Elisabeth Boucher and Philippe Feinsilber, <br> Elie 17, Zacharie 5 years, Ava 5 months old
Family - Paris

A Story of Chances and Favorites.

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Elisabeth Boucher and Philippe Feinsilber,
Elie 17, Zacharie 5 years, Ava 5 months old

It’s not the first time we’ve come across the lovely Elisabeth, who commits all her energy to helping others. Her speciality: to take brands that display honest beliefs and worthy values, and to make them more widely known. We’ve worked together in the past to promote, in the most natural fashion, the revolutionary Stokke products which help to further parent-child relationships. To go even further in this approach that we hold especially dear, Elisabeth suggested that we could meet in her own family home. To which we said yes straight away. The co-creator of the “Look Further” agency reveals to us an interior design in which the Scandinavian brand’s most iconic products have long-since found their place. Situated in the Odéon quarter, the apartment is the perfect setting, designed entirely by Elisabeth’s companion Philippe. After months of renovation (the apartment having been untouched since the war) he let his heart lead the way in the decoration, to the backdrop of a Haussmanian restoration. The result is a sometimes surprising cohabitation of design classics, primitive artworks and off-beat accessories gleaned in the course of his travels. An ensemble that more than ever makes Philippe’s words ring true: “With quality pieces you can afford to mix everything up. You just have to know how to balance them.”

Salon Paris Appartement Odéon Elisabeth Boucher et Philippe Feinsilber
Salon Paris Appartement Odéon Elisabeth Boucher et Philippe Feinsilber
Elisabeth Boucher and Philippe Feinsilber, <br> Elie 17, Zacharie 5 years, Ava 5 months old
Couloir Paris Appartement Odéon Elisabeth Boucher et Philippe Feinsilber
Couloir Meuble Memphis Paris Appartement Odéon Elisabeth Boucher et Philippe Feinsilber
Cuisine Paris Appartement Odéon Elisabeth Boucher et Philippe Feinsilber
Elisabeth Boucher and Philippe Feinsilber, <br> Elie 17, Zacharie 5 years, Ava 5 months old
Cuisine Salle à manger Chaises Tripp Trapp Paris Appartement Odéon Elisabeth Boucher et Philippe Feinsilber
Cuisine Paris Appartement Odéon Elisabeth Boucher et Philippe Feinsilber

Elisabeth, Philippe: can you tell us about your working lives?

Elisabeth

Speaking for myself, I help brands that are driven by their values and convictions to highlight themwhat they do and extend their reach. In day-to-day terms that means clarifying their identity and creating an authentic, sincere connection with their audience. No matter which sector they operate in, they are helping to build a better world: whether they collect and recycle electrical and electronic products, or whether they are a Scandinavian childcare brand like Stokke, which aims to strengthen the bonds between parents and children, helping toddlers to develop. I regularly end up working with Philippe, who is an expert in digital innovation management. Living together, bringing up our children together and working together: it’s not always plain sailing but we wouldn’t have it any other way! For the moment!

Which district of Paris are we in?

Elisabeth

We’re in the Odéon neighbourhood – a very lively area of the 6th arrondissement with a sometimes unlikely mix of students, tourists from all over the world and locals, some of whom have been here for generations and others who have returned to first principles after travelling around Paris and the inner suburbs. We both loved living in these very different neighbourhoods, like the 20th arrondissement or in a loft in the secret gardens around Malakoff. But eventually we needed to be close to Philippe’s eldest son’s school in the Luxembourg area.

What made you choose this apartment rather than another one?

Philippe

The fact that it is so light and has views on both sides.

Paris Appartement Odéon Photographie de famille Elisabeth Boucher et Philippe Feinsilber
Bureau Paris Appartement Odéon Elisabeth Boucher et Philippe Feinsilber
Bureau Paris Appartement Odéon Elisabeth Boucher et Philippe Feinsilber
Elisabeth Boucher and Philippe Feinsilber, <br> Elie 17, Zacharie 5 years, Ava 5 months old

With high quality pieces, you can take the liberty of mixing everything up. You just have to create the right balance.

Bureau Paris Appartement Odéon Elisabeth Boucher et Philippe Feinsilber
Bureau Paris Appartement Odéon Elisabeth Boucher et Philippe Feinsilber Bureau Paris Appartement Odéon Elisabeth Boucher et Philippe Feinsilber Bureau Bibliothèque Paris Appartement Odéon Elisabeth Boucher et Philippe Feinsilber

How did you start furnishing the place to make yourselves feel at home?

Philippe

By smashing the place up! The apartment hadn’t been touched since the war. After, it was necessary to rebuilt everything and keep the spirit of the place but adapting it to a current lifestyle.

What were your main inspirations in terms of design and art?

