From the outset, Sacha Haillote exudes originality. Her fashion mix (think pink glitter pants and a lamé gold vest over a slogan t-shirt) represents her statement-making style that embraces colour and creativity. Followers of neutrality and fans of discretion, go your own way. What pleases this architect of interiors and design is colour – the play of colour, offsetting with colour, and the humour that colour can provide. And her apartment in the French capital evokes this personal expression, too.

Born in Marseille, Sacha moved to Paris to study fashion and never left. She worked in the fashion industry for many years, and then decided on a career change. She went back to school and studied architecture and design at École Camondo, a private institute integrated into Les Arts Décoratifs in Paris.

Today, Sacha works as a designer and artist, creating unique pop objects that range from functional items to art pieces. Upon graduating from Camondo, she completely redecorated her own home, a two-storey apartment located in the west end of Paris.

From the entrance, the spectacular kitchen sets the tone for the whole interior. Contrasting with the black and white marble flooring, the blue walls are bordered with striking, horizontally-laid wooden panelling. Around the Pucci De Rossi kitchen table, a yellow wooden chair by Sentou and two metal chairs in bold fluorescent colours respond to the canvas above, by Troy Henriksen, from Galerie W in Paris. The practical serving hatch cut into the wall just behind the table provides a long thin envelope framing the view into the main dining room beyond. Orange and turquoise tableware by Virebent completes the energetic scheme.

 

To accentuate the length of the room, Sacha framed the walls with a line of white lacquered cupboards from VV Cuisines et Bains in Paris. The ceiling is clad with wooden slats, between which the thin fluorescent lights have been slipped. This idea was inspired by interior designer Karine Lewkowicz’s work on Lina’s restaurant in Paris. All the important elements of the kitchen (like cupboards and appliances), are coordinated with the polished stainless steel refrigerators.

For the rainbow lounge and TV room, Sacha designed the Masa bookcase, a lacquered metal cabinet with bursts of pink, blue, yellow, purple and orange fanning out in rays. These colours are mirrored on the oversized velvet sofa from Studio B2.

Animated by a large leather sofa from Minotti and Kor tube armchair designed by Sacha, the living room challenges its classical, Hausmann-style aesthetics with hanging Chinese lanterns, which she found in the 13th arrondissement. In the bookcase by Shiro Kuramata from Cappellini, art books and novels are grouped by colour and size. The Eclat rug by Coco Hellein from Roche Bobois softens the diagonally-laid parquet flooring and continues to highlight the orange theme, which runs through to the open-plan dining area.

Here, this shade pops from the Laleggera chairs by Riccardo Blumer, the pointillist painting by Jean Faucher, and several glasses placed on the backlit Dream Box bookcase. also designed by Sacha. The dining table is dressed with an iconic Delft Blue No 5 vase by Marcel Wanders from Moooi. Meanwhile, the foosball table is a playful addition to this communal space.

In the main bedroom, the French decorator has designed a wooden bed with a false compartment at the foot, which discreetly conceals a television. On the back wall, the colourful geometric wallpaper, Circus by Cole & Son, is used like a huge panoramic painting.

There’s also a small office in an offset mezzanine box, where Sacha has stretched black and white striped wallpaper, from Au Fil Des Couleurs, from the floor to the ceiling, with a custom canopy made by Studio B2. The monochrome marble floor tiles laid in lines to mirror the wallpaper blur the boundaries between the surfaces in this small space. This compact room is brightened by flowing yellow curtains made with fabric from Elitis. The spiral liquid-metal-look staircase from Sentou and the reflective Shape stool by Jorge Pensi add an eclectic, futuristic touch.

‘I believe humour changes lives, and in decorating I translate that into funny details with the use of strong colours co-existing with bold patterns,’ Sacha says.

‘Life in all its dimensions’ is her constant source of inspiration, she says poetically. ‘Before embarking on a project, I create a wall of inspirations on which I stick photos cut from magazines, photographs I’ve taken, souvenirs of my travels, images of exhibitions, et cetera. Little by little, things are organised by piece, edited and concentrated, until reaching a cohesive scheme that I can implement.’

‘What I really like,’ she adds, ‘is when I’m given carte blanche to create a space. In this particular case, an apartment to provide a warm reception, a sort of chic Parisian pied-à-terre