You're a decorating fanatic but, once you've closed your pretty magazine, how can you adapt the precepts of the pros to your home?
Here's a look at some of our favorite personalities who have been kind enough to share their vision of decorating.
With generosity, they tell you about their choices and share inspiring tips and advice.
Today we're talking to
Marion Saude
Marion, can you introduce yourself?
My name is Marion Saude. I’m 39 and I live between Paris and the île de Ré. I’ve always been practical and créative. When I was small I liked to build tree houses! I worked in luxury in retail, visual merchandising and marketing, and then in 2021 I studied at the Ecole Boule in Paris and became an interior decorator and architect. The time I spent working for Hermès definitely strengthened my appetite for artisanship and excellence and my love of colour.
Your interior decorating mantra?
BEAUTIFUL, GOOD, WELL MADE!
What do you think of the concept of good taste?
Good taste is knowing when to take a different approach, to be audacious and to have fun.
If you were a room?The kitchen, without a doubt. In my house it’s the brightest room as it faces south. I can spend hours there in the sun, looking at the garden out of the window and we have long conversations there over breakfast at the weekend. I love to cook. It’s always been a way for me to express myself creatively and visually and it’s no doubt why I love to design kitchens, down to the tiniest details. |
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The top 3 things on your bucket list?
- To go to live by the ocean.
- To have a workshop and more time to create ceramics, to sew, to dye fabrics and to do all the other things I dream of.
- To get a cat!
If you were an artist?
I would express myself through different media. « Diversity is my watchword, » in the words of La Fontaine.
A dream project?To renovate an old house in an ecologically sound way and to open a guest house for yoga retreats, creative workshops and supper clubs. It would be a place to recharge your batteries, to meet new people and to share experiences centred around what is beautiful, good and well made! |
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A current obsession?
To walk on my own to Saint-Jacques de Compostelle over a period of two weeks, just me and my backpack.
An undertaking for a better future?
Through my online magazine, Studio Tournesol, I publish interviews with skilled artisans and people in the industry with a sustainable approach. I try to promote best practice and to share information about materials that are beneficial to our health and to the environment. Day to day, I try to work with my clients and partners towards concrete actions that will lead to better working practices and a more sustainable approach at each stage of a renovation or decoration project.
Marion’s world
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Craft, vintage, textile: the recipe
Since childhood, I have been going to antique markets and flea markets in search of objects that I find fascinating. I like their patina, their originality and the story that they tell. Of course I also enjoy the hunt for a find, it makes me think of a treasure hunt. I also spend a lot of time looking for handmade vintage pieces and haberdashery as I love to make my own clothes and have been doing so since I was very young. That’s almost certainly where my love of fabric comes from. In the world of interior decoration, textiles are often overlooked despite the fact that we use them to dress our windows, to cover our chairs and to keep us warm as we drift off to sleep. The way that they fall, the colours, patterns and materials – fabric has an infinite richness that adds character and a unique atmosphere to a space. Textiles are also tactile. What could be more comforting than hugging a silk velvet ‘Gélule’ cushion or wrapping oneself in a handmade mohair ‘Aodha’ throw and curling up with a good book?
So seventies
For our Mouchotte* project, the building’s year of construction (1966) by the architect Jean Dubuisson was the starting point. It was extremely important to make the most of the history of the place, all the while adding a contemporary touch that would fit with the clients’ lifestyle. We took inspiration from the shapes and the mix of different materials such as the chequerboard floor, walnut, chrome, glass tiles and vintage furniture which we used to return the flat to its former glory.
* Projet shown in the article’s photographs
Functional & aesthetic
I can’t imagine one without the other as for me the shape of a space, the envelope if you like, corresponds to a precise use and a function. For me the ergonomy of a space is essential if one is to feel at ease. It’s important not to feel limited in your movement. The aesthetic of a space is like a piece of clothing that dresses a healthy body – supple and full of joy. It’s only when you have one with the other that you can create a harmonious whole.
Start with what you have
Whether a building is a hundred or twenty years old, the architecture and the materials can be interesting. And if you strive for an environmentally responsible approach, you need to know how to work with what you have so as to avoid creating landfill and using new resources. So wood paneling or a beautiful old floor will be so much more interesting than something straight from the factory. It is often when constrained by limitations that we have our most creative ideas.
Bright lights, dark or chiaroscuro?Light only exists in contrast to darkness. In the same way that night follows day. A living room will seem that much brighter for being next to a dark entrance hall. A room painted in an intense colour will seem much more enveloping and welcoming than a room painted in a flat white.
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How to use humour
I like to avoid seriousness, to allude to something humorous and I encourage my clients to follow me down this path, even if it’s not always easy. Try to place an object where you would not necessarily expect to find it, or to use materials or objects that border on kitsch and will end up making you smile. I like the idea of breathing life and joy into an interior, of creating a conversation that makes you think about what you do and don't like.
The meaning of colour
Colour is life, it’s a vibration, the reflection of our emotions. Colours have a power that goes way beyond their decorative status. They influence our wellbeing and our primary needs. Alongside textured materials, they help to create an environment that can affect the way that we feel. We now have scientific proof of this thanks to colorimetry. I think we need to move away from the idea of white versus bright colours because colour can scare people. In reality there exists a multitude of shades, some strong, some less so, that correspond to different rooms, their uses and their inhabitants.
As far back as I can remember I have always been fascinated by colour. It no doubt goes back to my education and my fascination for nature and her extraordinarily rich palette. If I had to recommend a book on the subject, I would suggest “L’étonnant pouvoir des couleurs” by Jean-Gabriel Causse. If we can shift our paradigm by something as simple as a choice of colour, well, why on earth not?
Writing about decoration
Before I opened Studio Tournesol, I created an online magazine that was inspired by my passion for the beautiful, the good and the well made centered on four main themes: Visits to artisans’ studios around France; interviews with people in the industry committed to a sustainable and environmentally responsible approach; articles about colour, the symbolism of colour, its power and decorative uses, and conversations about interior design where I visited someone with an interesting home.
I really wanted to create a forum for longer articles and beautiful photos to give the reader a reason to linger rather than the frenetic scrolling that Instagram encourages. For isn’t the real meaning of luxury to be able to take one’s time ?
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A holistic and environmentally sound approachMy projects are sustainable in terms of the choice of materials, their provenance, their ability to last and the effect that they have on our health. The renovation of a property, and in particular the choice of the materials that will be used, will have an impact on the mental health of the people who live there over time. The holistic dimension requires us to think about the subjective and emotional aspects of a project. A house is perceived today as a refuge, a space that protects its inhabitants against the outside world and this means that it is vital to apply the same standards as one would to one’s own wellbeing.
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A few of your favourite things
I particularly appreciate the singularity of handmade and old objects. I prefer the anonymous nature of a material or a shape and the power that they can have over our emotions to a big name designer. The way that something feels is so important to me. The soft as silk ‘Goa by night’ quilt from Le Monde Sauvage is the perfect example. When you touch it you are transported to another realm.
