Meet the Black Tie Kitchen: A Dark and Moody New Kitchen in a Historic Paris Apartment
Photography courtesy of Philippe Harden Architecture. If most kitchens are dressed in the design equivalent of everyday wear, Philippe Harden’s T1 project qualifies as black tie. The Paris architect was commissioned by an old friend to update his childhood home in a stately turn-of-the-19th-century apartment building in the Marais, original details worse for wear but intact. An island divides the back of the room kitchen from the dining area in the front. The architect oversaw the styling as well as the architecture: The framed photographs are his own, taken at the Teatro Reggio in Torinom Italy. Harden artfully transformed the aforementioned original entry into the fridge and coffee station—while preserving the intricately carved doorframe and surrounding wainscotting. The kitchen has all mod cons: a microwave is hidden on the sink side of the island. Harden says the room was originally entirely dark—too dark, so it took some convincing for his clients to come around to his proposed scheme: to accentuate the warmth of the historic detailing... ...he painted the walls brown (RAL 9003/Gris Erevan) offset by a white ceiling (Little Greene’s Attic II) and pale floor, “to reflect daylight and make a contrast.” The paneled door, a new addition, leads to a bedroom that was originally the kitchen, and here’s a large courtyard outside the French doors. In the dining area, a Silas Table à Manger by Dutch workshop Woood is surrounded by vintage Galvanitas chairs (€133.33 each from Paris midcentury dealer Cartel de Belleville). The room originally had stained glass windows that were in terrible condition—”they were the price we had to pay,” says Harden. A Serax Papier Mâché Flower Pot holds bay leaf branches—see more of the Serax line in our Trend Alert: Papier Mâché in Shades of Pale. The front hall opens to the living room on the left and the kitchen/dining area.