Even though the apartment’s area is small, the owner made it clear that he didn’t want one open room. The designer’s team instead partitioned it, with a living area separate from the sleeping area. The former includes a discreetly and elegantly integrated kitchen, the latter has an adjoining bathroom to one side. Between the two spaces is a full-height, flush-fitting door that disappears completely when open while being barely noticeable when closed. It is aligned with the height of the windows. “In a small space, these discrepancies are noticeable and can catch one’s eye unnecessarily,” explains Magdelaine. In the apartment’s entrance hall, the kitchen unit is visible without dominating the space. Raw-finish fronts were used atop IKEA cabinets: the lower units are black with brass handles while those mounted on the wall above the work area are in gray and without handles. The worktop is in imitation marble porcelain stoneware, chosen to match the tabletop of Kho Liang Ie’s 1964 sofa in the living area.
“We wanted to create an elegant setting that wasn’t pretentious, so we used a palette of light shades and only well-crafted materials,” Magdelaine says. Vintage aluminum sconces sit next to a work by Guy de Rougemont in a chrome frame that sets it off beautifully. The designer has allowed it and other works of art, as well as the apartment’s furniture, to become the primary focus of attention. She calls out a sofa by Kho Liang Ie from 1964: “It’s like it was made for this apartment, with its 29-inch depth, room for three to sit comfortably, and its integrated marble table.” The shelves above it have a display of intriguing objects that don’t overwhelm the room; the mirror reflects daylight, but not at eye level which could be distracting. Instead, like transoms for light and reflections, they create a different perspective, though they don’t run the full length of the apartment’s walls. Other pieces of art are given enough room to be fully appreciated including a framed work by Claude Viallat resting on the floor and a bust by Louis d’Ambrosio.
