PARIS IN BLOOM
Bold colour and pattern choices have turned a classic Parisian apartment into a modern family home
When an interior architect and her family moved into a classic Parisian apartment, she made it her own
When Emperor Napoléon III set Georges-Eugène Haussmann the task of redesigning Paris in the 1850s, it was a crowded and chaotic place. But Haussmann succeeded in a transformation, which brought light, air and beauty to the city, creating wide boulevards and lining them with elegant stone-fronted buildings.
In one such ‘Haussmannian’ apartment, indistinguishable from the outside from thousands of others, interior designer Delphine Estour (pictured above) has created a resolutely individual home. “Even in projects that seem classical,
I always try to create something different by adding genuine personality without going over the top,” she says.
This project had extra signifificance; the apartment has been home to Delphine, her husband and their four children since their move to the city from Provence in 2012. She fell in love with its generous proportions, as well as the chance to fit both her family home and office into the same space. “The apartment had to be a place for the life of a large family, cheerful and warm,” she says. This meant sacrificing a large master bedroom to create an office and two bathrooms, as well as transforming a room between two bedrooms into a bathroom. The resulting floorplan has space for everyone, with separate offices for Delphine and Hubert, as well as a second living room for the kids.
Joyful colour fills the home, highlighting the classic architectural features while minimising any old-fashioned formality. In the main living room, turquoise paint is splashed over the ceiling-height window frames, door frames and the intricate moulding above. “I used colourful, mismatched wallpapers in this room; they showcase the wall panelling and mouldings while softening the more austere side of Haussmann style,” says Delphine. A custom-made purple sofa