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The apartment feels larger because its 377 square feet are organized as a sequence of adaptable, quiet zones rather than a collection of fixed rooms. In Épicène’s renovation near Paris’s Avenue Foch, an L-shaped garden-level home keeps its terrace connection through large French windows, folds two work settings into the plan, and uses oak, stone, raku tile and carefully controlled blue paint to give each area a distinct mood without visual clutter.
A small Paris apartment with an unusually demanding brief
Architectural Digest’s June 24, 2025 feature documents a 377-square-foot, garden-level apartment in Paris’s 16th arrondissement, between Avenue Foch and Place Victor Hugo. Large French windows open directly onto a terrace, so the home’s experience depends as much on the threshold between interior and exterior as on the rooms themselves.
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1Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute2Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems3Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesInterior designer and Épicène founder Isabelle Heilmann says Archik introduced her to the owner. The client was not seeking a conventional studio. He needed a modular setting for executive coaching, with a consultation room and a meeting room large enough to operate at the same time. He also expected the apartment eventually to become a pied-à-terre. That combination required spaces that could change function without making every wall, door or piece of furniture feel like office equipment.
Heilmann described the starting point plainly: “This small space was intriguing because of its layout.” The project therefore treats circulation and sightlines as the primary design problem. Decoration supports that plan rather than trying to disguise the apartment’s size.
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What changed—and what stayed
Épicène retained the apartment’s L-shaped plan, but simplified the way the parts relate to one another. The former separate kitchen and storage room became one kitchen that opens across the main room. This removes a visual stop between food preparation, conversation and the terrace-facing living area.
A full-height storage wall conceals the doors to both the toilet and bedroom. Instead of interrupting the main room with several visible door leaves, the wall reads as one continuous architectural element. The bedroom can also serve as a second consultation room, giving the owner another private setting without dedicating an entire room to work.
These are reported design decisions, not measured proof that the apartment functions better than another layout. The feature does not provide exact built-in dimensions, a before-and-after usability study, energy data or renovation costs.
How the adaptable elements work
A shelf that changes height
The clearest piece of built-in flexibility is a shelf positioned in front of a bedroom window. At desk height, it supports seated work. Lowered to become a seat, it changes the window edge into a perch. Near floor level, it aligns with the tatami mats. The same horizontal element can therefore support consultation, sitting or a more relaxed floor-based arrangement.
The shelf is a project-specific feature; the feature does not identify a manufacturer, hardware system or load rating. Adjustable retail shelving can suggest the idea, but it should not be presented as the actual product installed in this apartment. Anyone adapting the concept would need to resolve window access, radiator clearance, child safety, structural fixing and comfortable knee space before choosing a mechanism.
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Three tatami mats with more than one role
Three stacked tatami mats form a bench in the apartment. They can also be used for sleeping or yoga. Their layered construction gives the room a low, tactile place to sit without adding another full-size sofa or guest bed.
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The Japanese and Mediterranean ideas behind the plan
Heilmann connects the project to architect Maurice Sauzet, whom she describes as influenced by Japanese design, natural materials and the idea of emptiness in rooms. Her explanation is philosophical as well as visual: she refers to wabi-sabi, imperfection and thinking about “how we go through a space and how we are present in it.” That is the designer’s account of the project’s influence, not a claim that the apartment reproduces a traditional Japanese interior.
The designers also drew on the Japanese engawa, a transitional veranda-like zone between inside and outside. Here, the idea is interpreted through the relationship between the main room and terrace. Heilmann links that indoor-outdoor emphasis to Mediterranean outdoor living. Japanese and Mediterranean traditions are not interchangeable; in this apartment they are presented as parallel references that support a shared interest in thresholds, air and informal occupation.
For a painter or decorator, the useful lesson is to treat the threshold as a sequence rather than a single accent wall. The eye moves from the interior floor and joinery, across the window opening, onto the terrace paving. Similar materials and restrained color allow that movement to feel continuous.
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Material palette: warm structure, cool private rooms
The project’s material story is specific and easy to read. Light oak appears on the floors, window frames and built-in storage. Travertine paving and strips continue visually from the kitchen and living area toward the terrace. A lava-stone countertop with a cracked-enamel finish anchors the kitchen, while a raku ceramic backsplash adds irregularity; the feature says the tiles were smoke-marked during firing.
The bedroom is painted pale blue. The bathroom uses darker blue glass mosaic tile. Those cooler tones distinguish the private rooms from the warmer oak-and-stone living areas without requiring a separate decorative theme for every surface.
| Area or element | Reported treatment | Visual role in the project |
|---|---|---|
| Floor, window frames and built-ins | Light oak | Creates a continuous warm background through the main spaces |
| Kitchen and route to terrace | Travertine paving and strips | Extends the material conversation toward the exterior |
| Kitchen worktop | Lava stone with a cracked-enamel finish | Adds a dark, tactile counter surface |
| Kitchen backsplash | Raku ceramic tiles with smoke marks from firing | Introduces controlled irregularity and handmade variation |
| Bedroom | Pale blue paint | Signals a quieter, cooler private zone |
| Bathroom | Darker blue glass mosaic tile | Deepens the color in a smaller, more enclosed room |
The palette does not depend on every surface matching. Oak and travertine establish continuity; the blue rooms provide contrast; raku and cracked enamel prevent the kitchen from becoming visually flat. Because the apartment is small, the transitions matter more than the number of finishes.
