You are a decoration addict,
but once you’ve closed aside your favorite magazine,
how to adapt the precepts of the experts at home?

Here are some of our favourite personalities who have
been kind enough to share this vision of interior design.

With generosity, they indulge you with their choices,
share tips and inspiring advice.

Today we talk to

Santillane de Chanaleilles 

 

 

 

 

Santillane, could you introduce yourself?

Hello, my name is Santillane de Chanaleilles and I’m an interior designer and mother to three boys. I set up my own practice nearly 22 years ago. I started on my own and today there are about twelve people in the company. I absolutely adore what I do!

Café Pierre Hermé, rue Bonaparte

We work on awide variety of projects abroad and in France: townhouses, country homes (includingan 18th century Normandy manor house that we have just finished), lofts, offices and commercial spaces (like the Pierre Hermé café in the rue Bonaparte that we have just finished). Ours tend to be quite ambitious projects which are often areal challenge that require a lot of hard work and investment.

Your interior design mantra?

Be daring with colour, play with texture, open spaces up to the outside world and let the light in!

 
 


© Frenchie Cristogatin pour Art & Décoration
 

What do you thinkof the concept of good taste?

Don’t overdoit. In our projects I am always trying to find the right sense of balance and harmony.

 

If you could be aroom in the house which would it be?

The kitchen, without hesitation! Sharing and talking are my favourite pastimes and the kitchen is the ideal backdrop, at anytime of the day or night. It’s a convivial room that is completely multifunctional– a place to eat, to work and to chat. It really is the ideal room for today’s lifestyle.


The top 3 things on your bucket list?

    • To start afamily ✔️

    • To have a job that I’m passionate about✔️

    • To do a parachute jump 🪂

     

    If you were anartist?

    Charlotte Perriand.
     

    Your dream project?

    To renovate and live in a house by the sea.

     

    A current obsession?

    Bench seating! It’s not a current obsession, rather a complete obsession, full stop. I almost always manage to include one in my projects. I find a bench seat super practical and convivial. I also love the idea that they are all unique as they are always made to measure.

     

    A step towards a brighter future?

    We are really trying to reduce the environmental impact of our projects. We always try to find or reuse old materials. It’s a start but it’s not enough. We also endeavour to work with craftsmen and artisans so as to ensure that we can restore old materials whenever possible.

     

    Santillane’s world

     

      Your favourite type of space?

      I would say spaces for modern day tribes. We create interiors that you never tire of living in, working in and having fun in. Whether it’s a classic Parisan appartment, aloft, a country house, a villa by the sea or even an office, we always try to create joyful spaces in which our clients can feel good.

       

         

        Material world

        The materials I work with are extremely important to me. I like to really dress them up. So for example, when I am designing a cupboard door for a dressing room, I create a wooden frame to go around a rectangle of woven wallpaper, fabric or plaster. I love to use wood of every type and in every form, natural stone, especially marble, and metals such as brass, bronze or aluminium.

         
        © Frenchie Cristogatin

        And fabrics?

        Fabric plays an essential role as it allows you toinclude colour and pattern and helps you to define a style. In each ofour projects we help our clients with even the tiniest details, including thechoice of fabrics for a bench, an armchair, bedclothes, curtains etc.
         

        How do you bringeverything together?

        Each projec thas a common thread, sometimes it’s a colour, sometimes a choice of material. It’s like a language that you use to allow rooms to converse in a way that is harmonious and coherent.
         

         

        Home is where the art is

        Our projects are very much bespoke and we reallytry to personalise everything we do, down to the tiniest details. We design bedheads, bathroom furniture and bench seats, all of which are beautifully made byincredible artisans with materials from amazing suppliers. We have also recently started to design our own range offurniture. All of this helps us to create unique spaces that are completely coherent and in keeping with the lifestyle of our clients.
         

        Paint v. Wallpaper

        Both of course! I love colour and pattern and you will always find both in my projects.They give life to a room and help to create different spaces.
         
         

        © Frenchie Cristogatin
         

        Your favourite colour palette?

        It changes according to the time of year and the space. I don’t really have a predefined colour palette. For example, at the moment we are working on a house in Corsica surrounded by olive trees so we have chosen a green / bronze for the sliding door frames. Having said all of that, I do have a weakness for terracotta, ochre and saffron as they are such warm colours.

         

        Dare devil

        It’simportant to be daring, especially as far as strong colours are concerned. ButI mainly like to keep things simple. I particularly like sober interiors whichlet natural beauty shine through.
         

        In & out

        I like to create connections between the interiorand the exterior. I love nature so it’s particularly important for me to bringthe outside in via a beautiful terrace, vast windows or a light shaft.

         

         

           

           

          Santillane's shopping list