JuliaRouzard_Ceros

Custom Shelf System, Julia Rouzaud.

Vintage Lounge Chairs by Aksel Bender Madsen for Bovenkamp, 1stDibs; Disc and Sphere Sconces, Areti; Vintage Coffee Table; Vintage Rug, Kilim.walls to the floor with a mauve-flecked kilim rug and then again on the vintage Danish armchairs.

Cabinets in Bleu Byzance Paint and Hood in Rouge de Malaga Paint, Argile; Hand Grenade Pendant Lamps by Alvar Aalto, Finnish Design Shop; Custom Table and Banquette Bench, Julia Rouzaud.

The kitchen was the only space Rouzaud decided to completely overhaul (it had undergone a dated remodel in the 1990s, complete with a huge refrigerator freezer). “There were too many ideas,” she recalls. Breezy blue cabinets with rosewood handles now stand in place of the old white lacquered ones (the stove top is the one thing she kept because it was well equipped). Next, the couple demolished half of the former island to carve out a banquette. The sundrenched spot, swathed in Hermès and Pierre Frey fabrics, is Rouzaud’s favorite seat in the house. “Even when friends are over, we’re never in the dining room,” she says. Cladding the original period fireplace in the living room with a walnut flue and concrete hearth typical of the ’40s was Rouzaud’s effort to extend the midcentury lines of the nearby glazed bay windows. “I’m always thinking about how the rooms relate to each other,” she says. Another nod to the postwar era: sculptural lighting. A pair of Ingo Maurer’s Uchiwa wall lamps that the creative spotted almost a decade ago in Milan hang in the formal living area, and polished brass Atelier Areti sconces grace either side of the 19th century fireplace in the TV room. The touch of metal brings warmth to the casual hangout zone (Rouzaud blames the covetable high ceilings for it feeling a “bit cold”). The glamorous material also balances out the dramatic coat of deep violet that covers the lower fifth of the walls—a visual trick that grounds the space and lets her hang art, like the portrait of Charles de Gaulle, in unusual places.

The kitchen was the only space Rouzaud decided to completely overhaul (it had undergone a date remodel in the 1990s, complete with a huge refrigerator freezer). “There were too many ideas,” she recalls. Breezy blue cabinets with rosewood handles now stand in place of the old white lacquered ones (the stove top is the one thing she kept because it was well equipped). Next, the couple demolished half of the former island to carve out a banquette. The sundrenched spot, swathed in Hermès and Pierre Frey fabrics, is Rouzaud’s favorite seat in the house. “Even when friends are over, we’re never in the dining room,” she says.   Cladding the original period fireplace in the living room with a walnut flue and concrete heart typical of the ’40s was Rouzaud’s effort to extend the midcentury lines of the nearby glazed bay windows. “I’m always thinking about how the rooms relate to each other,” she says. Another nod to the postwar era: sculptural lighting. A pair of Ingo Maurer’s Uchiwa wall lamps that the creative spotted almost a decade ago in Milan hang in the formal living area, and polished brass Atelier Areti sconces grace either side of the 19th century fireplace in the TV room. The touch of metal brings warmth to the casual hangout zone (Rouzaud blames the covetable high ceilings for it feeling a “bit cold”). The glamorous material also balances out the dramatic coat of deep violet that covers the lower fifth of the walls—a visual trick that grounds the space and lets her hang art, like the portrait of Charles de Gaulle, in unusual places.

“I’m always thinking about how the rooms relate to each other.”