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The property my buddy Mike and I purchased was a hybrid of three-story Victorian home that had been was studio residences, and a low-slung Seventies addition that seemed from the skin like a classic motel with exterior entrances. That was the extent of the allure of those residences, that are about 450 sq. toes — completely serviceable, however very boring areas. Beige partitions, brown stick-on kitchen tile, boob lights, brown builder fundamental cupboards, and commercial-grade blue carpet added as much as an entire lot of blah.
The place to start out? In my eyes, you’ll be able to by no means go improper with Paris as inspiration. Mike and I had a tremendous vintage mirror that my mother, an inveterate thrift shopper, discovered on certainly one of her treasure hunts. It jogged my memory of cool mirrors I’ve seen at eating places in Paris, so it was a brief hop to touchdown on certainly one of my favourite of these eating places. Le Bon Georges is a bistro that appears like a film set of the quintessential French eatery, and I wished to channel that Parisian dream in this beige field. It felt like I’d struck gold, then, after I found a traditional blue French cafe chair at my favourite flea market.
The navy blue and gold from the colours of the chair led us to a palette that included Benjamin Moore’s Mysterious (a deep gray-blue) and Vellum (a buttery yellow). Taking the darkish and moody blue onto the cupboards and three partitions of the kitchen in a monochromatic method gave the small house a roomier really feel. We continued the blue onto the baseboard and trim by the lounge and bed room for a bit of hit of drama.
Black and white tile on the kitchen flooring performed on traditional French restaurant vibes; thrifted gold-framed artwork, a bistro desk, and antiqued mirrored tile backsplash rounded out the nod to dinner in Paris. We mix-and-matched classic and Goodwill finds with Novogratz and Goal furnishings, a system I’ve adopted in a number of extra residences since.
All the pieces was coming collectively till the gold velvet couch arrived. Whereas it was tremendous cute, it turned out to be a fairly shut colour match to the wall paint we selected. Towards the gold wall, it misplaced all of its luster. The couch wanted a backdrop that will assist it stand out, and it was too late to modify gears to wallpaper.
As an alternative of drastically altering course, we used the paint already readily available to create a function wall: a easy geometric sample of darkish blue on the gold. Echoing the sample on some throw pillows (the most effective cash you’ll be able to spend once you’re making an attempt so as to add a contact of caprice in a room, I believe!) made it look much less like a cheerful accident and extra just like the plan all alongside!
We swapped the carpet for rental-friendly, heat golden-brown LVP, and warmed up the house much more with gold within the fringed curtains. By the point we added cute new lighting fixtures, a jaunty striped bathe curtain, and a few greenery, not a hint of the outdated beige field remained — and this condominium is all the higher for it.
