Lessons in Mixing and Mismatching: Merci Reinvents a Paris Apartment

For 12 years now Merci has been at the top of every aesthete’s must-visit list in Paris. The lifestyle store, with its linen bedding in impossible-to-find-anywhere-else jewel tones and basement of gorgeous gardening supplies, is known for its eclectic, insouciant take on design.

Merci is approachable rather than precious; it’s an emporium devoted to celebrating the stuff of daily life in playful, room-like settings—and to presenting ideas that feel a few steps ahead of the pack. To fully demonstrate the store’s style, the Merci creative team first refurbished a nearby flat that it dubbed the Pied-à-Terre. That experience—and Paris’s lockdown when the city was at a standstill—led it to take on another space, a family apartment in an 18th century building in the 5th arrondissement. Newly complete, this Second Residence, as its known, is a celebration, in the store’s own words, of the Merci way: “pairing antiques with contemporary designs, mixing two antagonistic aesthetics, combining mass-produced objects with artisanal pieces.” Join us for a look around.

Photography courtesy of Merci.

The Second Residence is open for visits next month—sign up here—and a few lucky guests of Merci get to spend the night.

Browse the Remodelista Paris archives for more inspiration, including:

• The Table as a Space Where All are Welcome: Ajiri Aki on Design
• Order and Pattern in a Spirited Apartment Remodel by Two Young Architects
• A Stylish Paris Apartment Designed for a Young Family (and a Cat, Too)