Elisabeth

Philippe did the building work – and a lot of the decorations – for the apartment before he met me. I urgently set about doing nothing at all, simply because I loved this sometimes surprising but always harmonious blend — built on the basis of straight-laced and functional Scandinavia, punctuated by furniture by exuberant Italian postmodern designers like Ettore Sottass/Memphis movement, primitive artworks and beautiful, funky and even sexy objects. It’s as though Philippe had been my perfect, personal interior designer! I left all the painstaking work, days spent in flea markets and following the auctions in Paris or Bruxelles to him. My job was to enjoy the results without making any effort! The main things I have brought to the apartment relate to the children: Scandinavian designer furniture by Stokke (mainly) and all the constant, happy mess that you get in a place that is home to little ones. You don’t see it in the photos so much, but I can assure you that it’s there!

Philippe

First and foremost, I wanted to retain and even reconstruct the basic mid-19th century, Haussmann style of the apartment. I’ve become a specialist in ledges, curves, and other mouldings. I went to Burgundy, looking for doors. I worked with the specialist in old floors. Refurbished the fireplaces. My overarching theme was simply anything that I thought looked good, for my own pleasure. I have my own selection of essential designer furniture, from the 50s through to more contemporary pieces, real objects of desire that I’ve managed to collect over time.  And all the rest is a question of chance and pieces I’ve fallen for on sight.

What do you do so that they can exist side-by-side?

Philippe

With high quality pieces, you can take the liberty of mixing everything up. You just have to create the right balance.

Portrait Paris Appartement Odéon Elisabeth Boucher et Philippe Feinsilber
Salle de bain Paris Appartement Odéon Elisabeth Boucher et Philippe Feinsilber
Elisabeth Boucher and Philippe Feinsilber, <br> Elie 17, Zacharie 5 years, Ava 5 months old
Elisabeth Boucher and Philippe Feinsilber, <br> Elie 17, Zacharie 5 years, Ava 5 months old
Chambre Paris Appartement Odéon Elisabeth Boucher et Philippe Feinsilber
Luminaire Suspension Paris Appartement Odéon Elisabeth Boucher et Philippe Feinsilber

Are you collectors?

Philippe

Not really as I am not fond of a particular style or specific period. It’s more about falling in love with a piece of artwork, and a kind of personal quest. It is too eclectic to call it a collection. For me it is the connection formed by my aesthetic perception of furnitures and objects all togheter that defines a collector, not the desire for completeness.

How do you adapt your family life to your decor? Are your children aware of it?

Elisabeth

Our children have learned, and are learning not to touch and not to play with objects and artworks. They know that they are fragile and that they mustn’t be mishandled. They’ve never broken anything. Elie, who’s 17, loves these items and is very protective of them. Zacharie, who is five, is still a bit too young to have that instinct but he asks a lot of questions, and he’s definitely interested. And sometimes he is overcome by a frenzied desire to decorate: his own drawings and art are all over the place, hanging on the doors, the walls, and above our bed.

Do you have any essential tips to enable everyone to flourish?

Philippe

For adults, a few pieces that each provide their own, unique benefits and comfort. Such as the Artichoke lamp by the Danish designer, Poul Henningsen, which creates sublime light, or the Egg armchair by Arne Jacobsen, with its perfect ergonomics. Everyone fights to sit there.

Elisabeth

For children, furniture by the Scandinavian manufacturer, Stokke, which evolves and is extremely ergonomic as well as looking good, and which I am delighted to act as an ambassador for. Such as the Tripp Trapp chair which provides them with perfect support, enabling them to sit at the table in the best way possible, whatever the age. Even Ava, who is five months old, sits around the table with the rest of the family, rather than sitting alone on the floor, thanks to the little cot for babies that is fixed to the table. Meanwhile, the Sleepi bed is a veritable cocoon that adapts to the child’s age, with very practical features like the fact that it runs on castors.

Your apartment is overflowing with places where you can imagine hiding away for a moment of peace. Which is your favourite?

Philippe

We all love the study – perhaps a bit too much for my taste! Unfortunately, it’s tough to really get away from it all because everyone ends up there over the course of the day.

Elisabeth

From my perspective, it’s our bathroom. A haven of peace with views over the Parisian rooftops. It’s a place to escape from the frenzy of family life. But never for very long!

Couloir Paris Appartement Odéon Elisabeth Boucher et Philippe Feinsilber
Salon Paris Appartement Odéon Elisabeth Boucher et Philippe Feinsilber
Salon Oeuvre d'art Paris Appartement Odéon Elisabeth Boucher et Philippe Feinsilber
Salon Paris Appartement Odéon Elisabeth Boucher et Philippe Feinsilber
Salon Oeuvre d'art Paris Appartement Odéon Elisabeth Boucher et Philippe Feinsilber
Portrait Famille Paris Appartement Odéon Elisabeth Boucher et Philippe Feinsilber

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