It is easy to choose a sofa, a lamp and a paint colour separately, then wonder why the room still feels unfinished. A clearer starting point is how you want to feel when you walk into it.
For a Paris apartment designed by Giampiero Tagliaferri, that starting point came from a novel. Architectural Digest’s October 9 feature describes how Françoise Sagan’s 1965 book, La Chamade, inspired a home built around the atmosphere of Paris after dark.
A feeling gave the project direction
The apartment, in the Triangle d’Or in Paris’s 8th arrondissement, had lost many of its historic details. Tagliaferri chose to work with the stripped-back shell and draw on several eras, including the 1970s.
His client wanted a place for entertaining. The designer imagined a welcoming salon with references to Parisian bohemian life, Yves Saint Laurent and Betty Catroux. That idea helped him decide how the rooms should work and which materials belonged together.
Pale suede seating softened the living room. Lacquer and stainless steel added contrast, while light natural stone anchored the floors. In the bedroom, rounded corners, cream suede and a dark lacquer bed platform carried the more intimate mood.
These are specific choices for a particular client and apartment. The transferable idea is to give your room a direction before filling it.
Try it in the room you already have
- Name the feeling. Choose a few words, such as calm and bright, or warm and sociable. Think about what you actually do in the room.
- Notice what already supports it. Look at the light, seating arrangement, colours and textures you have. Keep the pieces that help the room work.
- Make one purposeful change. Rearrange seating for conversation, adjust the lighting, or introduce a texture that fits your chosen mood. See how it feels before adding more.
The point is to give each choice a purpose. Decide how you want the room to feel before deciding what to add.
A room becomes more personal when its choices have something in common. In this apartment, a novel supplied that connection. In yours, it might be the way you want an ordinary evening to feel.
What would you like your room to feel like—and what is one thing you would change to get closer?
Photography: Billal Taright, via Architectural Digest.
