Miss Rose contacted me from Philadelphia in the midst of the pandemic to ask if I would be willing to make her a pied à terre in the Marais. An American who had fallen in love with France, she dreamed of being able to offer herself a refuge in Paris. In this particular health context, the urgency to live her dreams took precedence. The flat was bought from a distance and we worked together on the project by skype. It was a great way to escape from everyday life by defying the prohibitions, to meet around a project that offered us a beautiful escapade in the imagination. Miss Rose has that quiet determination that breaks down all obstacles; that confidence and emotional generosity that carries you along. She knew even before she bought the flat that I was going to make her nest and she accompanied us throughout the construction with a patience and enthusiasm that made this adventure an exceptional moment.
The flat being of modest size -16 m2- the challenge was to make it both easy to live in and to give it character. There was no option to separate the kitchen from the living area. As a result, the colours of the kitchen area blended in with the rest of the room and the upper cupboards were transformed into a fresco. The lounge area with its bench seat dressed in fabrics in the spirit of a four-poster bed and its Antoinette Poisson wallpaper is transformed into a bedroom at night, with the curtains hiding the storage units. The white marble top serves as a desk near the bookcase and as a dining room table. The bathroom, entirely dressed in zelliges, is discreetly refined with its Moorish motifs and uses every nook and cranny to hide storage space.
The choice of materials for the construction as well as the furniture and objects have in common a kind of modesty and nobility. Most of them are made by human hands and carry an authenticity: zelliges handmade in North Africa, terracotta floor tiles from a workshop that has been using the same kilns and traditional manufacturing processes for more than 100 years, fabrics woven in an African village, such as the suspension made of vegetable fibre, a cardboard frame made by my friend Béatrice, textile collage and ceramics from the 1950’s which bear the sensibility of their creators, chestnut armchairs made from generation to generation by the same family, wallpapers made by heritage restorers who bring back to life the know-how of dominoté paper, mirrors made of natural wicker and rattan in the pure tradition of basketry… Each choice is motivated by know-how, a craft dimension but also a true artistic expression. All the styles and motifs telescope in a joyful round: the very French 18th century motifs in the alcove, the fabrics with stripes and checks designed by a Norwegian stylist and made in Africa, the Turkish carpet with traditional designs, the Nordic-inspired coffee table, the very Parisian bistro table and its Polish armchair signed Henryk Szataba… There is in this decor imagined for Miss Rose, behind the wise and discreet side, a little grain of madness and exuberance which suits her so well.
