A vast Haussmannian apartment

• architect : Isabelle Bouchet
• palette :
  • rose de naples
  • celadon
  • terre grise
  • constantine

Three questions for the architect, Isabelle Bouchet

What are the specific features of this space?

It’s a typically Haussmannien, 155 m² apartment, with a living-dining room, two bedrooms, an office, two bathrooms and a large kitchen. It is a vast area with great height, which gave me an opportunity to play with space and colour.

How did you redesign the space?

I wanted to keep it authentic, to create a specific, mellow atmosphere in which time seems to stand still, yet without being dated. Two rooms stand out in particular: the master bathroom, where I kept the old parquet and turned a bookshelf into a basin unit, and the very spacious kitchen, where furniture picked up in second-hand shops gives a warm, country feel.

What palette of Argile colours was used in this apartment?

I created rhythm in the space by choosing colours which give it lightness: the fresh delicate green of constantine for the kitchen, the powdery softness of rose de naples for the entrance hall and the office, the serenity of céladon for the master bedroom and the gentleness and simplicity of terre grise for the second bedroom, the small bathroom and the alcoves in the large bathroom.

Photos : Daphné Bengoa

A light-filled apartment in the mountains

• architect : Isabelle Bouchet
• palette :
  • sable blanc
  • sable gris

Three questions for the architect, Isabelle Bouchet

What was this space like to start with?

In fact it was five separate studios, two of which were duplexes. The owners wanted to have a single apartment which could accommodate a large family and a couple of friends, particularly during the winter holidays.

How did you reorganise all these spaces?

I joined them together by removing the load-bearing walls to form a single apartment offering 125 m² of very pure space, in which light is the dominant feature.

What palette of Argile colours was used in this apartment?

The interior architecture was designed to intensify the general brightness and create a true haven. I therefore opted for two soft and very refined shades, sable blanc and sable gris, which match each other perfectly. They set off the many wooden features in the apartment which underscore its particularly warm and comfortable character.

Photos : Frenchie Cristogatin

An apartment in an industrial building

• palette :
  • terre blanche
  • jaune d'islande
  • noir de rome

Three questions for the owner, Renaud T.

Can you describe your apartment for us?

It’s a 90 m² open space in an industrial building dating from the 1950s. Its most striking feature, and what makes it so bright, is the forty or so windows that run the length of the apartment.

How have you converted it?

We have created a central living area, which connects the “parents' end” with the “children’s end”, which is literally bathed in light. The bedrooms have been designed to be practical and comfortable, and like all the areas, mix vintage furniture with made-to-measure wooden furniture.

What palette of Argile colours was used in this apartment?

If I had to define it, I would say our style is both pop and retro. So in order to emphasise the colourful furniture and decorations, we chose to paint almost all the walls in terre blanche. Then we used colour in large blocks: in the kitchen, the furniture is in jaune d’islande laque satinée, emphasised by the wall in noir de rome. We used noir de rome again in a teenager’s bedroom to make their pictures stand out.

Photos : Eve Taraborrelli et Dominique Clerc

A Directoire duplex apartment

• architect : Isabelle Bouchet
• palette :
  • terre de bohême
  • bleu cendré
  • albus
  • sable blanc
  • terre bleue

Three questions for the architect, Isabelle Bouchet

What was this space like to start with?

It was a family apartment created in the 1940s by joining together two apartments on two levels. The Directoire-style building dates from the late 18th century, so before Haussmann's renovation of Paris. Although it’s on the second and third floor it has very high ceilings (3.2 metres) so is beautifully light.

How did you reorganise all these spaces?

I wanted to give it back its initial identity: I removed everything that was masking that, including a number of cupboards, and reorganised the rooms by taking away a few partition walls.

What was your palette of Argile colours for this apartment?

