Project: Chez Michelle
Interior Designer: Bloomint Design
Location: Savoie, France
Interior floor area: 400 m2
Year 2017
Photographer: Margaret Stepien
The first time we visited the house, we fell in love with its symmetry, its elegance and its surroundings. On the top of the hill, at the foot of the Mountain, Chez Michelle stands between forest and a grand open view of the Lac du Bourget. The surrounding is so inspiring, the contrast between the white snow and the black earth in the winter, or the unbelievable sunset turning the lac and sky orange, yellow and red…. Depending on the season, looking out from the large windows, one can contemplate a beautiful show where nature is the main character.
We inspired ourselves of nature’s beauty to create an interior based on the same color changes the seasons offer. A path was created throughout the house, full of contrasts & poetry.
The Main entrance, black & white, mirroring the alps in the winter. Strong contrasts and lack of color give to this space its meaning: a transitional space offering, trough large iron warehouse glass doors, a view on the colorful living areas on the ground floor.
The mudroom, is a practical secondary entrance, where one can come in with dirty shoes and hands full of groceries, hang coats up and change into house slippers, put away canned food, even wash up before coming in to the open kitchen. This transitional area is Michelle’s idea, brought from her American culture. A very practical space, with colorful cement tiles and wooden built-in storage space.
The kitchen, dining and living area become one open space, facing the garden & lake views, is a joyful, colorful and very lively part of the Chez Michelle, inspired by summer time’s bliss. We worked in a close collaboration with our clients to combine new furniture with pieces they already had and loved from their past house, a perfect balance was established between old and new.
Back in the main entrance, a graceful black wooden stair case brings us to the first floor, with a more intimate and romantic atmosphere, here the soft colors reflect this region in the fall, perfect setting to rest and relax, this floor holds four bedrooms and three bathrooms.
The second floor is where the architecture of the house rules, the wooden floors are dark in the ground floor, medium tone in the first floor, and now a light wooden color to continue the conceptual color nuance. The walls are a nuclear white and the open multifunctional space topped by a very high ceiling offering a superb view on the lake and the roof’s old wooden beams, here one feels like on the top of a mountain, ruling the world! This space offers an extra guest room and bathroom, a gym, play and lounge area.
