Joseph Dirand describes his new Paris apartment as “Ornamental Minimalism”. As always in any Joseph Dirand’s creation, the craftmanship is front and center. Take a look at his previous apartment here. “I create space with equilibrium and a classic base.” Yet “there are details and compositions,” he told AD. The spacious apartment has breathtaking views of Paris while in the interior sumptuous stones and unique marbles embellish much of the surfaces.
Plaster walls work as a soothing canvas for the ornate iron stair railing and parquet de Versailles floor.
Paris bistro Le Chardenoux is located in the 11th arrondissement, an area known for its gourmet restaurants and hip bars. The stunning restaurant Le Chardenoux is the latest acquisition of Chef Cyril Lignac who hired Martin Brudnizski to give it a fresh decor; Martin is the designer behind the fashionable London club Annabel’s. The bistro features beautiful belle epoque influences with wall mirrors, perfect moldings, a stunning hand painted ceiling, red velvet banquets, brass lighting, and Laduree-like green walls.
Simplicity doesn’t mean sterile, and a fisherman house doesn’t always imply unworldly either. Quite often good design is harder to interpret in simple, authentic ways than in grand, opulent ways. As this charming fisherman house shows, good Interior Design embraces the home instead of disguising it. Christian Liaigre took inspiration from the 18th-century architecture in Île de Ré, an Island of the West Coast of France, to decorate his family country home. The rusticity found in the unspoiled island is interpreted in the design details of the house from the understated facade with its simple main door to the original white painted panels throughout inside the home. The main red doors Liaigre saw in his trip to Nantucket inspired the touches of red dotting around the house. “This is a simple home for a fisherman, and that is reflected in the decoration” Christian Liaigre
When I saw Jean Louis Deniot‘s chateau in Chantilly, the first thought that came to mind was Neoclassical reference with a sense of drama and a dose of modern touches. In Jean Louis Deniot’s hands, such modern touches are never boring or plain as it’s often found in modern design but instead are also rooted in the classics. He usually emphasizes the classical details further by adding more molding and painting them in contrasting tones to make them more pronounced… Jean Louis Deniot’s Chateau in Chantilly is one of his first homes… when he purchased it, it was practically abandoned with only one bathroom and one bedroom. The proximity to Paris was what interested him and prompted him to buy the country house. Deniot redid everything converting the chateau in a seven-bedroom home over three floors. ‘When you create something that is one hundred percent contemporary, it can feel quite soulless. When you create something timeless, it’s because you don’t want it to feel out of fashion’ Deniot says. A very similar statement to what I said when I posted about Interpreting Classic Style in Home Decor. Of course, modern and contemporary design can also be inspired in the classics.
I understand when Betty Catroux says that all she likes to do in her home in Provence is ‘to drink wine and gaze at beauty’ because that’s must of what we did for the past two weeks during our vacation there… and there is little else I’d like to do more… Elle Decor‘s current issue features Francois and Betty Catroux’s Provençal home, Les Ramades, in Lourmarin, in the Luberon region. The 10 acres home has a stunning Provençal garden, swimming pool and tennis court… The couple goes to the property on the weekend to relax and break away from the daily routine…
Two of the many charming features are the vaulted ceilings and the unusual stone floor, which Francois had made of cement with embedded river stones. The courtyard garden is my favorite place in the house… I can only imagine the sublime experience of having my breakfast every day and drink my cafe con leche among the scent of fresh herb, cypress tree, and laurel… ah… revert…
Another view of the living space with the fireplace in the background and a sculptural pendant that Catroux designed. The costume stone floor seems to be used all throughout the home. The floor that looks like a Moroccan rug is rather a cement floor with embedded river stones that Francois had custom made.