A magazine dedicated to compact interiors

Jean-Malo and Victor’s super stylish home 52 m² Paris, France Retro-minimalism JMLC Studio

This Home Tour is from Sloft Edition 03

In the living room, there’s a picture of the beach at Monterosso al Mare, one of the five towns of the Cinque Terre, taken by photographer Kate Shanasy in 2019. Under the retro green and orange striped parasols, holiday-makers watch on as bathers dry off after a dip in the Ligurian Sea. This image fully embodies Jean-Malo and Victor’s cocoon: a one-bedroom apartment which they renovated themselves between 2021 and 2022, filled with a certain holiday feel and where nothing is left to chance.

The couple used to live in the 18th arrondissement in an apartment that they’d refurbished themselves. However, as they spent a lot of time at their holiday home in Le Touquet-Paris-Plage, where interior designer Jean-Malo works half the time, they realized that they didn’t really make the most of the two 20-square-meter balconies, which were the main advantage to the property. They needed something smaller. And they needed to throw themselves into a new adventure too. "Five years might not seem like much, but I think it’s the right time for starting a new project from scratch," the designer explains.

It was in Pigalle, a neighborhood favored for its vibrancy and food scene, that the couple discovered this 52-square-meter flat with a small balcony on the third floor of a 1970s building. "It really was in a pitiful state, which we always like, because that means we can start from a blank page and that everything needs doing." Although renovations were required throughout, Jean-Malo worked diligently to a tight budget. Without shaking things up too much, the dual-aspect apartment has been ingeniously altered. The dividing wall between the kitchen and the living room has been knocked down, and the traffic flow is now seamless, such as between the living areas and the bedroom, where the interior designer has created a transitional space which houses a small utility room. A whole bunch of bespoke design changes and details optimize comfort in this "grand hotel suite with a 1970s resort feel inspired by the building". It goes to show, holiday vibes aren’t necessarily synonymous with a laid-back attitude.