What to do when you are mad about interior design and your favorite store has had to close...

A lesson in interior style: learn from the pros from the comfort of your own home

We turn to the interior designers who we particularly admire and who have been kind enough to share their tips with us.

Style advice, design tips and decorating wisdom.

Today we talk to

Céline Danton

Céline, can you introduce yourself?

It turns out that there is a link between law and interior design. I trained as a lawyer but I always had a slightly eccentric, unruly side that was perhaps better suited to something else.

It was my passion for real estate that brought me to my first renovation projects. Each time I moved I discovered that I loved the more technical aspects of redoing a flat as much as the purely decorative ones. My family and a few laudative articles in the press convinced me to switch professions at 40. To make sure it wasn't too easy I took up playing the piano and running at the same time!

And so « Les Jolis Intérieurs » was born.

What is your decorating mantra?

Oser, évidemment !

Dare, of course!

It's my own personal story and also what I advise my clients to do. And in particular I tell the to listen to their instincts, to do what pleases them without trying too hard.

An interior is both the place where we receive people and an intimate cocoon where we go to retreat from the outside world. These two ideas are somewhat in opposition and the challenge is to reconcile them in the image of the person who lives there.

What does the concept of good taste mean to you?

The idea of good taste goes back to Kant's idea of universal beauty. Above all though, taste is something deeply personal imbued with the sensitivities and the culture of each individual. I try to help my clients to feel confident in their own taste. My job is to accompany them as they write their own story, as we create a place that they will enjoy living in and that will make them happy every time they look at it. That's the definition of good taste for me.

If you were a room?

The

bedroom. I love the idea of creating a refuge and the idea of a house within a house that the bedroom represents for children.

It's the best place to use lots of soft textiles. It can also be a lovely, calm place to create an office area to be able to work in peace.

If you were an artiste?

Johnson Tsang – his work is fascinating and touching.

Or Helmut Newton for his eye.

Céline's tips

Colour, my best friend

When you want to play with colour but you don't quite know the rules of the game, reading books by decorators and architects can be really helpful. Bear in mind that colours can look very different depending on the light or the way a room faces. I always recommend buying samples and testing them on big sheets of paper so that you can put them on different wall to test how they will really look.

It can be interesting to break free from the norms that dictate that you need to use light colours in a dark, narrow room.

Dark colours give warmth and character to contemporary interiors and can make older properties feel more modern. They can also really throw lights and paintings into relief. Passageways are also ideal places to try out dark colours. If ou use them on the ceiling as well they can have a unifying effect. And they can work wonders for an old parquet floor.

A paintbrush is a real magic wand.

How many colours per room?

One, two, three or why not even four? There are no rules or particular limits. You can introduce colour via curtains, cushions, a bed cover, a rug, wood panelling, door and window frames or cast iron radiators.

Everything in decoration, especially colour, becomes a pretext to weave a story that takes us from one room to another.

And wallpaper?

Wallpaper is many different things at once. It can bring colour to a room, furnish it, create a trompe-l’œil effect... It helps to focus the gaze in a room, can help to make a door or a cupboard disappear, or can furnish a niche or a bookshelf.

It also works perfectly as a headboard in a bedroom, or can be used as a painting in an entrance or a living room, framed by wooden beading. It's also very striking on the top half of a wall with the lower half painted in a coordinating colour.

Do you prefer a functional entrance or something more show stopping?

Les deux ! Je conseille à mes clients de ne pas hésiter à choisir une couleur forte en all over, parfois associée avec un pan de Wallpaper pour un effet saisissant et enveloppant. L'entrée marque la coupure avec l’extérieur tout en constituant une étape avant de pénétrer au cœur d’un intérieur.
Une couleur foncée accentue la sensation de luminosité et de grand volume des autres pièces.
Pour le côté fonctionnel, on y place une jolie banquette avec tiroir pour les chaussures et des petits miroirs. L’important est de marquer cet espace, le délimiter par une couleur propre, une petite cloison ou un meuble.

Essential accessories

Il suffit souvent de quelques accessoires pour transformer un intérieur sans âme. Des rideaux aux fenêtres, un édredon, un plaid et des coussins en accumulation lui apporteront matière, chaleur et caractère.

Un tapis est un meuble
à lui tout seul.

Il permet de délimiter un espace salon et d’atténuer la présence d’un sol que l’on n’a pas choisi.
Les luminaires sont magiques,
ils réchauffent l’ambiance.
Je recommande les sources indirectes, comme les appliques. Quant aux suspensions,
j'aime les positionner le plus bas possible au-dessus d’un meuble, d'une table, d'un plan de travail ou un îlot.
Sans oublier les miroirs, de toutes tailles, seuls ou en accumulation : ils prolongent les perspectives, multiplient les volumes et reflètent la lumière de l’extérieur !

☞ Céline's shopping list

📸 Anne-Sophie Nebout & Virginie Perocheau

In conversation with Céline Danton