It's a match made in design heaven: editorial director of Elle Decoration France Sylvie de Chirée and her husband, furniture dealer Philippe Rapin, have combined their inimitable decor backgrounds to create what might be the quirkiest and most stylish home in all of Paris (quite a feat!). Of course, it helps that the 2,700-square-foot, 1910 home—where de Chirée has lived since the 1990s—would probably be pretty spectacular even completely bare, considering its ornamental columns and the wall paneling that was installed in the 1950s by the French decorating firm Maison Jansen. Oh, and let's not forget the original painted murals in the salon and sparkling Eiffel Tower views from bed. Still, the couple maintains that upon moving in together, the home has been transformed for the better. "I said, 'I'll come, but only if I can bring my furniture,'" Rapin tells Elle Decor. De Chirée explains, "I only discovered what he had when we opened the crates."
Of course, the mystery furniture was well received, even the 1968-designed hot tub-shaped sofa by Archizoom that was dangerously upholstered in cheetah print. "Both Philippe and I are very joyful and a little eccentric by nature," explains de Chirée, whose own design contributions include DIY wallpapered Art Deco cabinetry in the bedroom, a 19th-century rug found in a former monastery, and—sadly not photographed—a papier-mâché bust of Plato. The collaborative effort means frequent rearranging parties (à la Drew Barrymore) in which the couple has been known to start a massive project in the wee hours of the morning. "I often say this apartment is like a theater, where the objects are our actors and we're the directors," she tells ED. "We dream up new scenarios and have fun moving them around."
Elle Decor has the full the story, right this way.
· High Style: A Classic Paris Apartment [Elle Decor]