How we did it. 

This former “industrial style” townhouse in the close Paris suburbs had last been redone in the early 2000s. The style was very loud and the colors were flashy… While this family of four had lots of great memories in the house, the busy “yang” (masculine) style, the lack of cozy places to sit, the “metallic” feel was causing them to only rarely rest. And while the house has always welcomed spontaneous gatherings and late night parties, this lifestyle had become the opposite of what our clients (now in their 40s) wanted. So we recreated quiet, moody spaces, and imagined the house to become a sanctuary for the family, while welcoming nature into the design.

Challenges:

  • My client had lots of industrial vintage pieces that she had difficulty parting with. But these yellow, red and green cabinets had to go… The Yang weight was too much to bear.

  • My client (the mother) feels "at home" in the Wood element. This means that she needs to surround herself with a lot of wooden objects. We needed to destroy the “Metal” that had been present in the home, and invite the “Wood” and “Water” elements. In addition, her husband and kids are “Earth” and “Fire”. We needed to add these elements back.

My contribution: 

  • We did a space clearing to remove all negative energy.

  • Adding Wood, Water mainly, and also Fire and Earth had a rebalancing effect on the “Metal” predominance. The house immediately felt so much cosier adding these elements back.

  • The Wood comes in the form of wooden objects and the color blue, but also in the form of actual nature. The garden is now an integral part of the design, with carefully chosen trees and specific landscape arrangements.

  • Removing some cutting symbolism: for example, we painted the main column blue to "forget" the columns in the living room, we put away knives in the kitchen. We removed loud “yang” colors.

  • I suggested a furniture arrangement and a flow conveying coziness and rest.

Results: 

My clients are thrilled with the changes we made and have expressed a feeling of calm that has allowed them to find their center again, reexamine their priorities and make significant positive professional changes. Everyone reports feeling more aligned and happy.

Check out the photos of this project below:

Gallery