We've coveted their wardrobes, their beauty cabinets, and their diets. Hell, we've even tried to parent like them. What is it about the Parisian lifestyle that makes so many of us Brits feel so inferior? Why does the mere sight of Caroline de Maigret or Léa Seydoux make us want to reach for a Gauloise and a copy of Colette's Gigi?
Well, now there's a new area of French women's lives to take inspiration from: their interiors.
Chez Moi: Decorating Your Home and Living like a Parisienne is a new book from Sarah Lavoine, a leading interior designer and arbiter of Parisian style. Lavoine "sees the quintessential Paris apartment as a stylish sanctuary from the stresses of life." Through its chapters, Lavoine explains how to add Parisian touches to your home and shares some French secrets of stylish interiors.
Click through to see some of her top tips.
Chez Moi: Decorating Your Home and Living like a Parisienne by Sarah Lavoine is out now (Abrams, £15.99)
The bedroom
Lavoine believes you should only ever have white bedsheets (dressed up with a tartan rug or cashmere throw). And proper nightstands are handy for hiding personal items. But pride of place on your bedside table should be a lamp, candle, photo, night cream, book, alarm clock, and box of tissues.
Photo: Guillaume de Laubier for Sarah Lavoine, Éditions de la Martinière, 2010.
Use flashy paint colours
Lavoine is not into cream walls. She suggests setting off neutral walls with a brighter, flashier colour. The perfect way to achieve this is by doing just half the wall.
She recommends Ressource for paint (2–4 avenue du Maine, 75015 Paris).
Photo: Guillaume de Laubier for Sarah Lavoine, Éditions de la Martinière, 2010.
You can't have too many candles
Lavoine confesses to being "obsessed" with candles – scented, unscented, tea lights, XXL – she loves them all, and advises to fill each and every room with them. In the winter she likes fig and white flower scents. And if you're not allowed to burn actual candles, she recommends a Diptyque scent diffuser.
Photo: Guillaume de Laubier for Sarah Lavoine, Éditions de la Martinière, 2010.
Invest in some art
"Opening your eyes and seeing something beautiful every day puts you in a good mood first thing in the morning," says Lavoine. If you're looking for some tips on how to start collecting art see our helpful guide.
Illustration: Sarah Lavoine.
Books should be everywhere
But instead of putting all of them in bookshelves, think about spreading them out on tables - especially in the bedroom. She calls this creating a "horizontal mood board". She also suggests stacking them high against walls for decoration.
Photo: Michel Figuet.
Mirrors are key
One mirror is boring – try several of different shapes and sizes on the same wall. After all, according to Lavoine they make "fabulous allies for light and ambience".
Photo: Francis Amiand.
Give each room its own colour
Lavoine thinks that a room should have its own unique identity. She especially likes blue for walls because it is "urbane, contemporary, and at the same time very restful and poetic." She also doesn't shy away from black...
Photo: Francis Amiand.
Rugs can frame a room
A good rug can not only warm up a room but it can also frame it, creating rooms within rooms. Lavoine suggests ones from Morocco or Cogolin in southeastern France.
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