I met Stephanie and Frank for the first time when I went to see their home in Annecy, a little villa surrounded by a lush, well-kept garden overlooking the Alps. The 120 m2 space is divided between the living area on the ground floor and the sleeping area on the upper attic floor.

The couple had contacted me to redesign various areas of the house, in order to make the best use of space, and make some clear style choices, creating a harmonious and welcoming home with an understated elegance. This is why I suggested Sur Mesure, for a partial renovation.

I first suggested a new colour palette for the restyling. At the time the house was dull, mainly white with no proper contrasts with other colours. So I introduced warm dove-grey shades for some of the walls, various shades of brown and a few touches of grey for the furniture, to create an elegant, well-balanced overall effect.

I then started to redesign the spaces from the ground floor up.

• The hallway has been completely rebuilt, creating a reading room that can also be used as a guest room on one side, with the actual entrance on the other. This is a contained but practical and welcoming space, thanks to a new false ceiling with recessed spotlights that give precise but soft lighting.
  
• A lot of work was also done in the kitchen. We extended the central island to make it more practical and match its colour with its setting. We extended a wall to accommodate a large number of appliances and finally we completely redesigned the lighting, replacing the ceiling lights with a mix of decorative hanging, floor and wall lamps. The spaces and light in the heart of the home have therefore been greatly improved, both in terms of efficiency and atmosphere, which is now cosier  and more welcoming.
  
• To make the living room cosier, I suggested replacing the furniture with two simple but distinctive elements: a corner sofa in cream-coloured fabric and a custom-made console table as a TV stand.
  
• The bathroom was demolished on the first floor, then rebuilt and enlarged, by reducing a large corridor, which allowed us to install a spacious shower as well as a bathtub. A single room was also converted into a practical and elegant custom-built walk-in wardrobe, which also left ample space for the master bedroom.
  
  

Stephanie and Frank loved all the solutions  - both the concept and the reality - which allowed them to eliminate wasted space and make their home a cosy nest.