I used terre de bohême as a unifying shade for the walls in the hall, on the ground floor and the open areas upstairs, whilst leaving the ceilings white. I highlighted this choice in the drawing room with a bookcase in bleu cendré. I heightened this in the master bedroom upstairs by choosing a deeper blue, terre bleue, which contrasts with sable blanc in the en-suite bathroom. Lastly, for the other bedroom I chose albus, which leaves great scope for decoration.

The Hoxton hotel

• Interior design : Nicemakers/Dax Roll et Joyce Urbanus
• palette :
  • vert d’égypte
  • lubéron
  • sinople
  • rouge de pozzuoli
  • bleu burlington
  • terre jaune
  • bleu cendré
  • vert antique

Three questions for the interior designer, Joyce Urbanus

What style of architecture have you brought colour to?

This hotel is a combination of five historic 17th century houses along a canal in Amsterdam. We wanted to lighten up this imposing place with an elegant, youthful and fresh atmosphere.

Your use of colour in the corridors is very original.

In such an old building, corridors are often long, monotonous and boring. We provided rhythm with bold, colourful shades that brought the walls and doors to life, and broke up the uniformity by giving it character.

How did you choose your palette?

We worked by harmonies: vert d’égypte and lubéron, terre jaune, sinople and lubéron, vert antique and bleu Burlington… This limited palette of deep, rich and understated hues is set off by subtle lighting from bronze wall lamps. It's also reminiscent of the way paintings are lit. After all, we are in Rembrandt’s home town…

Photos : Alan Jensen

A Lille-based interior decorator’s shop

• Interior decorator : Rémy Motte
• palette :
  • terre de feu
  • venezia
  • noir de rome
  • pialousse
  • écorce de platane

Three questions for Rémy Motte, interior decorator and antique dealer

How do you choose a colour?

Decoration must above all be in harmony with a place. It's also important to tap into the sensibilities of the person who lives there: their inclination for a fabric, a piece of furniture or a colour. Then with that person, create a harmony that will be unique to them.

Can you give us an example?

Recently, I designed a piece of furniture for a collector of earthenware to display their pieces. To showcase their collection, which is a lifetime’s work, I devised a “labyrinth bookcase" and had it painted in two shades: terre de feu for the back and venezia for the structure and the edges of the shelves.

You design pieces but you also find furniture and objects in antique shops?

I design depending on the project or according to my inspiration. The “console suspended in time” in brushed steel, with a top in waxed concrete, offers a mosaic of contrasting grey and black. To emphasise its minimalist character, I have placed it against a wall painted in noir de rome. This is a black which, like all Argile shades, is both subtle and very intense. Likewise, the elegance of an 18th century cabriole-legged chest of drawers from the Castres region is set off against a wall in pialousse, and the more classical character of this Louis XVI chest of drawers, patinated in écorce de platane, is highlighted against a wall also painted in écorce de platane.

Photos : David Meignan

RÉMY MOTTE
202, rue Jean Jaurès
59491 Villeneuve d’Ascq
+33 (0)3 20 89 88 91
www.remy-motte.fr

A vast Haussmannian apartment

• architect : Isabelle Bouchet
• palette :
  • rose de naples
  • celadon
  • terre grise
  • constantine

Three questions for the architect, Isabelle Bouchet

It’s a typically Haussmannien, 155 m² apartment, with a living-dining room, two bedrooms, an office, two bathrooms and a large kitchen. It is a vast area with great height, which gave me an opportunity to play with space and colour.

How did you redesign the space?

I wanted to keep it authentic, to create a specific, mellow atmosphere in which time seems to stand still, yet without being dated. Two rooms stand out in particular: the master bathroom, where I kept the old parquet and turned a bookshelf into a basin unit, and the very spacious kitchen, where furniture picked up in second-hand shops gives a warm, country feel.

What palette of Argile colours was used in this apartment?

I created rhythm in the space by choosing colours which give it lightness: the fresh delicate green of constantine for the kitchen, the powdery softness of rose de naples for the entrance hall and the office, the serenity of céladon for the master bedroom and the gentleness and simplicity of terre grise for the second bedroom, the small bathroom and the alcoves in the large bathroom.