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Before and After: From Scary to Shabby Chic
Côté Maison reader Serge purchased a dilapidated retirement home in the Bordeaux region of France after leaving a duplex in Paris. The exterior had already been partially restored but the house still needed a lot of work. Two years and thousands of euros later, he and his wife had redone the roofing, floors, bathrooms, bedrooms, electricity, tiles, garden, pool, and even planted 360 saplings!
Coveted Crib: An Art Collector's Curated Minimalism
When you are an art collector, you don't need an interior designer or even color on your walls to have a painfully coveted crib. In the town of Lille in northern France, a French art collector turned a former textile factory into a 557-square-foot loft with a patio. He kept the mill's original crisscross shaped trusses and painted everything white, including beautiful features like cast-iron columns.
Home Away From Home: Hôtel Duc du St. Simon
You can stay in a modern, white-walled, Kartell'd hotel in any city in the world. But if Paris is your getaway, why not surround yourself with quintessential French style? Hôtel Duc du St.
Roundup: Joyeux Bastille Day!
Happy Bastille Day! While we can be grateful to the French for many things, including croques monsieur, Audrey Tatou, margarine, carbaret, etc., I'd like to applaud la France for pumping out decades of innovative and influential design. Yes, this would include la Tour Eiffel and Impressionism, but today I'm going to focus on furniture and interior accessories.
Colette Commissions Lisa Fontanarosa Collection Wire Art
You may not know your Left Bank from your Right Bank, or have ever stepped foot on French soil, but you've probably heard of Colette, the fashion and design temple of Paris. The preeminent concept boutique hails art-loving hipsters from near and far, and regularly organizes exhibitions with both up-and-coming and established artists — including my beloved interiors photographer Todd Selby. Colette's latest exposition is MeWeCycle, a project curated by Karta Healy featuring a collection of designers’ work, based on their love of the bicycle and creative recycling.
Get the Look: Amelie's Bedroom
Amélie Poulain took not only France but the world by storm. We were all swept away by her quirky French je ne sais quoi, awkward naïveté, and childlike demeanor. Of course, the movie Amélie also made an impression from an artistic standpoint.
Love It or Hate It? Martin the Mule Secretary Desk
French company Ibride recently gave a sneak preview of this new design, Martin, a contemporary mule-shaped secretary, at the Maison & Objet trade show in Paris. Not only does Martin's body serve as convenient storage for books and papers, but it incorporates lighting and Ethernet cords into the design, using them as a "reins" for the mule. I find it hilarious and whimsical, but obviously it's not for everyone, or every home.Source
Love It or Hate It?
Love It or Hate It? Post-It Art
This pixel-esque Post-It wall art, See You, was designed by Bénédicte Bailly and is currently on exhibition at the Maison & Objet design trade show in Paris. I love this innovative use of an affordable, everyday item; it's not only creative, but visually striking and cheerful. What do you think?Source
Love It or Hate It?
Christian Lacroix Says Adieu to His Painfully Chic Paris Pad
I have died and gone to real estate heaven. Haute couturier Christian Lacroix has put his 2,150-square-foot apartment in the tragically hip and fashion-centric Marais district of Paris on the market for nearly $2.6 million. I couldn't help but snoop around for photos, and I almost wish I hadn't: the pad has the unrivaled style of a Carrie Bradshaw ensemble and is plush with original Parisian details such as gilded moldings and French doors opening onto petite balconies.
Coveted Crib: An Unconventional French Cottage
From the exterior, Gary and Samantha Peterson's Chamonix cottage, which was featured in Marie Claire Maison, is resolutely a traditional Alpine house. But push open its front door, and you'll be confronted with cheerfully decorated interiors bursting with acid colors, massively proportioned spaces, and walls dressed in white, throwing you into a ski vacation universe turned upside down. Despite the fact that all conventions have been thrown to the wind, and your average cottage kitsch is notably missing, the Petersons' cottage is a welcoming mountain escape, and certainly what I'd call a coveted crib.
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