Architect and interior designer Juliette Rubel has transformed a small apartment in Paris into a stunning modern living space, combining straight lines, striking natural stone, and vibrant colors to create an open environment perfect for both daily living and entertaining guests.
The 657-square-foot apartment on Boulevard Richard Lenoir belongs to Rubel herself, who purchased it two and a half years ago in a classic Haussmann building made of cut stone. "I really wanted to engage creatively with the Haussmann style," explains the architect. The renovation began with a complete redesign of the spatial layout: instead of three rooms, there are now two, with the kitchen opening onto the living room and designed in a bar style – ideal for receiving guests.
Thanks to the new floor plan, the living area was maximized in proportion to the apartment's size. An arched opening leading into the kitchen inspired Rubel's design for the bathroom door and the transition from the entrance area to the living room. This was enhanced by an arched passageway that echoes the arched windows of the living room, creating a more contemporary style that forms a beautiful contrast with the apartment's moldings, fireplace, and cornices.
Rubel designed the interior almost exclusively with natural materials. She used stone in the kitchen and bathroom – quartzite from Brazil and Calacatta marble – which was employed for both the flooring and the cladding of built-in furniture, such as the bar and bathtub. Walls and ceilings were wrapped in a beige all-over look, while mirror elements reflect incoming daylight. "The idea is to create more depth on this side. To give the impression that it's a transitional space," she explains.
The herringbone parquet flooring was retained and sanded down. The parquet floor extends all the way to the kitchen, which from the dining room looks like a bar in a small restaurant. "And that's exactly how it was intended!" Rubel notes. With a suspended ceiling construction like in a bar, the design is linear and mirrored to reflect the ceiling moldings. This also counteracts the heaviness of the element, which is nothing more than additional storage space for the kitchen.
The suspended construction, which provides more dynamism and lightness, was made from dark oak, as were the custom-made legs of the dining table designed by the architect, the shelves of the wall library, and the long bench that extends under the windows along the wall of the large living area – providing valuable storage space in the limited area. The lower compartments of the hanging shelf above the kitchen island are designed to be open, not only to decorate them with objects, but also to direct the view from the entrance area to the three windows in the living room and thus improve the sense of space.
The dining area was placed in front of the kitchen island in a bar look. Around a custom-made table by Juliette Rubel stand a Bertoia chair, Kembo armchairs, and a vintage Tulip chair by Eero Saarinen. The island is illuminated by the Brumbury light by Luigi Massoni, while a Panthella light stands on the custom-made bench that runs along the facade windows. The wall is adorned with a colorful lithograph by Wang Guangyi; to the right of it, a light sculpture by artist Guy Bareff.
The continuous bench not only provides storage but also hides the radiators while offering casual seating for guests. It also enables flexible use of space and serves as additional seating in relation to the dining table, as it can be moved along the bench. The dining table top was made from Brazilian quartzite in gray and white tones – the same stone used for the kitchen island and kitchen floor. The material is ideal for the kitchen as it is acid-resistant, unlike marble. Therefore, the architect clad all surfaces of the block-shaped island with quartzite.
While the kitchen is characterized by light quartzite, Rubel used Calacatta marble in beige and brown tones for the bathroom. The interior designer deliberately chose the marble because slabs of the material are often discarded due to their pronounced veining. "It's a type of Calacatta that's not particularly noble, but I like it because of its contrasts. It was about showcasing this stone and coordinating the rest with it, so I worked with mirrors that double and change various perspectives," she explains.
For the upper area of the walls, the designer chose a calmer solution of the lightest possible concrete, as only the lower area of the bathroom walls is clad with veined and textured marble. The fixtures are copper-colored, matching the tones of the vanity top, bathtub, and floor. A subtly orange note is provided by a lightly tinted mirror that reflects the color ensemble. The round mirror contrasts with the straight lines of the furnishings and picks up the round arch form of the passageway.
The walls and ceilings of the apartment are consistently kept in a beige tone to provide unity between the different rooms. The warm beige is complemented by curtains in the same color, with one tone giving the color ensemble an interesting twist: lilac. "The purple of the sofa and carpet expresses my very personal preference for the color!" Rubel says. "The carpet is somewhat darker than the sofa – sometimes it seems to have the same tone, on other days it appears darker again."
Directly above hangs a painting by hyperrealistic artist Gérard Schlosser from the 1970s, whose rich green in combination with the orange chairs in the dining area sets another bright color accent in the apartment – which is furnished entirely in the style of 70s chic. The interior designer combined the sofa with a coffee table by Willy Rizzo and a specially designed metal stool. Rubel furnished the adjacent dining area with a light by Luigi Massoni and another by Verner Panton, as well as armchairs by Eero Saarinen and Kembo.
Between the living room windows, a sculptural wall light by Guy Bareff adorns the wall. "Guy Bareff's sculptures perfectly complement this combination of curves and lines that runs through all the rooms. That's something that often appears in my work: a contrast between curves and straight lines," Rubel reflects. This thoughtful renovation demonstrates how careful planning and creative use of materials can transform a small Parisian apartment into a sophisticated and functional living space that honors its Haussmann heritage while embracing contemporary design principles.
