“We have been dividing our time between Paris and the country for several years, and we realized that we needed a pied-à-terre here, especially after the pandemic. We were looking for something not far from the flea market that felt decidedly Parisian. Then we found this 614-square-foot space near Avenue Junot, in the 18th arrondissement,” says Jérémy Pradier, copartner with Aurélien Jeauneau of the Pradier-Jeauneau gallery, which is about to open at a new location on Paris’s Rue de Verneuil.
When Jérémy and Aurélien took possession of their Parisian apartment, it was in need of a refresh. While there was no major structural work to be done, it did require some touch ups. The duo decided to do it all themselves. “We’re really lucky in that our job requires us to visit customers in their homes. By answering questions like ‘Where do you think it should go?’ and ‘Would it look better here?’ we learned a lot about decorating.” The two gallery owners decided to recreate the moldings, reclad the metal mantelpiece to make a console, and created a common theme to the home in the form of a large wall, painted green, that runs along one side of the apartment beginning at the entryway. It serves to both organize the circulation of the space and add color.
Naturally, the apartment quickly became a place to store and try out the gallerists’ finds, a habit the couple developed when they first started their business and which they now continue with their boutique. “Before working with a new artist, we hang their work on a wall and we live with it. When we don’t have room for a piece of furniture at the shop on Paul Bert, like Isabelle Stanislas’s new daybed, we bring it home. So, for us, it’s a kind of blank page that gives rise to the eclectic approach that has become our identity over the years.” The couple develops a real intimacy with their works: Their furniture and objects are always things that they love and that embody their different likes. There are also old magazines and Aurélien’s archives as a historian of design. Works by artists who drop by to show what they are working on fill the apartment as well. This home also has a certain sense of maturity. “It comes at a new time in our lives. We know where we want to go, we know what we’re going to do next, so it’s a place that allows us to explore. It’s more thought-out or maybe more thought-through in terms of colors.”