Huffington Post - January 2017

7 Tips For Styling Your Interior Like A Parisian

by Aurélie Desmas

Being French, I often hear about the style French people naturally have (which I find funny as not EVERY French person has style). My personal explanation of this is the fact that as a culture, Frenchies search for beauty everywhere: walk into a supermarket and you will notice how beautiful the water bottles are. So let's face it: when beauty is everywhere you look growing up (for those who pick it up), you naturally develop a sensibility for it.

Then you get the chance to live in Paris, one of the few cities that everyone has been to at least once (in reality or in their dreams). And again, everywhere you look it is simply beautiful, which is probably why designers of all disciplines gravitate towards Paris for inspiration. In terms of interior design, due to its architecture and light, one can easily recognize a Parisian apartment from a New York one: ornate plasterwork with all-white walls and herringbone floors, which is often why people feel frustrated to not be able to achieve this look. This is where I think people get it wrong. Below is a list of what I believe you can do to get that Parisian chic look in New York City:

1- Wall color: Paris is a very dense and compact city, which means a lot of apartments are pretty dark to begin with. Plus, gray sky and rain are actually pretty common compared to New York City, which is why most Parisian apartments are painted white to capture as much light as possible. Painting fully white in New York means your space will easily look washed out (see our color consultation story here). The solution? Add an undertone to your white paint to mute the light of your walls a little while keeping the chic of a Parisian interior.

2- Moldings, trims and nooks: Let's be honest on this one — if your apartment is brand new, adding fake roses to your ceiling will just look like what it is: fake. So don't even bother. Instead, consider what New York architecture has to offer: former tenement buildings, pre-war or brownstones offer fantastic moldings on walls and woodwork that cannot be found anywhere else. I have noticed some New Yorkers tend to view nooks as wasted storage space — if you belong to that category of people, think again. How would you view those nooks if they were in your hotel room in Paris? You would most likely think they were charming and cute, deserving to be displayed to everyone. Apply the same rule to your own interior and use them to show off something you like.

3- Floor: Very few apartments in New York have herringbone floors and, honestly, nice parquet floors can be noisy, which is why Parisians tend to cover them with rugs. These can help you achieve a more Parisian look. Go for Persian or Moroccan rugs (lovely selection by Apartment Therapy here) that age really well and work with every style.

4- Iron work: As charming as they are, let's be frank: Parisian balconies are useless. But the iron work around them is so special that it doesn't matter. The same goes for the elevator door in the hallway — you can barely fit in with your grocery shopping but they add a certain je ne sais quoi. In New York City, you have fire escapes, but forget about the metalwork quality — I wouldn't step on most of them. Instead, our recommendation is to add some little iron accents to your interior: cute chairs in your kitchen (like the ice cream parlor ones you find throughout the US), small accent tables, and so on. The possibilities are endless.

5- Antiques, vintage pieces, and a modern mix: Before the era of mass consumerism, French people used to invest in very expensive furniture that future generations would inherit. That is why Parisian apartments are often a mix of styles, combining family heirlooms with brand-new, modern stuff. Students in France do not necessarily rush to Ikea when they move to university. They often collect and repurpose stuff donated by family members and this is where their design journey begins (if not before). If you haven't inherited, flea markets are a great place to search for antiques and vintage pieces to build your own collection (if you don't already know it, check out the Brooklyn Flea Market). Don't try to get things to match (like wooden shades for instance), but instead get one item in dark wood, another in light wood and with a nice golden frame. You get the idea.

6- Display your books: Probably due to the fact that books are pretty cheap in France, books and bookshelves are frequently the starting point of room designs. Even small apartment owners or renters can figure out a storage solution that gives easy access to their collection in living rooms, bedrooms, and hallways, depending on how many books they own. French paperbacks often have white spines that makes them easy to arrange (but doesn't offer the color possibilities that were so trendy last year). So go on — show off your books!

7- Freshness: This is more of a concept than an actual thing. France is known for the baguette and people often buy their own every day (you can buy only one half), which means there is always something fresh in the kitchen each day. I know it would be difficult for New Yorkers to pick up that habit, especially if it involved making a big detour. Instead, I would recommend trying to grow your own herbs on your kitchen counter. If you don't have green thumbs, pick up some flowers on Thursdays or Fridays so you can enjoy the scent and beautiful sight of fresh flowers when coming home on the weekend. It will give your interior a fresh look, and if you pick red roses, they will be a subliminal message from the City of Love!