HOTEL AMORE Feature: Art Director Marie-Sophie Chardin on Interior, Part I

I would love you to meet this inspiring woman and tell you about her incredible house in the South of France, Villa Cléo

New feature on HOTEL AMORE INC.: I would love to occasionally feature interesting personalities who have an exceptional taste in design, fashion or both and who are part of the the HOTEL AMORE INC. universe. I used to do this for all my accounts, and I had some great encounters through that - so you will get to know some interesting women in the coming months <3

One of these exceptional women is Stockholm-based Art Director Marie-Sophie Chardin.

Fun fact, we haven’t seen each other IRL for more than ten years, the last time was when we received our final degree at university. Instagram sucks for many reasons, but one reason not to hate it, is the ability to stay in touch with people over years. We met when we studied fashion management in Hamburg thirteen years ago - I remember very well this intelligent and really beautiful woman, the epitome of someone looking cool whatever she wears. You know the je ne sais quoi effect which some people naturally possess? Marie-Sophie has it. You’ll get to see all of her amazing style in part II. Part I, this one, is extremely exciting: It’s on interior and will feature her incredible place in South of France (which you can rent) - you just have to see it!

Marie-Sophie, so great to talk again <3! Can you share with everyone who has the pleasure of meeting you today: Who are you, what you do and what do you love ?

I am half French half German living in Stockholm with my family. I have a one year old daughter and a nine years old bonus son. In Sweden they use the term “bonus”, which sounds way more loving than “step son” I think. I work as an art director in fashion and I just founded my own Art Directional studio called Studio Chardin Simon together with my dear friend and old colleague Molaine Simon. 

I love the smell of fresh flowers in the house, that first coffee in bed I finally convinced my boyfriend to serve me, my daughter’s laugh when I tickle her nose, repeating my favorite outfits, counting the dear in our garden in Sweden, smelling all types of magazines and books, catching up with girlfriends, wearing my boyfriend’s clothes and cooking for my family and friends.  

Please have a look at the incredible place Marie-Sophie and her boyfriend share in Côte D’Azur: Villa Cléo.

Marie-Sophie, this house is just so incredible. How did you manage to find this place?

Thank you! We were looking for places that you can reach via direct flights from Stockholm all year round. Ended up being Palma or Nice. An island was not really an option so we set our minds on South of France. I was invited at the wedding of my oldest friend in Rayol-Canadel-Sur-Mer a couple of years ago and fell in love with the region. It feels like Françoise Sagan has written “Bonjour Tristesse” right here surrounded by the crystal blue sea and the yellow mimosa trees. It’s peaceful and dreamy. We literally found the house by googling “house by the beach Rayol”. It belonged to an elderly lady who wanted to sell it. The place was in a very bad condition, but the first time we laid our eyes on it we both knew - this is it!

How did you approach the renovations?

Oh, that was a real journey! We first went to see the place with our friend who has an architectural studio called Stamuli. They did an amazing job working on the project! The renovations took over 2 years in total. That night - after visiting the house, the three of us drank tons of Rosé and our friend from the studio started his first drawings. We wanted to work with everything that the region has to offer. We decided to primarily use the signature stone of the area called Pierre de Bormes. It covers all the floors in and outside the main house. It also surrounds the pool and we put it around the walls of the newly built guest house in order to make it dissolve in nature. Every bathroom has a different color combination and the tiles are handmade from Italy. This place is a summer house which means lots of kids jumping around with sandy feet, so it was important for us that the interior is not precious but long-lasting. Everything is easy to maintain and unbreakable. For the garden we went with local landscapers who made sure we only grow regional plants that don’t need extra watering. 

Where do you find all the amazing and unique details?

So happy you like it! Well, we didn’t really have a plan. But we both love decorating. So starting from scratch was a lot of fun. Some pieces came from the old apartment of my boyfriend and some from mine in Hamburg. He had a lot of vintage Brazilian furniture that fit very well into the house like the Sergio Rodrigues buffet. Most of the carpets come from Morocco and the other fabrics we chose in Saint-Germain in Paris. We discovered our round Pierre Chapo dining table at Les Puces . It’s a big vintage furniture place outside of Paris that we adore.

We also started to thrift all the flea markets in the area and drove up to the heart of Provence to find glasses, cutlery and lamps. I found many beautiful Vallauris plates on Selency, which is a big French online flea market. For the outside we chose some Walter Lamb sun chairs we bought from an inspiring gallery in LA called Seventh House. If you ever get the chance - go there! Our highlight is definitely the huge mirror we installed in the kitchen - now you can always see the sea while preparing your dishes.

Which is your favorite room and why?

Definitely the living room! It is an open space together with the kitchen and the indoor dining area. The windows can be pushed into the walls which perfectly blends the indoors with the outdoors. I love colors and patterns to help accentuate different areas. The blue Pierre Frey artichoke fabric on our couch lifts my mood every day. 

Where do you find your inspiration?

With my partner we are always on the hunt for beautiful books. Everything about photography, art, architecture or travel makes us dream. Spending our evenings choosing a nice book to look at together is part of our routine and feels like the best source of inspiration for me. We used to buy our books at a tiny little book store in Le Marais. The owner was the former assistant of Richard Avedon. Unfortunately the shop closed down last year.  

Stay tuned for part II, which we are currently co-writing. You can follow Marie-Sophie as well as Villa Cléo on Instagram (which I highly recommend). I hope you enjoyed this conversation, written as well as visual as much we did writing it!

Love,

LKD