Paris Correspondent: A Visit to a Parisian Home! ①

We visited the home of Beatrice Laval, whom Brand Julie owner Reiko Nakagawa praises as a "color genius!", on Ms. Nakagawa's behalf!

Beatrice is the designer and president of the fabric brand "Le Monde Sauvage."

This brand, Le Monde Sauvage, meaning "Wild World," was founded by Beatrice's parents in 1970.

"My father traveled all over the world, buying interesting things he found in each place. He took me with him, and I also traveled to China and Japan when I was a child," says Beatrice.

The conversation flowed easily with her, which was unexpected from the information that she is the "female president of a famous brand" and "lives in an apartment over 100 square meters in the Marais district (a wealthy person)."
I imagined that Ms. Nakagawa also always enjoys exchanging recent news with her in this way.

Now, let's open the door to the top floor of an apartment in the Haussmann style (19th-century architectural style) characteristic of Paris.
And there, it's a space full of light, floating in the sky.

"A terrace wraps around the apartment. I was so fascinated by this spacious terrace that I really wanted to live here. Actually, I was looking for a larger property than the apartment I lived in before, but it turned out to be smaller instead (laughs). That's how much I fell in love with this apartment."

After Beatrice purchased the property, she carried out extensive interior renovation work. Walls were removed, the layout was changed, the kitchen and bathroom locations were moved, and a steel staircase was installed to complete the two-story apartment.

"The original layout was old-fashioned, and when you opened the front door, you entered an enclosed space like an entrance hall. We removed that wall to achieve the open feeling you see now.

However, because I wanted a psychological division between the entrance and the living room, we decided to unify the entrance area in black," says Beatrice.

Black is a color not often seen in Parisian interiors.

"Up until our grandparents' generation, black was the color of funerals. Although the petite robe noire (little black dress) is a popular item now, I still think that culturally and habitually, people associate black with funerals. That's probably why people avoid black in their interiors."

● So why does Beatrice incorporate black?

"I think black is a color that brings out the best in other colors. Don't you feel that by using black in the entrance, the brightness and other colors of the living room stand out even more?"

The walls in the entrance area use wallpaper from Le Monde Sauvage.

Ms. Nakagawa explained how to use this wallpaper on Brand Julie's YouTube channel! The wallpaper, printed with Indian woodblock techniques, shows unique unevenness and irregularities characteristic of handmade items, which are its unique charm and appeal.

"It's very popular with my friends, and many of them use it. But for some reason, no one goes as far as painting their doors black.

'Please paint your doors black! It will definitely look better!' I always tell them emphatically. And friends who actually did it have given me good feedback, saying, 'Yes, it looks better repainted black.'"

I see!

Indeed, looking at Beatrice's home, you can see that black plays an effective role in tightening things up, and if the door had been white, the wallpaper wouldn't have looked this stylish.

●Blue is heavily used in the living room. Blue paint is used on the walls, bookshelves, and doors. You like blue, don't you?

"Hmm... not really. I'm more drawn to green these days, and I'm incorporating green into cushions and tapestries. I think the reason there's so much blue in the living room is probably because this apartment is on the top floor and the sky is visible outside the window."
●So, for you, Beatrice, do colors seem to be determined by the "place" itself?

"Yes. If it were a different apartment, I would definitely have chosen different colors. Even if it were another apartment in the same building, the ground floor and the top floor would still be different. The light would be different, and the view from the window would be different."

Observing the "place" and "space" well, and choosing colors that suit it. This seems like quite an advanced task, but Beatrice says, "There are no bad colors, and no bad tastes. Don't worry about anything, choose the colors you like, and then just find the right harmony." She doesn't seem to be exerting herself at all.

The green she's recently become fond of appears in various ways, with different shades, prints, and materials.

"Since I bought a second house in Fontainebleau, about 70km from Paris, my husband has been obsessed with gardening. Look, he has his 'garden' here too, and I'm not allowed to touch it (laughs). Perhaps the second house has influenced me to incorporate a lot of green."

Now, let's proceed to the kitchen, beyond the blue door.

...Continued in part 2