A few people have asked me for photos of my flat and of the kitchen. Though we moved into our new place exactly two years ago (!), I’ve never gotten round to taking photos. We now live in Belleville, a vibrant, multicultural part of Paris. We lived for years on one of the big boulevards of Paris, but after recent tumultuous events, I felt we had seen enough action and it was worth living somewhere a bit quieter. I also really, really missed having even just a little outdoor space, so a terrace/patio was really important. We did want to stay relatively central. The good news is that Paris has a lot of different types of apartments, so after a bit of searching I found a really, really run down place with lots of potential.

It was quite an undertaking, and I am still working on it — but slowly our little flat is coming together! I am a bit of a tinkerer and it takes me a long time to make up my mind on what I want and what works for us (you can imagine how mad I made my undertaker!).

Here are a few photos of the little kitchen! I am quite messy and have accepted myself as being messy, so it was important for me to be able to hide stuff. I wanted the kitchen to be open plan so that we could chat while we cook, but not so open plan that I would be able to see the mess in the kitchen while we eat. So I installed a high bar instead of a counter. Another reason for a high bar counter is that I love, love, love sitting at a counter in a Parisian café, so I wanted to have that feeling at home too.

I also fell in love with the red and black tiles from a lovely café called Loustic, whom a friend of mine phoned up (I was feeling shy) and who gave us the details. I’m so happy to have them in our little kitchen.

This all could not have been done this without Esther’s help! Esther is not only a perfect friend who knows me so well that she knows what I need in my kitchen, but she is also a brillant architect. She gave me some of the best advice. She is the one who suggested I save a bit of money with an Ikea kitchen, but customise it with colourful handles and wooden open shelving.

Emilie

PS. I apologize for the quality of the photos! I find it really hard to take good photos inside. I also got massive help from my friend @laralovesparis who was responsible for the styling and correct placements placement of flowers etc.!