While I was leafing through Dressing the Home this week, another home stopped me in my tracks. It belonged to French fashion designer Marcel Marongiu. The designer studied in Sweden and also has a Swedish mother which accounts for his the slightly Gustavian look to his Paris apartment and Normandy farmhouse. Both are filled with pieces with patina in a neutral palette with hits of black. Even his black dog coordinates with his homes.
These first five photos are of the Paris apartment which is about 645 square feet. It doesn't look that small and also has a terrace which is also a plus in a small space.
There is a video tour of the apartment from Interieurs in French but you can get a better sense of the layout and "non-color" of which the designer is fond. In the video, it looks like he's painted some of the walls dark grey too.
I think he might have said the dining chairs were from his grandmother in the video. Maybe one of you who are fluent in French can confirm. Update: Thanks to Pierre in Montreal who confirmed that the chairs belonged to Marcel's Swedish grandparents. He also let me know that the chandelier was wired but he removed them to allow for candles instead. There is nothing better chicer than dining by candlelight!
The screen divides the living room from the bedroom and adds texture. Even though the space is neutral, every piece has a lovely patina or interesting detail that make it anything but boring.
Here you can see the grey paint that is visible in the video. It makes the lighter upholstered pices pop in the room.
The artwork above the bed draws your upward so that you don't even notice that the bed sits directly on the floor.
The small size of the Paris apartment probably doesn't bother the designer since he can get away to his farmhouse in Normandy for a little more space.
The designer was creative from a young age and said it started with painting. After that came fashion and interior design. "There is no limit to creativity. I have shaped a world in order to surround myself with an environment in which I feel good," he said.
"Interior decoration must not stifle the people who live in it. For me, the setting is always in equilibrium, in harmony with the people who live in it." The designer says he likes to mix "eighteenth-century, the Nordic style of the 1950's and 60's, Scandinavian design and a little touch of ethnic, often from North Africa or India."
His favorite material is "old wood or wood that has acquired a patina through time, together with silver; a very natural, unvarnished side combined with a refined touch, but one that ages with the years. Always, this idea of time."
Marcel Marongiu had his own line but the link to his website doesn't work so I'm not sure if he still designs under his own name. He does design for the house of Guy Laroche in Paris. It's nice to know he has such a gorgeous place to get away from it all and recharge his creative batteries. I wonder if he likes visitors!
Photos from Dressing the Home and Marie Claire Maison
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