For 12 years now Merci has been at the top of every aesthete’s must-visit list in Paris. The lifestyle store, with its linen bedding in impossible-to-find-anywhere-else jewel tones and basement of gorgeous gardening supplies, is known for its eclectic, insouciant take on design.
Merci is approachable rather than precious; it’s an emporium devoted to celebrating the stuff of daily life in playful, room-like settings—and to presenting ideas that feel a few steps ahead of the pack. To fully demonstrate the store’s style, the Merci creative team first refurbished a nearby flat that it dubbed the Pied-à-Terre. That experience—and Paris’s lockdown when the city was at a standstill—led it to take on another space, a family apartment in an 18th century building in the 5th arrondissement. Newly complete, this Second Residence, as its known, is a celebration, in the store’s own words, of the Merci way: “pairing antiques with contemporary designs, mixing two antagonistic aesthetics, combining mass-produced objects with artisanal pieces.” Join us for a look around.
Photography courtesy of Merci.
![the \1\20 square meter apartment occupies a floor of a late \18th century neocl 17](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/merci-paris-second-residence-living-room-1-733x489.jpg)
![of course, some of the furnishings are straight off the merci selling floor, su 18](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/merci-paris-second-residence-living-room-2a-733x977.jpg)
![a small group of artists and artisans were invited to leave their mark on the s 19](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/merci-paris-second-residence-living-room-2b-733x977.jpg)
![antique mirrors are positioned at opposite ends of the room. the woven armchair 20](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/merci-paris-second-residence-living-room-3-733x978.jpg)
![the home office is known as the shaker room: inspiration for its sunny paint jo 21](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/merci-paris-second-residence-shaker-room-workspace-4a-733x977.jpg)
![artist margaux derhy paints a trompe l\2\17;oeil version of the hanging 22](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/merci-paris-second-residence-trompe-loeil-artist-margaux-derhy-shaker-room-workspace-6-733x977.jpg)
![here and there, the designers inserted african beaded pieces, such as this armc 23](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/merci-paris-second-residence-shaker-room-workspace-4b-733x977.jpg)
![the desk is a merci collaboration with sas minimum, a group of designers devote 24](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/merci-paris-second-residence-shaker-room-workspace-5-733x489.jpg)
![a hat like brass suspension light, €5\26 at merci, hangs over a vintage 25](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/merci-paris-second-residence-kitchen-7-733x977.jpg)
![the stainless steel cabinets are by italian line alpes inox: see race car style 26](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/merci-paris-second-residence-stainless-steel-alpes-inox-kitchen-cabinets-8-733x977.jpg)
![in place of the existing \1970s plastic tiles, ceramicist marion graux created 27](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/merci-paris-second-residence-kitchen-table-733x977.jpg)
![the bedroom has original paneling and a mark eden schooley koushi pendant, 28](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/merci-paris-second-residences-bedroom-9-733x489.jpg)
![the striped bedroll is a tensira mattress topper: see more in 7 soft, 29](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/merci-paris-second-residences-bedroom-10-733x977.jpg)
![the designers introduced a circa \1900 sink to the main bathroom and positioned 30](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/merci-paris-second-residence-bathroom-11-733x977.jpg)
![the antique bathtub, newly re enameled, was formerly being used in a field as a 31](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/merci-paris-second-residence-vintage-bathtub-13-733x977.jpg)
![the partition in front the tub is composed of salvaged zinc roof panels from al 32](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/merci-paris-second-residence-bathroom-12-733x978.jpg)
![in the den, set designer sophie glasser applied linen canvas to the walls in pa 33](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/merci-paris-second-residence-den-14-733x977.jpg)
![a collection of cyanotypes by photographer jérôme galland hang o 34](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/merci-paris-second-residence-den-15-733x977.jpg)
![after the apartment’s second bathroom was tiled, artist sophie loncq han 35](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/merci-paris-second-residences-dotted-tiled-shower-733x977.jpg)
The Second Residence is open for visits next month—sign up here—and a few lucky guests of Merci get to spend the night.
Browse the Remodelista Paris archives for more inspiration, including:
- The Table as a Space Where All are Welcome: Ajiri Aki on Design
- Order and Pattern in a Spirited Apartment Remodel by Two Young Architects
- A Stylish Paris Apartment Designed for a Young Family (and a Cat, Too)
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