Mélanie Masarin, the 34-year-old founder of non-alcoholic aperitif brand Ghia, has transformed a compact 614-square-foot apartment in Paris's trendy Haut-Marais district into a luxurious retreat. Using secondhand furniture, light wood accents, and subtle color touches, the young entrepreneur created a cozy cocoon with glamorous appeal on a modest budget.

After relocating from New York City to Los Angeles in late 2019, Masarin initially planned to buy a house while expanding her brand Ghia, which she founded in 2019. Although her team worked from an impressive Tudor-style house in Beachwood Canyon in the Hollywood Hills, Masarin lived in a temporary solution – a small bungalow about ten minutes away in Silver Lake. Over time, the CEO increasingly felt homesick for Paris, where she had grown up. "I had no place to stay near my family, and that really weighed on me," she explains.

Despite the considerable challenges of obtaining a mortgage in France, Masarin decided to invest in her own property there. Working with several real estate agencies, it took approximately two and a half years to find what she was looking for. When she toured this fourth-floor walk-up apartment in the 3rd arrondissement, she was immediately captivated by the original floors and open kitchen. It wasn't until she entered the monochromatic pink bathroom that she realized exactly where she was. When working for American cosmetics brand Glossier, fashion expert Clara Cornet had been cast for a campaign in this very space. "I knew the bathroom," Masarin recalls.

After the birth of her son, Clara Cornet and her partner Luca Pronzato found the 614-square-foot Paris apartment too small and moved to a larger loft to accommodate their growing family. For Masarin, however, this was the ideal size for a second home that she could renovate relatively luxuriously despite a small budget. "I preferred to choose a smaller apartment and make it my jewelry box," says the entrepreneur. After receiving the keys two months later, Masarin spent the entire summer in the apartment to determine which changes were most urgently needed. "I always find it important to live in a space before changing it."

When Masarin was ready to begin renovations, she hired the same architect Cornet had worked with: Laure Chouraqui. First, they extended the kitchen by about five feet, then rounded the wall separating it from the bathroom to allow more natural light to enter. "I'm so glad the kitchen is now open to the living room because I spend a lot of time there," says Masarin. "The kitchen backsplash reflects the window and really brings a lot of light into the space."

In the next step, Chouraqui and Masarin redesigned the bedroom by removing a wall. This was partly motivated by Masarin's desire to create space for the vintage Mario Bellini sofa she had purchased from Re-per-tò-rio. "I wanted a slightly larger living room, so I decided to redesign the entire floor plan," she explains. Although the entrepreneur had to compromise on bedroom size to gain more living space, the tight quarters don't cause her sleepless nights. The floors were then leveled not once but twice, taking an additional month before the restored planks could be relaid and the tiger-pattern rug rolled out.

Masarin's Paris apartment walls are painted in warm white tones, complemented by butter-yellow door frames and panels. By also painting the ceiling beams white, the space now appears brighter and airier. Light wood furniture and paneling fill the apartment with warmth, particularly including a dining table and chairs from Chapo Création, a company that continues the legacy of French furniture designer Pierre Chapo. "My family is from southern France, and Chapo is very well known there since his workshop was in Gordes," explains the resident.

Most items were acquired secondhand, including a coffee table from Maison Regain – another nod to her French roots – which she bought from Chouraqui. "Coffee tables with ceramic tops are very typical of southern France, and I wanted exactly this style," explains the owner. "This table, for example, was in my architect's office. She has an Instagram account where she shows how she visits flea markets throughout the country to discover treasures."

The Smeg stove was one of the most difficult pieces to find, having been discontinued years ago. Masarin finally managed to snag one from an eBay seller in London. "It ended up being much more expensive than it should have been, but everyone who comes to the apartment makes a comment about this stove, which I really love."

For the bathroom, Masarin drew inspiration from designs by French interior architect and designer Andrée Putman. She worked with Carter Inskeep-Rosenfeld and Benedetta Pisani from French-Italian design manufacturer Almarmo to design the marble feet for her nearly 310-pound bathtub from Jacob Delafon. "I really wanted the space to look beautiful and be equipped with noble materials, yet not appear too extravagant," says the entrepreneur. No trace of pink remains in the bathroom. Instead, Masarin had the floor covered with small cream-colored tiles with brown grout that harmonizes with the chocolate brown marble of the vanity countertop and tub feet.

Masarin's dishware collection displayed on wall shelves includes cups by Peter Shire, glasses from Sophie Lou Jacobsen x Ghia collaboration, and Japanese glassware. On the stove sits a stainless steel kettle by Aldo Rossi for Alessi. The vintage Smeg oven completes the kitchen's aesthetic. Instead of a record player that would take up considerable space, Masarin chose a wall-mounted CD player – the Beosound 9000 from Hifi Vintage. "I thought: wouldn't it be nice to have a curated playlist for the apartment, like you would create for a hotel?" she explains.

For her bedroom, Masarin designed a custom bedspread from recycled sweaters by The Elder Statesman, complemented by curtains from Nordic Knots and an Akari light by Noguchi. "When I'm there, I'm happy every day to wake up there," she says. The living room features a Le Bambole sofa – a vintage purchase reupholstered in Schumacher mohair velvet, decorated with pillows by Sohn and a throw by Tekla. "Originally the sofa was thick jute that looked like a pretty potato sack," Masarin notes.

After a two-and-a-half-year apartment search and an eight-month renovation phase, Masarin would immediately repeat the remodeling project. And she might have to: "The only thing I'm missing in this apartment is a second bedroom," she says. "People always ask me if they can stay overnight. Is there still room for improvement?" The apartment also features a custom desk paired with a chair from Chapo Création and a pendant light from Louis Poulsen, with walls painted in Harvest Moon by Backdrop.

"My apartment in Paris is very calm," says Mélanie Masarin. "When you come in, everything seems so peaceful." The transformation from the original pink-tiled bathroom to the sophisticated chocolate marble accents exemplifies how thoughtful design choices and a curated selection of vintage and custom pieces can create a luxurious atmosphere in a compact urban space. The project demonstrates that with creativity, patience, and attention to detail, even the smallest apartments can become extraordinary sanctuaries.