Press - MARIE CLAIRE MAISON N° 516

Marie Claire House No. 516

The interior designer couple Karine Pelloquin and Frédéric Aguiard, from Coutume Studio, have made recovery their signature. A spool of thread, a bell or a glass globe are transformed into table lamps, a military camp bed becomes the top of a coffee table. The leathers of the antique armchairs are washed and then put through a hair dryer to acquire a patina and “appear even more vintage”.

When they chose to leave their Lyon hillsides to settle in Bordeaux, Karine and Frédéric decided on a long residence which had difficulty finding a buyer. “It had remained 'in its original state', but, with its gable and its wooden dentiled bow window, it had this picturesque charm of the so-called Arcachonnaises houses.”

The distinctive features of these 19th-century hybrid brick and stone constructions are meticulously restored. The original parquet floor, stripped, comes back to life. An entire section of stone wall hidden under plaster is exposed to regain the spotlight. “We dismantled and then reassembled the rosettes after reworking the ceilings” says Karine. The plaster moldings with designs of intertwined acanthus leaves, which are the emblem of the villa, have been reproduced identically. Only the volumes have been modified, for more modernity. The succession of small rooms gives way to a completely open central room, animated by a suspended fireplace which rotates. The couple strives to punctuate the spaces with muted color schemes that they have custom-made by a Bordeaux company. Lichen, sand, chalk, fern: shades with organic nuances definitely take the house out of its traditional straitjacket. For a chic, cleverly offbeat interior.