For the kitchen, Bertrand wanted the warmth of wood, adding the counter and a charming splashback made from old wine crates. Antique grocer's scales from a flea market in Paris add a note of nostalgia by the window, while on the wall hangs a vintage still life in oils.
The dining room is the heart of the apartment, with its warm and sophisticated ambience. Here Bertrand has topped a vintage wrought iron table with glass and surrounded it with 1950s metal chairs, originally from a bistro and discovered in a flea market in Saint-Ouen. On the mantelpiece are two Medici vases in zinc, while above the mirror hangs a lion that once served as a fountain in a long forgotten garden.
In the bedroom, an orange and white patchwork quilt adds colour and pattern to the wall above the bed. The little wood bedside table, another flea market find, is stacked with books and candles for night time reading. The fireplace surround has a new life as a library and mini gallery, offering books and intriguing pieces such as the old children's shop busts covered in comic strips.
In a corner of the salon, a marble shop counter from the 1930s now houses Bertrand's stereo system. The two lamps on top are from a Paris antique shop, while the zinc decorative urn was found in a Belgian flea market.
Bertrand in his salon. Above him are letters that once graced the storefront of an old jewelery shop, set off perfectly by the long curtains in a soft golden yellow.
Bertrand's tiny Paris flat is a fascinating mix of sophistication and nostalgia, where elegant flea market finds happily co-exist with childhood mementos. Here Bertrand loves to host dinners for friends in his warm and hospitable home, its tiny size no impediment to the pleasure it brings to those lucky enough to visit.
This is the first in a regular series I'll be posting each Friday — a selection of scanned images from my magazine archives, which I began collecting back in the 1980s. I hope you enjoy it.
(scanned by me — and roughly translated by me — from a vintage copy of Marie Claire Maison)