A Cabinet of Influences in the Nouvelle-Athènes district.

I am an Italian from Tuscany, and I’ve lived in Paris for more than ten years. I’m a creative consultant in fashion and decoration, mainly for Humbert & Poyet, the architectural agency. My job is to provide artistic direction and inspiration depending on my clients’ projects and wishes and create places or experiences unique to them.

I am Antoni Calmon, a cosmetic doctor working between Paris and London. I spend my days making people feel good about themselves. I was born in Perpignan, I have been in Paris for six years, and I have a passion for history, opera and horse riding. Modern, aren’t I? (Laughs)

We’ve been in this house for six years, right in the heart of the bustling Place Pigalle, but in the peace and quiet of a private cul-de-sac. The Directoire houses in this avenue have had some famous tenants, including Django Reinhardt, Régine Crespin and, more recently, Jean-Paul Gaultier. It’s a pleasant place to live, with a very rural atmosphere.

Our house is very pleasant. It has six large windows facing west onto the garden and three more overlooking the neighbours’ garden to the rear. It is designed as a country house with a style of decoration which lends itself to bringing the outside in. The apartment is located on the ground floor, with a small blue alcove bedroom. The other sleeping area is decorated with a Bélier tapestry by Jean Lurçat. It’s a nod to the high school in Perpignan with the same name, where I went to school. We also have a library, where there is a fireplace and a grand piano for musical evenings. The dining room, living room and kitchen are combined in one large space. It disappears into the decor because it is clad in brass that reflects the parquet floor. We also have a large Fratino table similar to those in Italian convents. It can accommodate 12 guests, but not at the moment, with COVID. The entire basement is set up as an independent suite for visiting friends or family.

The style depends very much on the location. This house in the Nouvelle-Athènes district is steeped in history, and it was very important to us that we should respect its character. For a Parisian apartment, the most interesting thing is the mix of styles and periods, but there is also the Franco-Italian cultural mix. So, a Regency chest of drawers with a maker’s mark coexists with bespoke upholstered Barcelona chairs, a Carlos Scarpa-inspired console sits alongside a Jean Lurçat tapestry and works by the sculptor Gérard Lanvin live happily with a Mauritanian mat.

The right balance is very difficult to achieve; we often make mistakes! One shouldn’t be afraid to doubt, to try, to change. Doing, redoing and undoing is how you do it right in the end! (laughs) When I go into a space, I immediately put myself in the place of the person who will be there in the future. What she would see, what she would feel.

In the little blue room where we bury our heads in a good book, tucked away in the alcove like a child’s bed with a small bookcase lit by two mermaid sconces in the Jouve style.

I like classic designs from the Biedermeier period, with their clean and simplified lines. As for the artist, I have a passion for Diego Giacometti, whose bronze furniture is incredible!

I have a passion for Diego Giacometti. His bronze furniture is crazy and manages to be raw and sophisticated at the same time!

Uniqueness and authenticity. That is to say, the piece should feel as if it has always been there.

At the moment, we’re obsessed with Henry II furniture with barley twist legs, simple, generous but historical lines. A stool, a desk, a bench: whatever you please, as long as it’s barley twist!

Travertine for its humble but massive and noble appearance, its colour and veins, which are almost like skin, but also for its age-old historical connotation. Many of Rome’s monuments are made of travertine.

Mixed, charming and comfortable.

Renovating an abbey or a lighthouse. We don’t find creating from scratch very inspiring. A place, a soul, an atmosphere: now that speaks to us. We soak up, digest, understand, reflect and then suggest.

I dream of owning a bronze Brazier table by Rick Owens and the Gabriella Crespi lamp.

I dream of owning a bronze brazier table by Rick Owens. Simple, almost prehistoric lines. A noble and massive material.

Cibus, the tiniest Italian restaurant in the capital! To be as close to each other as possible and to ensure that we eat well.

In Sicily working on a private project for a person I like very much and with whom everything is simple. A customer who ends up as a collaborator. A dream come true!