Furniture and lighting documented in the apartment
The feature names a reupholstered vintage Knoll bench, Pierre Paulin seating including an Orange Slice chair and a Little Tulip armchair, and Kann Design’s Galta table and chairs. Lighting includes Marseille Mini wall lights by Le Corbusier for Nemo Lighting, an Axel Chay Coquillage wall lamp, a Pendant Suau light by Mediterranean Objects and a Filin 1.0 wall lamp by Wever & Ducré. Fenua Ceramics is identified in connection with the raku backsplash.
These references identify pieces shown or specified for this project. They do not establish that every item remains in production, that the pictured edition is currently sold, or that a new example will have the same dimensions, finish or price. The bench is vintage and reupholstered; the built-in elements and shelf are project-specific. Verify edition, measurements and availability before treating any name as a shopping list.
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Why the terrace connection carries so much weight
In a 377-square-foot, garden-level home, a terrace is not merely an extra amenity. The large French windows create a long sightline and a change in light that can make the main room feel less sealed. The continued travertine treatment reinforces that visual route, while the engawa reference gives the threshold a behavioral purpose: it is a place to pause, sit, move between activities or look outward.
The apartment does not claim a measured increase in daylight, floor area or perceived size. Those outcomes are not reported. What is documented is the design intention to connect room and terrace and to keep the transition legible through materials and openings.
How the apartment supports work and future living
Simultaneous consultation and meeting
The owner’s brief required two work areas that could be used at the same time. The open kitchen and main room provide one broad shared setting, while the bedroom can function as a second consultation room. Concealed doors help preserve a calm background when the apartment is being used professionally.
A future pied-à-terre
Because the owner expected the apartment eventually to become a pied-à-terre, the layout had to remain useful when coaching was no longer the dominant activity. The shelf can become a seat, the bedroom can return to sleeping use, and the tatami mats can support rest or yoga. This is adaptability through a few reversible moves rather than a room full of specialized furniture.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Painting lessons from the color strategy
The most transferable painting idea is not a particular blue swatch; it is the placement of color. The pale blue bedroom establishes a soft, retreat-like atmosphere. The bathroom’s darker blue mosaic creates depth in a room with less visual distance. Meanwhile, oak, travertine and lava stone carry the common areas, so paint does not have to perform as the sole source of warmth.
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When translating the approach to another small apartment, test color beside the actual floor, window trim and artificial light. A pale blue can become gray beside cool daylight or appear greener beside warm oak. Dark blue tile or paint may need stronger task lighting and a carefully chosen grout tone. Keep the number of major colors limited, but allow texture—wood grain, stone variation, ceramic marks—to do work that additional colors would otherwise have to do.
A practical way to borrow the principles without copying the project
- Map activities before drawing furniture. List every use that must happen in the apartment, including simultaneous work, sleeping, dining and exercise. Mark which activities need privacy and which can share a sightline.
- Protect the strongest connection. If windows open to a terrace or balcony, keep the route visually clear. Use flooring, a threshold detail or aligned furniture to guide the eye outward.
- Combine storage where possible. A continuous storage wall can reduce the visual noise created by multiple doors, but allow access panels and ventilation where services require them.
- Choose one reversible element. A height-adjustable shelf, folding surface or stackable mat can provide more value than a large piece with only one use. Confirm clearances and safe load limits with the installer.
- Assign color by zone. Use a quieter, lighter color where rest is the priority and a deeper tone where enclosure can add atmosphere. Check samples at morning, afternoon and evening light.
- Keep the specification honest. Distinguish custom joinery, vintage furniture and currently manufactured products. Record dimensions, finish, maintenance requirements and replacement plans before ordering.
What this case study does not establish
- It is one renovation, not a survey of small Paris apartments.
- The reported area is 377 square feet for this apartment, not a benchmark for how small a home can be.
- No renovation cost, construction schedule, exact built-in dimensions or energy-performance figures are provided.
- No measured study demonstrates that the open kitchen, concealed doors, shelf or tatami arrangement improves usability in every home.
- Product names in the feature do not guarantee current availability or identical specifications.
Those limits matter because a garden-level apartment, a terrace-facing plan and a professional coaching brief create conditions that another home may not share. The value of the project is its clear set of decisions: simplify the L-shaped circulation, conceal interruptions, let one surface change function, and use a disciplined material and color sequence to connect interior life with the terrace.
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Épicène’s apartment is minimalist in the practical sense that each visible element has a job. The open kitchen supports connection; the storage wall hides necessary doors; the bedroom doubles as a consultation room; the shelf changes height; and three tatami mats support sitting, sleeping or yoga. Oak, travertine, lava stone and raku tile make the common areas tactile, while pale and dark blues give the private rooms their own temperature.
That combination produces a calm Japanese-inflected character without turning the apartment into a themed set. It is a single, carefully documented response to a demanding brief: a compact Paris home that can host work, rest and future pied-à-terre use while keeping the terrace present in everyday life.
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