A small millstone house regains color

A glass roof between the entrance and the living room © Edeco

Renovated with elegance, this small suburban house has found a second youth. If the project was intended to be simple, it was nevertheless constrained by a budget calculated as accurately as possible. Not enough to scare the interior designers who have been clever in transforming places.

Dusted and skillfully enhanced, this small millstone house, typical of the Parisian suburbs, has regained its freshness. The living spaces were cleverly redesigned to offer more fluidity, and highlighted through an elegant decoration. The initial project, entrusted to Dominique Jean and Anne-Joëlle Tchoumbris, from the Edeco agency, only concerned the ground floor. “Initially, the owner contacted us to transform the living room and redo the entrance” Dominique Jean tells us. “Seduced by the sketches, she finally decided to renovate the floor as well”. However, the mission was guided by two major constraints, including a very tight budget. Interior designers also had to operate in an interior where every inch counts. “The house is very small (60 m2 in total), and the owner did not have the possibility to move or to put her belongings in a storage room during the work. So we had to juggle and show organization! “ admits Dominique Jean. The challenge was nevertheless met brilliantly. Each of the parts has been optimized thanks to tailor-made fittings, which made it possible to rationalize space and create an impression of volume. Color has also been used to emphasize certain elements and bring a little relief. Results : the interior, transformed, breathes again and bathes in a cheerful and luminous atmosphere. Visit in pictures.

Before: an interior to reinvest

Before: an interior to be reinvested © Edeco

The house had its assets: a very bright and charming interior, which moreover immediately won over the interior designer. “It needed to be renovated, but the place spoke to me. It felt good!” remembers Dominique Jean. The living spaces, which seemed a bit messy, however lacked structure and had everything to gain from being redesigned.

Before: an interior to reinvest

After: more fluid living spaces

After: more fluid living spaces © Edeco

Cleverly rearranged, the interior has taken on a new look. At the back of the room, the kitchen has been redefined thanks to a small partition which serves as a support for the new dining area. On the left, the small window overlooking the living room has been glazed in a style reminiscent of the glass roof, installed near the entrance. The walls have also been re-dressed with a fresh coat of paint, the color chosen from a light palette, giving the whole a little relief but also a lot of softness.

After: more fluid living spaces

Cleverly refreshed cuisine

Cleverly refreshed cuisine © Edeco

“The difficulty here was to intervene in the kitchen without touching the furniture” indicates Dominique Jean. To stay within the budget, only the worktop and the tiling have been changed. The old cement tiles, unfortunately broken in several places, were therefore replaced … without being able to move the furniture. “The craftsmen adapted, they only dismantled the plinths to be able to slide the new tiles underneath” explains the interior designer.

Cleverly refreshed cuisine

A new dining area

A new dining area © Edeco

Dominique Jean also created a small partition, decorated with two bright niches, between the kitchen and the living room. “This buffer partition made it possible to put a small dining room table and thus to set up a real dining area” she emphasizes.

A new dining area

A glass roof between the entrance and the living room

A glass roof between the entrance and the living room © Edeco

The living room has also been subtly redesigned. It is now separated from the entrance by a glass roof, which makes it possible to delimit the space without obscuring or suffocating the room. “I would have liked to be able to keep the old original parquet, but it was very damaged in places. Restoring it would have been too expensive considering the budget. We therefore installed a laminate parquet”.

A glass roof between the entrance and the living room

A tailor-made library

A tailor-made library © Edeco

A small library has also been fitted out as an extension of the glass roof and adorns the corner of the room above the sofa. Worked on down to the smallest detail, right down to the lighting, it thus offers a welcome additional storage space.

A tailor-made library

A more functional entrance

A more functional entrance © Edeco

Previously separated from the living room by a shelf, the entrance has gained in comfort and functionality thanks to the glass roof which clearly marks the different spaces. “It also allowed us to fit out a large shoe closet” adds the interior designer. The old, tired tiling has also disappeared. The same parquet now covers the floor from the entrance to the living room, thus creating a more harmonious whole.

A more functional entrance

Makeover for the stairs

Makeover for the stairs © Edeco

The wooden staircase has been given a real makeover. “It was sanded by airbrushing, a technique that projects very fine sand on the wood and avoids having to use strippers. The result is impeccable, it gave it a real boost!” comments Dominique Jean.

Makeover for the stairs

A stylishly refreshed room

Upstairs, the bedroom also needed to be refreshed and space optimized. The small library has been elegantly refurbished. The brick wall, on the other hand, has disappeared. “There was an old chimney flue with a brick wall. It was covered when reinsulating everything. It’s a shame, but it was simpler and less expensive” regrets Dominique Jean.

A stylishly refreshed room

Before: an old bathroom

The tiny bathroom was also untouched. “The room was typical of the time with a small corner tub, sea green tiles … It needed updating, and the challenge was to make it all fit in!”

Before: an old bathroom

After: a perfectly optimized small bathroom

Hemmed in an elegant green and imitation marble tiles, the small bathroom has gained in elegance, but above all in comfort. To save space, the tub has been replaced by a shower. An extra flat towel rail also made it possible to install an additional storage unit. “A small loophole was also cut on the side of the shower stall, just in line with the window, to provide additional light, because there is only one pendant in the room” indicates Dominique Jean.