especially when you've only been living in the place for seven months!
view clemoni's profile
Wonderful apartment! I love it!
So much light and such a unique layout. I love what you did with the place.
The chair? Hmmm... Repulsive yet charming. You want to curl up in it, yet throw it out. PERFECT!!
view Sleek's profile
Out of curiosity, is there an "international" region for smallest and coolest 2008? Because I think this would have been an excellent candidate.
view tallguylehigh's profile
This is very charming. It looks cozy and lived in, which is something you normally don't find on this site. I love all the nooks filled with books. Only thing I would recommend is something over the sofa, it looked a little bare, but other than that, this place was adorable.
view suzy8track's profile
"If I wanted to see some fanchy schmanzy place all staged for photographers and dolled out for a good photo--I'd buy a magazine. (And, occaisionally, I do.)"
So what's the point of this site, then, and why do you visit? I come here for design tips and links to cool, progressive furnishings, and ways to live better in a small space. This apartment offers none of the above, hence my critique.
As for the plants, they're all jammed into one corner behind the old chair with a bunch of other tchotchkes, and it make me want to throw the whole mess out the window...someone said my complaint was "one of the most ridiculous critiques of a space that I've ever read on this site." So I thought I'd clarify.
view Bolder's profile
what makes this noteworthy is the apartment itself, not the decor. totally ordinary!
view mjr's profile
I'm not sure what the point of the site is. It's many things to many people.
But, I think the point of the House Tour is to give us a glimpse of how ordinary folks live in their homes. This apartment tour lets me see inside an apartment on the other side of the world from me--and it isn't something I would ever ordinarily see. So, it's valuable to me for that.
And that's a good reason to visit.
view Alana in Canada's profile
I am really surprised that some folks are dismissing this place; its looks ALOT like the other European posts, and quite a bit like many U.S. homes that we have toured. Its a reno with a cool kitchen/bedroom window, a brand new IKEA kitchen, built-ins, and furnishings that have characters and are NOT mid-century modern. Also, I think all of the above are examples of HOW TO LIVE IN A SMALL SPACE without a million dollars. We've seen this before, and I think this is a lovely example. Maybe I am biased, because I just bought some houseplants and feel like they are pulling my house together. But honestly, I aspire to a house like this WAY more than than the souped up modern ones. The point being: PLEASE KEEP POSTING HOUSE TOURS LIKE THIS!
view Tara Emelye's profile
Very homey and pleasant. That chair really grosses me out though.
view jooly's profile
Great place, such beautiful light from the big windows, I could get to like living here : )
view jess p's profile
did anyone notice that god-awful painting of a vampire?
view Djluckyonline's profile
This apartment is 645sq ft and home to three people!! Wonderful!! I'll just pull a quote from Apartment therapy's mission statement to put some of these comments by the taste police into perspective...
"Creating this home doesn’t require large amounts of money or space. It requires inspiration, connection to resources and motivation to do something about it."
I don't live in America and in fairness the house tours of anything over 1000 sq ft aren't helpful. And as for comment's on taste.... guys it's just taste
view Maurs's profile
love it... proof that beautiful design doesn't have to be costly and that imperfect items can lend some soul to otherwise sterile places.
view Lucy Love's profile
It has caractere...
view emal's profile