As I was surfing around the Guardian this evening, I spotted a series of images whose title attracted my eye… Vintage Charm, the French Way. Well, some of it I found completely charming, and other views of it were charmless. I’ll let you decide which is which.
The ordinary and the extraordinary exist side by side in Isabelle Puech’s Paris apartment – a converted carousel workshop in the 9th arrondissement, where merry-go-round horses were once repaired. 
The upper reaches of this vast, double-height space are accessed via a rusting spiral staircase, and three large, first world war battlefield medical kits – found, like much else, in the flea markets of Vanves and St-Ouen – are used as seating. 
Metal girders and factory lighting add to the industrial air, which is only softened by a wooden rocking chair. 
The workshop’s former office is now a kitchen, complete with distressed cabinets and charcoal-grey tiles. “Paris has been so done up that much of its texture has been lost,” says Puech, one of Paris’s best known maroquiniers (leather workers).
The old atelier’s concrete floor, battered brick walls and beamed ceiling have been left, alongside a glorious tiled floor in the main bathroom.
A second, smaller bathroom has its original sink.
The bedroom has a reclaimed filing cabinet and a distressed screen that serves as a headboard – found in a flea market. The lavender bed linen picks out similar shades in the parquet floor.
Animals hoofs and oil paintings – flea market finds – in the main living space.
So, what do you think?
I absolutely love every square inch of the place, and am ready to move in right now. But my husband would say "you're going alone, count me out."
ReplyDeleteThat first pic really got me because it looks just like your new living room would look once you install the mantel your friends at Housewerks are saving for you. That colossal mirror over the mantel is pretty neat, too.
I could certainly dream away the hours in the beautifully floored bathroom! But that radiator in an earlier photo needs a coat of paint - a little grittiness goes a long way.
ReplyDeleteSuzanne on St. Simons
Mmmmm, no. Looks too dark and grungy for me. Ann
ReplyDeleteYuk! Depressingly worse than my group house on Capitol Hill in the 80s.
ReplyDeleteThe main living space reminds me of an "Urban Outfitters/boho" look. Not my thing but the baths were tres charmant.
ReplyDeleteThis is an example of good design??? Clearly, this isn't a place where REAL people live. I'd be worried that my 4 year old would get into the rust all over the place...and the dust/whatever on the canvas medical supply bags from WWI can't be much better for her or my allergies.
ReplyDelete- Miss M.A.
so like where is the charm in cookie cutter houses built during the last 50 years? The reclaimed
ReplyDeletespace, the light the scale is charming
but some of the contents perhaps the photos don't do the choices justice!
I really, really love that sink in the second bathroom!
ReplyDeleteSerious bookshelf lust going on here. GAhhhhhhahhhhHHHHH!
ReplyDeleteI never really wanted to live in France but recently I have been watching lots of HGTV House Hunters and for some reason there have been several in France. I am quickly falling in love with the aesthetic.
ReplyDeleteLove everything except the animal hoofs *shudder*. Oh and the chandelier in the bathroom could use a few hot pink sticky notes.
ReplyDeleteI think the space has loads of possibilities and I like some of the pieces, but whilst I can handle 'distressed' wood, I'm just not big on rust. I also think that without some thought to the floor treatments, the heating bills would be astronomical. On the whole, I vote thumbs down.
ReplyDelete