The Lost Paris Apartment is Gorgeous! Wouldn’t You Love to Live Here?

As a dealer of antique/vintage French and Italian paintings, you can imagine my unbridled giddiness when I heard about “the lost Paris apartment.” Virtually untouched since World War II, the apartment was found laden with dust­covered treasures, from an old plush Mickey Mouse to a stuffed ostrich to stacks of love letters lots of amazing artwork.


Among the many finds in this time capsule was a $3 million Giovanni Boldini painting! The grandmother of the apartment owner was discovered to be Belle Epoque, a beloved actress and muse of the famous artist. The dusty love letters were from Boldini to Epoque, no doubt praising her as his beautiful inspiration. I would have loved to explore this apartment myself and revel in the fact that not a single soul had entered it since the second world war.

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It's been said that walking into this time capsule of an apartment is like "stumbling into the castle of Sleeping Beauty, where time had stood still since 1900," according to the The Telegraph.

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The discovery has me even more excited for my upcoming trip to L’Ile sur ­la ­Sorgue (near Provence, France). This medieval Provencal town is celebrated for its marchés aux puces, or flea market, the largest of its kind outside of Paris. A place for antique dealers to sell art and other vintage goodness year­round, I can’t wait to see what I find this year! 

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Enjoying the beauty of the town alone makes the trip worth it, as it is situated on the Sorgue River, which creates a “Venice­like feel” with its many canals and bridges. A “sprawling’” Sunday market is also featured, where you can find local produce and meat, soap, antiques, tablecloths, and a host of other practical items.

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The lost Paris apartment has also got me wondering about other abandoned apartments in the City of Lights and what proverbial gold they have just waiting to be found. I can’t help but compare the apartment to the abandoned New York City apartment of the legendary Marlene Dietrich, who also left the place untouched in the late ‘70s to live abroad for the remainder of her life. Inside the apartment were furs, Louis XIV furniture, letters, and glitzy mirrors fit for a movie star of her stature. The legend’s heirs eventually sold the apartment.

Have you been to the L’Isle­sur­ la­ Sorgue or know someone who has? Leave a comment and tell me about it. 

5 Ways to Make a Small Bedroom Appear Larger

Don’t let a small space hold you back; learn how to decorate around the confines and limitations of size. There are actually tricks of the trade that will create the appearance of a larger, more open bedroom, you just have to employ them and voila, the illusion of space.

Isn't this a cute sleeping nook? Photo by Ooh_Food

1. Choose light paint colors

If you really want to create the idea of a larger space, opt for either an all-white room or white walls and white linens with a bold pops of color in a room instead. Avoid painting walls with very dark shades like greens and blues, because they will make a room feel even smaller.

Photo courtesy of Ooh_Food.

2. Avoid wall clutter

Although you opted for white walls and may be antsy to hang all of those pictures and pieces of wall art, find another room in the house to display them as hanging many small pieces of art will create the appearance of clutter. Keep your walls organized. Plus, you want to create one focal point and if your walls are filled to the brim, this will serve as a distraction. Indulge in one large piece of artwork like a well-framed photograph or one-of-a-kind painting.

Photo courtesy of Cassandra Lavalle.

3. Make your bed the focal point in the room

One way to draw people's attention away from a room's small size is by creating a focal point.  Since the room is a bedroom, it'd make the most senes to make the focal point the bed. Draw attention to it through linens (like a canopy) and arrange the rest of the room around this focal point.

Canopy bed. Photo courtesy of Ooh_Food.

4. Paint trim and moldings a lighter color than the walls

Now is the time to utilize your artistic skills. Paint trim and moldings on your walls a brighter white or light color and watch as the walls suddenly appear further pushed back. It’s an old trick that can also be used in any room in the house, not just a small bedroom.

5. Hang mirrors by the window

For an instant creation of space, use a mirror by a window or door in your bedroom. The reflection of natural light opens up the room, which will appear brighter. Also utilize mirrors by placing them at angles toward your previously created focal point. Again, this will reinforce natural lines that the eye will follow.

How to Redecorate a Room: A Guide For Beginners

Do you ever daydream about redecorating a room or maybe even your whole house? While I love visualizing what a room will look like before I even start redesigning it, I know that it's a skill that some may have trouble with. 

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I've found that newbies hoping to tackle a redecorating project on their own can get tripped up by not “seeing” the big picture prior to decorating. With that in mind, I've compiled a list of things you can do to help you see your design dreams through to completion. 

1.  Do Your Research

• Go to showrooms and scour interior decorating magazines for ideas before you begin any project. Pay attention to detail such as lines of a room, prints and patterns, varying and complementing fabrics, color schemes, layout and setup.

2.  Write Down Your Goals

• Create a color and design scheme for your project. Write down your exact goal so as you pick pieces you can be aware of the overall goal and if each piece adds or takes away from that overarching goal.

3.  Focus on the"Big Picture"

• As you are picking pieces, be sure to keep in mind that if you’re buying one piece of furniture at a time because of budget purposes, you always keep the big picture at the forefront of your mind. If you can, buy multiple pieces at once so you can better realize how they come together.

Photo by Ooh_Food

Though all of the pieces in this room appear to have acquired separately, they all match the blue and green color theme.

4.  Avoid Large Furniture Pieces with Loud Patterns

•  Don’t ever buy a large piece of furniture with a large pattern on it, as the furniture already dominates the room because of its size. If you add any additional eye-catching elements like strong patterns, everything will fade in the background.

Photo by Ooh_Food

If you want to incorporate a loud pattern, choose smaller pieces (like these vibrant chairs in the photo above). The biggest piece of furniture in the room should be a solid color.

5. Look at the Room with Fresh Eyes

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• Once a room is set up, walk in with fresh eyes and scan it to see if your eyes fully go around the room or if anything stops and jumps out at you that doesn’t fit with your design schema. It may help to take a break after you've staged everything; leave the house for a while and then come back and reexamine everything with a critical eye. 

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Got any tips to add?