“If you are lucky enough to have lived in Paris as a young man, then wherever you go for the rest of your life, it stays with you, for Paris is a moveable feast,” Hemingway famously wrote.
He was commenting, of course, on how the city—and the memories made there—can leave an indelible mark on those who’ve lived there, a sentiment that all Francophiles would agree with. But what if memories aren’t enough? To be safe, the owner of this one-bedroom apartment in Warsaw decided to bring the glamour and drama of classic French interiors with him when he relocated from the City of Lights to the capital of Poland.
He tasked Marta Chrapka, founder of Colombe Design, with creating a Parisian-inspired flat. Chrapka was a little dubious. “I was not convinced. The Parisian style idea, that was my client’s recommendation,” she says. “I was not sure that it would not be pretentious. We didn’t have the proper height or good windows”—not to mention the apartment had been stripped entirely of period charm. Still, Chrapka knew there was potential, as the space was housed in a historic 1930s building. She set out to return the home to its original pre-war layout, then added the basics of any good Parisian apartment—French doors, elegant molding, classic wood flooring in “Hungarian point” (chevron).
After Chrapka layered in sumptuous drapery; added statement-making, oversized lighting; and furnished the flat with eclectic pieces, many of of them scored on eBay, her client finally got his wish—a little bit of Paris, all the way in Poland. A moveable feast, indeed.
Photography courtesy of Colombe Design.
![a peek, from the entry, into the dining room. before chrapka even thinks about 17](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/colombe-design-warsaw-willowa-entry-733x977.jpg)
![\2\20;the moldings are not original,\2\2\1; says chrapka.  18](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/colombe-design-warsaw-willowa-green-wallpaper-733x1100.jpg)
![chrapka and her team designed the dining table, flanked by plywood vitra c 19](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/colombe-design-warsaw-willowa-dining-733x658.jpg)
![floor to ceiling drapes were made from fadini borghi linen by pierre frey, the 20](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/colombe-design-warsaw-willowa-dining1-733x946.jpg)
![chrapka designed the folding doors between the dining and living rooms.  21](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/colombe-design-warsaw-willowa-dining3-733x733.jpg)
![hovering above the living room is the vertigo chandelier by petite friture 22](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/colombe-design-warsaw-willowa-living-733x550.jpg)
![the antique daybed is another ebay find. both the \2\20;panthère&am 23](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/colombe-design-warsaw-willowa-living1-733x978.jpg)
![chrapka custom mixed her own white for the walls. \2\20;i was searching 24](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/colombe-design-warsaw-willowa-living2-733x947.jpg)
![to add much needed storage in the bedroom, chrapka designed a wall of built ins 25](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/colombe-design-warsaw-willowa-bedroom-733x489.jpg)
![the oak flooring in the rest of the home is laid in hungarian point, but chrapk 26](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/colombe-design-warsaw-willowa-kitchen1-733x733.jpg)
![her client\2\17;s favorite room post renovation is this kitchen, which i 27](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/colombe-design-warsaw-willowa-kitchen-733x948.jpg)
For more inspired one-bedroom apartments, see:
- 9 Small-Space Ideas to Steal from a Tiny Paris Apartment
- A Glamorous Studio Apartment in Auckland That Feels Like a One-Bedroom, Hack Edition
- The Architect Is In: Reviving a Family Flat on Riverside Drive
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