Interior designer Nicolas Payet transformed a dilapidated 16 m² concierge lodge into a house dressed in Majorelle blue. Enough to feel like you’re on vacation in the heart of Paris.
Nicolas Payet has something of a magician. Without a magic wand but with a restructuring thought out to the millimeter, a good dose of colors – the signature of his agency, Marn – and careful work around light, this interior designer transformed a 16 m² concierge lodge and shared shared toilets of 1 m² in a micro-house on two levels.
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Light source
“The lodge was very dilapidated, abandoned. It consisted of a large room and a tiny kitchen area, there was no toilet or bathroom. Everything was in a faded 1950s style, he explains. But there were some great assets. First of all, the ceiling height of 3.55 m, which we immediately decided to exploit. Customers were also able to recover the courtyard which until then served as a garbage room. We have privatized it by creating a wall and it is now accessed via the door of the old common toilets, which were also acquired by the owners. This small outdoor space is enclosed between three buildings. So it’s not very clear. But it is a godsend, because it is the source of light in the apartment. All my work has been to think about the different living areas according to this source. It particularly illuminates the small desk/dining table, which folds down along the wall, and the chaise longue, two important pieces of furniture in the studio.”
Nicolas Payet
Benedicte Drummond
Daily life
Indeed, the happy couple who own this sublime lodge are currently using it as a work space, before housing their son there or renting it out. She is a hypnotherapist, a long armchair was essential to receive her patients. He works in television and cinema production: he needed an office.
“Everything here has been designed with the functions necessary for daily life and not for purely professional use,” insists Nicolas. This is how a mezzanine with a half guardrail allowing light to circulate was created in the part opposite the windows. Under 1.25 m of ceiling height, it accommodates a double bed and a clever headboard which serves as both storage and bedside tables. At this level, a hiding place has even been integrated to camouflage the water heater and electrical connections. This bedroom is accessed via a staircase in Majorelle blue, from Ressource, a color that punctuates the entire studio.
Nicolas Payet
Benedicte Drummond
Sliced colors
“I am a supporter of strong colors in dark spaces,” explains Nicolas Payet. Unlike white, this allows you to cope with the lack of light and bring personality. This staircase, whose wall is covered with wallpaper with a floral pattern, a wish of the client who wanted to add touches of romanticism, is really a strong element. Especially since it starts from the front door. It is immediately visible.”
Under the mezzanine, Nicolas has fitted out a bathroom with comfortable toilets. “The shower is 80cm x 120cm, which is large for a studio of this type. We opted for a pocket door which slides in the partition when it is open and therefore does not obstruct traffic.”
Nicolas Payet
Benedicte Drummond
Aesthetics and practicality
On the same side as the bathroom, still nestled under the mezzanine, the kitchen with its hotplates, its fridge, its oven, and even its washing machine also combines aesthetics and practicality.
“With so few square meters, it is necessary to opt for tailor-made. But we were still able to use IKEA cupboard modules which we recut and dressed with Plum fronts, a delicate pink. There is even, in this small kitchen, a server which has several functions. It serves as a bar in the kitchen, serves as a backrest for the chaise longue on the living room side and has a role as a privacy screen, because it allows household appliances to be concealed when my client’s patients are seated on the chaise longue. As an extension of this sofa, we were able to create a large storage space in which niches are integrated thanks to the annexation of the common toilets.
Nicolas Payet
Benedicte Drummond
Attention to detail
Nothing was left to chance and this attention to detail, which required four months of work, is also very present in the decorative elements. Everywhere there are curves, arcades, very sensual alcoves…
“The initial volume was very rectilinear, there was a blocky appearance which was not very warm. So I broke this cube by integrating rounded shapes. In short, I softened the angles!” As a result, everything here exudes sweetness and joy of living and, a few steps from Place des Ternes, in Paris, you almost feel like you are in a tiny house near the Mediterranean, a mini-refuge far from the hustle and bustle of the city.
Nicolas Payet
Benedicte Drummond
marn-deco.com
