Tout est dans les Détails

Today's episode is dedicated to appreciating the small stuff. I personally try to make an effort to recognize those little details in life whether it's to make me feel good, appreciate the environment I'm in, or to just make me feel better when things are a bit glum...you know what I'm talking about, the smell of fresh coffee, the sound of rain, the warm glow of a candle.....

Details are all around us and yet, within our busy lives, we let many of them pass us by. It's these things, though, that can switch our emotions in an instance, and most often, we don't even realize what it is that has changed our mood. Therefore, it's time to start paying more attention to realize what it truly is about a place that makes it what it is! Adam and I have visited over a dozens of cities this past year and have frequently asked the question, "what is it about this town that makes it charming? dingy? boring?..." Once you try and describe the charming town, you realize a lot of those adjectives also describe a dingy town or even one that provokes indifference. There is no clear formula in the overall sense, (at least not one we have come up with yet), but the answer's somewhere hidden throughout all those details.

For round two of our European adventures, we were lucky enough to land an amazingly charming place for the next nine months. We were ecstatic when we saw the flat for the first time and thought, "Now this is a Parisian apartment!"Scaling my citywide question back, I've posed this same inquiry to our new home, "what is it about this place that makes it charming?" Again, it's all in the details. There's not just one item in itself that can determine this description, but a variety of intricacies that please the eye all together. One man's heaven may be another man's hell, so perhaps this isn't charming at all to other people. Or maybe I've convinced myself that as an architect, the rest of the world needs to listen to a professional who can tell them what charming is? What it really all comes down to personal taste, but in order to be comfortable somewhere you have to ask yourself, "what is is about this space that makes me feel that way?" Perhaps I personally appreciate the synthesis of items of old and new, or maybe it's simply the fact that I get a chance to live within a culture that actually appreciates the intricacies of decor. Or maybe I'm just a sucker for old places. But all in all, this apartment does have a lively variety of colors, textures, sounds, and sights that boast a cozy French feel. See for yourself. Would this be your idea of charm?

Bienvenue a Chez Nous

Views from our balcony. 

I simply love the contrast of Haussmann with the techie Gare Montparnasse looming in the distance.

 Our petite kitchen herb garden (left) 

Stools for hanging out/eating in our fits-more-than-two-person-kitchen (right)  

Deep shadows on the sleek stove, drawers, and pulls

Generations of paint - Kitchen door

Typical Dining and Living room detailing

Texture to the max on the nostalgic fireplace

Ceiling moldings 

(if you look close enough, you can see corn, wheat, and pumpkins)

Random dishes....mooo!

(oh wait, those are horses, not cows)

Tea and coffee nook (aka fueling station) - A melange of deliciousness

Backup supplies

Flooring cracks and creaks (man do we have squeaky floorboards) (left)

The recycling nook (right)

A splash of warmth and red with the living room's Area Rug

Radiators and Knobs and Flakey paint

The Bathroom sudsing station

Girl Corner on top of the bedroom's fireplace

Out on the Balcony