What to do when you are mad about interior designand

Raphaëlle Levet

	After a number of years working in the fashion and high-end interiors press, I felt that I had reached the end of a cycle. I jumped at the chance to change jobs and to really listen to what I wanted. I focussed on my passion for interior design and decoration and I don’t regret it one bit.
I need to have fun and to enjoy myself when I’m working. Mine is a very demanding job which requires a lot of rigour and complete attention to every detail. I’m also a yoga addict, so particularly sensitive to the need for harmony between the inner and exterior worlds. I try to find this balance in the relationship of trust that I build with my clients and my team.

That’s what drives me. I try to breathe some of my energy and my sense of laid-back chic into my projects. In general, things seem to happen very naturally – I don’t impose ideas but instead express myself gently, but with determination. Our aim is to create spaces for living, where you feel good, whether it be a hotel, a store, a flat or a house. My style is a mix of multiples influences. I like to steal something from the past, mix up the classics, add a hint of fantasy and above all, to create a sense of emotion.

« Decor translates the soul of a place and the souls of those who live there. »

I like this phrase that I found in Inès de la Fressange and Marin Montagut’s lovely book, Sous les toits de Paris.

I am lucky insofar as I get to created spaces for living in, to gain a glimpse into the lives of the people that reside there, to help them to feel happy. That’s the wonderful thing about what I do.

The kitchen, without hesitation. It’s the heart of the home. I can spend hours there. Cooking is all about generosity, conviviality and sharing. And of course creativity. I cook the same way as I build up a space. Finding harmony and balance, spicing things up, adding the ingredients you need for a recipe to work. I like kitchens to be warm and lively so I decorate with antique crockery, hand-crafted ceramics and paintings. And I like to introduce noble materials to shift the eye away from the technical kitchen stuff.

• Travel, travel, travel: a cruise on a beautiful sailing boat in the tropics, or to go back to Brazil where I lived for years. Or nearer to home, a few days in Prague or Venice would make me just as happy. I always come back from my travels with things made locally, feeling full of inspiration and energy.
• To have a flat in the mountains that I would decorate in my minimalist yet cosy style with lots of wood and soft fabrics.
• To take singing lessons so I can accompany my husband when he plays the piano!

I’m particularly sensitive to art in all its forms, particularly painting because I love colour and the precision and detail involved. The emotion that the impressionist paintings evoke is particularly touching to me. I recently discovered the Danish painters from the 19th century: Vilhelm Hammershøi’s interiors and the way Peder Severin Krøyer depicts the light of the north. It’s very different but I also love the simple forms created by Brancusi and Matisse’s decoupage.

 Designing a hotel is a wonderful experience for an interior designer. I’d like the next one to be in the mountains or on the Mediterranean coast, or perhaps in a chateau. I’d like a beautiful backdrop with a strong story to tell. I’d also love to design a restaurant and work with the chef to create a link between the food and the decoration.

I’ve always been pretty obsessed with natural materials. Wood, travertine, coloured marble, ceramic, straw, wicker and lime bring lots of warmth and personality to a room; they are the materials that I use the most, probably because they remind me of my old house in Brazil. I also have a thing about cushions. I can’t seem to stop buying them! They are the one thing that can make a room much warmer and welcoming instantly and you can change them easily if you get bored. My obsession is becoming a bit of a problem in our house though…

 

Raphaëlle’s tips

There are so many! In no particular order: Bauhaus, Art Déco of course, Arts & Crafts, the precursor to Art nouveau. I also really like the 18th century, the mudéjar decorated buildings that you can see in Seville and the flibertarian style of the 70s, but always just a touch, never all over!

I have quite eclectic taste. I like to marry different styles. It’s important to add a touch of fantasy so as not to be taken too seriously. Mixing different styles freely is what makes an interior warm and alive.

I have always loved rounded edges, both as a source of inspiration and in practice. We are using more and more round shapes in our projects. Soft, fluid, a symbol of flow and exchange, they evoke the rounded edges you see so much in Art Déco, but also the freeform style you so often see in mediterranean architecture. Even in Paris it somehow conjures up thoughts of holidays. Whether for built in shelving, architraving on cupboard doors (like in the Hôtel Léopold in Paris), an archway between two rooms, glass walls or cushions, we like to use round edges as much as we can, pretty much everywhere in fact!

Colour is an excellent way to structure spaces without having to build walls. So if you want to create an entrance in an open space, you can paint the walls and ceiling in a dark colour.
	I also love glass partition walls. I prefer them to be very slim, more sophisticated than atelier-style windows, in metal or oak and inspired by the rounded edges of Art Nouveau rather than the angular edges that you see in Art Déco.

More often than not our clients like both! Recycling furniture is a wonderful pastime and whether you are making use of an inherited piece or something you have unearthed at a market, furniture always adds an element of charm as long as it is used sparingly and done up well. We would recommend avoiding a heavy normandy wardrobe in a Parisian flat for example, but a Louis XV chest of drawers works almost anywhere, especially in a contemporary interior where it can really elevate a room. I must admit that I prefer a vintage, market find with all of its imperfections and signs of a well-lived life.

I also love to design built-in furniture which is the best way to increase storage space and make use of every spare inch. You can get really creative with doors which can either blend in with the decor or be made to stand out with rattan cut outs, wallpaper, beautiful handles etc.

I am obsessed with detail. A badly chosen switch can ruin the design of a space just as too bright a bulb can kill the ambiance of a room. I am also particularly attentive to door handles which can give a room a very polished feel, even with a limited budget.