This 1970s Living Room Got a Gorgeous Makeover That Feels Like a Palace Garden
Some homes excel at bringing the outdoors in, and interior designer and illustrator Tatiana de Nicolay’s Paris apartment does exactly that — it feels like the indoor version of a lush, palatial garden. In particular, the living room has green murals with sweeping vistas, a green trellis, and massive planters. But it didn’t always look that way.
“No one had occupied the flat for 10 years, and it hadn’t been renovated for over 50 years,” Tatiana told Apartment Therapy in her house tour. The living room when she inherited it was far from the bold green and yellow that it is today; it had yellowy beige walls and was just a bit plain — but had amazing architecture and great sunlight.
Wallpaper within the wall paneling makes for amazing artwork.
“I had seen an amazing living room in someone’s house that [was] 10 meters high,” Tatiana says. “It had palms and yellow and green.” Green and yellow are her favorite colors, so she wanted to lean into those for the living room’s makeover. She started with the wallpaper decision.
Tatiana placed panels of tropical wallpaper within the molding on the walls and painted the trim a bright green, and the effect looks like framed artwork on all of the walls — or like looking through windows to the outdoors.
A trellis acts as a divider but still lets natural light flow in.
The same green paint that’s used on the wall trim is also on a garden-inspired trellis that divides the living room from a cozy reading room. There actually used to be a wall and doors there, but Tatiana and her husband had it demoed during an eight-month construction process where they made cosmetic upgrades to the apartment. “I loved creating this trellis,” Tatiana says.
The furniture is vintage — and from all over the world.
Tatiana is a big fan of flea markets, traveling, and antique shopping, and almost none of her living room furniture and decor is brand-new. A couple of her sofas were passed down from her and her husband’s grandmothers, one of the lamps is from her grandmother, and her tiger chairs are from India.
In her home tour, Tatiana describes her home as “tropical, eclectic, maximalist, happy, and young,” and her living room certainly sets the tone. To see inside another maximalist, garden-inspired apartment, check out this stunning Florida one-bedroom.
Inspired? Submit your own project here.