Interior designer Louis Denavaut was entrusted with the renovation of a beautiful 110m2 apartment located in an Art Nouveau style building in the 14th arrondissement of Paris.
The former owner of the apartment, a nightclub owner, was inspired by Slavik’s Drugstore on the Champs Elysées. Denavaut retained the existing structure of the apartment, with its curved walls and arched doors, while incorporating custom-made furniture. The interior designer also kept the apartment’s beautiful stained glass windows, its soft colours echoed in the pastel grey-green ceiling.
When it came to the furniture, the client chose stained oak in the spirit of designs from the 1920s or 1970s, but with a contemporary twist.
The sofa traces the curve of the existing wall, which was mirrored on the opposite side of the room by a bespoke bench.
“The challenge of this sofa was to bring together the 1920s and the 1970s. The overall shape is inspired by an XXL toad sofa, prolific at the end of the 19th to the beginning of the 20th century, and the profile takes up an iconic piece by Pierre Paulin, yet simplified. The result is akin to a car seat that has gone through all these eras,” explains the designer.
The oak dining table is composed of a disc of Portuguese white marble, precisely calibrated at its base to form a single piece. A black oak console table is an elegant response to the naturalism of the stained glass.
A technical feat by cabinet-maker Mathieu Esclassan from the legendary École Boulle, the idea was to create an organic object with an edge that curves back on itself. Its lines were inspired by the quivering lines of a Salvador Dali painting.
The tailor-made pendant lights in the living room complete the scene. According to Denavaut, he used very modern, geometric shapes, like the cover of an old techno album. Created using a artisanal technique, the pendant lights are made from linen.
In the kitchen, an expressive marble was used throughout to create continuity with the ornamentation of the stained glass windows in the living room. The stained oak cabinets provides contrast and lends the room a timeless quality.
The bathroom uses the same eye-catching stone found in the kitchen. A marble cube giving the sensation of being in the ocean, swept away in the foam. The bathroom is perhaps the most impressive technical achievement of this project.
“This cube installation, with its minimalist shape and very organic pattern, brings an ornamental touch to the room in itself. Its realisation was very, very technical”, confides Louis Denavaut.
To adorn the walls, as an art enthusiast, Denavaut selected paintings by artists Chloé Vanderstraeten and Camille Chevrillon as well as tapestries from the Pinton house.
