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Bright orange, azure blue, deep red, pine green…it’s fair to say that Julien and Louis love vibrant colors. And with good reason: in their 55 m² apartment, just a stone’s throw from the Porte de Clignancourt, these two thirty-somethings decided to recreate the décor of the 1970s and 1980s – the apex of color in interior design.
Back in 2023, when Julien and Louis decided to take the real estate plunge, they were already living together in the affluent Lamarck neighborhood. Louis is a dental surgeon and Julien runs the magazine Griffé, which tells the story of fashion through iconic houses such as Margiela, Mugler and Kenzo. The couple knew what they wanted: light, space and simplicity: “It was out of the question to live in a Haussmann-style building,” Julien explains. “We wanted to get away from the somewhat boring Parisian good taste.”
In search of a 1970s-1980s property, Julien and Louis had no idea that they would find their new home on their second viewing… or by complete happenstance: “We were at a café,” recalls Julien, “killing three hours between visits. I saw an agency across the street, so I went in and we went to see the place right there and then.”
Located in a diverse, somewhat working-class neighborhood, the building has all the hallmarks of a 1971 construction: a boxy, six-story design with large windows and no wasted space. The apartment itself occupies a corner of the fourth floor, and everything was still in its original state, as there had been only one owner. Work was needed, but the couple is already envisioning themselves in this light-filled, one-bedroom apartment. Not to mention no neighbors across the way… a real plus in Paris.
Upon entering, Julien was struck by an aesthetic detail: the orange tiles that decorate the kitchen. “It all started with this period backsplash,” he says. “It comes from Portugal. I literally fell in love with it during the visit. The rest of the apartment was designed around it.”
The kitchen thus now has a 1970s Mediterranean feel, with a wooden countertop, orange floor tiles, pine green wicker-mesh cupboards and terracotta walls. “I wanted something bold,” says Julien. “Either you like it or you don’t. But there’s no middle ground!”
The same goes for the bathroom: the couple took the sink as a starting point and created a walk-in shower area, separated by a glass brick wall. On the floor, they kept the original tiny, gray-green hexagonal floor tiles. And on the wall, matte white tiles by Mutina complete the picture.
The living room, meanwhile, is an explosion of color: “I took a stand against Japanese minimalism and Scandinavian style,” Julien explains. First there is the color of the wood: the oak floor is echoed in the table and chairs, the chest of drawers, but above all in the large bookcase, which occupies an entire section of the wall. Custom-designed, it houses a splendid collection of fashion magazines, as well as a television, concealed under two metal plates.
Then there are the warm colors of the various decorative items: lamps, vases, chairs and stools, ornaments that have been found in flea markets and jumble sales. But the highlight has to be the collection of photographs, scattered throughout the apartment and showing a black and white funeral procession here, a Japanese family there, or images of 1970s Paris parties. “I collect old photos and anonymous slides,” says Julien. “I have about 8,000 of them.” Enough to inspire conversation with the many friends that Julien and Louis like to invite to dinner.
