House Crush: Jean Louis Deniot's Apartment (and a Rant)

Sorry for the disappearing act yesterday folks, it was just one of those glory days where you get to taste the joys of being self-employed. If you don't feel like reading my technological rant/philosophical debate of the day, feel free to skip straight to the pretty pictures. There's plenty more where this came from.



Yesterday was one of those days where I wished I had a dedicated IT person at my disposal. First my internet stopped working and the technician spent over two hours at my place changing everything from my two routers to the cable that connects my house to the electrical wires outside. Then, my site was down because of the GoDaddy crash. As if that wasn't enough, my printer stopped working and after an hour on the phone with Epson troubleshooting the damn thing, it ran out of ink! That's without mentioning that my phone network's been acting up and dropping calls or failing to send messages.

This got me thinking about how we (especially bloggers) are not only addicted to technology, but how dependent we are upon it. It's crazy to think how much technology affects our lives (read Victoria's post on carpel tunnel for example). What can we do to make technology work for us, not against us?

So here are my questions to you: What are your technology magic tricks to avoid the stresses of breakdowns, hacks and failures? AND more importantly, how often do you unplug and what do you do to unplug? Seriously, think about it. My answer would normally be: hang out with friends (I always have my phone handy), go for a run (with my iPod), read a book (on my iPad)... I even sleep with my phone. How do you REALLY unplug?

Ok back to prettiness. 



Seems perfectly fitted for a modern-day Don Draper wouldn't you say? Streamlined & elegant like a well-cut suit.



I guess we're not too far from Don Draper, we're talking about acclaimed French decorator Jean Louis Deniot and his 1,200 square foot apartment in Paris' 7e arrondissement. Hello there.

I guess most of you have seen his kitchen. It kind of made the rounds. Blame it on what many people called brass cupboards but are actually hammered silver. You need a serious budget to have silver cabinetry.

Though when you're well connected like Deniot, you can apparently get silver cabinetry and brass bench prototypes made by reliable craftsmen for very little budget (or Deniot's definition of little budget).



There is an art in the editing and subtlety process in Deniot's work that can be attributed to very few decorators (hello Kelly Wearstler). Every tone is more subtle than the next. Every detail more streamlined.

Deniot says he was originally looking for a bigger and higher place, but fell in love with the generous windows and the smart layout: "A series of four linked rooms runs along the front of the apartment, and there are no corridors— hence, no wasted space". I love the flow of those four rooms show in this photo.

The library has a completely different feel to the rest of the place, but the color palette is still similar. The walls are covered in oak paneling but the bark-looking wallpaper was lazer-printed on canvas.

Now THAT's a bedroom right? The bedside tables are by Deniot while the high-impact sconces are Stilnovo.

I love the striped effect and the curved-ceiling in the master bath. Every decorative object is unique yet in line with the overall design.

What do you think about this apartment? Do you love or do you hate?