{"id":2948,"date":"2025-02-21T17:51:10","date_gmt":"2025-02-21T09:51:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/homeofmaterials.com\/2025\/02\/21\/lessons-in-mixing-and-mismatching-merci-reinvents-a-paris-apartment\/"},"modified":"2025-02-21T17:51:10","modified_gmt":"2025-02-21T09:51:10","slug":"lessons-in-mixing-and-mismatching-merci-reinvents-a-paris-apartment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/homeofmaterials.com\/fr\/lessons-in-mixing-and-mismatching-merci-reinvents-a-paris-apartment\/","title":{"rendered":"Le\u00e7ons de m\u00e9lange et de d\u00e9pareillement : Merci r\u00e9invente un appartement parisien"},"content":{"rendered":"

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For 12 years now Merci has been at the top of every aesthete\u2019s must-visit list in Paris. The lifestyle store, with its linen bedding in impossible-to-find-anywhere-else jewel tones and basement of gorgeous gardening supplies, is known for its eclectic, insouciant take on design.<\/p>\n

Merci is approachable rather than precious; it\u2019s an emporium devoted to celebrating the stuff of daily life in playful, room-like settings\u2014and to presenting ideas that feel a few steps ahead of the pack. To fully demonstrate the store\u2019s style, the Merci creative team first refurbished a nearby flat that it dubbed the Pied-\u00e0-Terre. That experience\u2014and Paris\u2019s lockdown when the city was at a standstill\u2014led it to take on another space, a family apartment in an 18th century building in the 5th arrondissement. Newly complete, this Second Residence, as its known, is a celebration, in the store\u2019s own words, of the Merci way: \u201cpairing antiques with contemporary designs, mixing two antagonistic aesthetics, combining mass-produced objects with artisanal pieces.\u201d Join us for a look around.<\/p>\n

Photography courtesy of Merci.<\/p>\n


Above: The 120-square-meter apartment occupies a floor of a late 18th-century neoclassical townhouse overlooking the Seine, near the Institut du Monde Arabe and the \u00cele Saint Louis (Merci is a 20 minute walk away on Rue Beaumarchais). Lead designer Jules Mesny-Deschamps (who was at the time Merci\u2019s creative director) worked with Reka Magyar, the store\u2019s head of style, to preserve the historic soul of the setup while infusing it with new life. The two wanted to be environmentally conscientious in their choices, and used the project to celebrate the Merci art of mixing and mismatching.
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Above: Of course, some of the furnishings are straight off the Merci selling floor, such as as the steel Thank You Coffee Table, \u20ac1,900, and Pedestal Table, \u20ac870, and Four-Seater Sofa with its washed linen and cotton Sofa Cover, \u20ac470.,

Above: A small group of artists and artisans were invited to leave their mark on the space: Paris-based American designer\u2014and longtime Remodelista favorite\u2014Mark Eden Schooley, for instance, created the living room\u2019s pendant light. Several Paris galleries contributed the art, all of which is for sale. The painting between the French doors is by Tadashi Kawamata, on loan from the Kamel Mennour Gallery.
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Above: Antique mirrors are positioned at opposite ends of the room. The woven armchairs are from the fifties.
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Above: The home office is known as the Shaker Room: inspiration for its sunny paint job (in a custom shade of yellow) and wrap-around peg rail came from Mesny-Deschamps\u2019s visits to Shaker villages in Massachusetts. For 15 more Shaker design ideas worth adopting, see In the Dwelling House, our post photographed at Canterbury Shaker Village. Mark Eden Schooley designed the overhead steel light for the space.,

Above: Artist Margaux Derhy paints a trompe l\u2019oeil version of the hanging whisk broom. Note that Mesny-Deschamps added a contemporary twist to the custom peg rails: steel pegs.
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Above: Here and there, the designers inserted African beaded pieces, such as this Armchair from Nigeria sourced from CSAO (Compagnie du S\u00e9n\u00e9gal et du l\u2019Afrique de l\u2019Ouest). Each of the beads is sewn by hand and CSAO explains that each color symbolizes a god. The chevron floor is original to the apartment.
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Above: The desk is a Merci collaboration with SAS Minimum, a group of designers devoted to making use of plastic waste: their signature speckled slab material, Le Pav\u00e9, is made of recycled plastic. The clamp-on steel Table Legs are from Paris company Tiptoe. The tubular lighting here and in the living room is by Sammode Studio.,

Above: A hat-like Brass Suspension Light, \u20ac526 at Merci, hangs over a vintage kitchen table surrounded by an odd lot of chairs\u2014\u201dlike a small family where different identities coexist,\u201d Mesney-Deschamps explained to News in 24.
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Above: The stainless steel cabinets are by Italian line Alpes Inox: see Race-Car-Style Appliances for Compact Kitchens. The black backsplash and shelf above it are more Le Pav\u00e9 recycled plastic. Note the overhead glazed steel panel that serves to set off the working side of the kitchen and conceal the range hood.
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Above: In place of the existing 1970s plastic tiles, ceramicist Marion Graux created a tile carpet.,

Above: The bedroom has original paneling and a Mark Eden Schooley Koushi Pendant, \u20ac235. The Washed Linen Duvet Cover, \u20ac165, comes in 19 colors at Merci (it\u2019s shown in Pink Clay).  The Washed Linen Curtains, \u20ac125, are another Merci staple.
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Above: The striped bedroll is a Tensira Mattress Topper: see more in 7 Soft, Stylish Throwbeds. The bedside lamp is the Invider, \u20ac240, made of recycled paper, flour, and plaster of Paris. The black-and-white collage-painting is by Fernando Daza from Wilo & Grove.
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Above: The designers introduced a circa 1900 sink to the main bathroom and positioned a beaded stool from Cameroon in front of it. The walls are lined in Shaded Ivory Bricks from Briqueterie deWulf.
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Above: The antique bathtub, newly re-enameled, was formerly being used in a field as a cattle trough.,

Above: The partition in front the tub is composed of salvaged zinc roof panels from Alsace.
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Above: In the den, set designer Sophie Glasser applied linen canvas to the walls in panels that she painted to evoke Swedish Gustavian moldings. The space doubles as a guest room: the sofa bed is Paola Navone\u2019s Ghost design for Gervasoni. The handwoven metal lights are Mark Eden Schooley\u2019s Kute design from Atmosph\u00e8re d\u2019Ailleurs.
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Above: A collection of cyanotypes by photographer J\u00e9r\u00f4me Galland hang over Piet Hein Eek\u2019s One Beam Bench. Mesny-Deschamps describes the frayed tweed side chair as \u201ca bit of a penniless aristocrat\u2014we all have a favorite piece of clothing, a little soft, that we still wear despite its holes. Well, for furniture and objects, it\u2019s the same thing.\u201d
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Above: After the apartment\u2019s second bathroom was tiled, artist Sophie Loncq hand painted the blue dots: their irregularity is revealed the closer you get. The oil drum sink is a found piece that got refurbished. <\/p>\n

The Second Residence is open for visits next month\u2014sign up here\u2014and a few lucky guests of Merci get to spend the night.<\/p>\n

Browse the Remodelista Paris archives for more inspiration, including:<\/p>\n