00:01The brief was simple. Give light, give space, give fun.
00:05The idea was to create a bubble of creativity to really give space for design furniture.
00:12Because I collect furniture and objects, when I design a new place or a new apartment,
00:17they are completely part of my new vision.
00:20That's why I like keeping the apartment simple and clean to let the items be the star.
00:27Because Marseille is associated with summer, I wanted to create my dream apartment in the south of France in a
00:33modern style.
00:36I wanted to feel like I'm always on holiday.
00:43My name is Benoit Palas, I'm an interior designer.
00:46I'm the owner of this apartment, which I renovated in 2025.
00:52It was originally designed for me and my beautiful dog, Georgette.
01:01The apartment is located in Marseille, a poor city in southern France.
01:06The neighbourhood attracts young people, artists and many people from Paris who desperately need sun from the south.
01:16It's a very convenient location, close to shops and 5 minutes walk to the beach.
01:20But at the same time, it's a very calm street.
01:25The building was built at the beginning of the 20th century.
01:29It's a very typical type of building in Marseille.
01:34When I first visited the apartment, it had been squatted for many years.
01:39The atmosphere was actually very sad with bad energies.
01:43There was a bar between the kitchen and the living room, which required to walk through the corridor to access
01:49to the kitchen.
01:51We removed the kitchen bar and added the small dining table between the windows.
01:56In the bedroom, we removed the sliding doors to create a large circle opening.
02:03This episode is brought to you by Rayon Design.
02:06We used Rayon to recreate the floor plan for this week's episode.
02:10It gave us a closer look at how the space was organised and a better understanding of the big and
02:15small decisions shaping the home.
02:18Rayon is a professional-grade online CAD tool built for interior designers and architects.
02:23Rayon is the ideal end-to-end design software to take projects from early concepts through to execution documents,
02:29all within a single editing environment.
02:31You can quickly test layouts, move furniture, refine plans and explore ideas in real-time,
02:37making it easy to experiment, adjust and refine things as you go.
02:41Floor plans, schedules and documentation all live together in one streamlined workspace.
02:46Rayon also integrates AI tools directly into the workflow,
02:49while presentation boards, schedules and documentation layouts can all be assembled in one connected workspace.
02:56Want to explore Rayon yourself?
02:58You can jump into the floor plan we made for this episode,
03:00or create your free Rayon account today.
03:03Links in the description.
03:13When you step inside the apartment,
03:15the third thing you see is the light coming through the circle cut-out in the wall.
03:22At the end of the corridor, I had the cute wall shelf for my keys and glasses.
03:29I created the cut-out to frame my PH5 lamp from Poulsen that I love.
03:36From the corridor, there is an arched doorway that leads to the living room.
03:43When I created this space, I wanted people to feel like they were on a theatre set.
03:51The main wall in the living room was finished using tile cement.
03:57It gives the wall a very interesting mineral appearance that captures the light.
04:04For storage, I got a stainless steel cabinet which I mounted on the wall.
04:10Normally, it's a storage for a professional kitchen, but I think it works well in this space.
04:18I already own these pieces of furniture, so I was able to imagine how they would look in the space.
04:26For example, the togo is for Georgette. She loves it. It's a bet.
04:33And my seat is from the incredible Pierre Paulin. It's a mushroom chair that I really love.
04:42I like a clean and compact looking kitchen.
04:46I decided to use white IKEA cabinets to create a simple L-shaped kitchen.
04:52There is a hidden fridge and also a hidden dishwasher.
04:56The oven also functions as a microwave, so we were able to save space.
05:02The kitchen may be small, but it has everything you need.
05:07The worktop is made of formica, the same as the shelf in the entrance.
05:12It reminds me of my grandparents' furniture and of my childhood.
05:18Before the renovation, there were upper cabinets that took up too much visual space.
05:23I created Mediterranean style niches above the sink.
05:28It forced you to only have few objects that you really love.
05:31It's my Marie Kondo way of style, you know.
05:38The dining table is custom-made because I wanted the perfect size.
05:43It is fixed to the wall and has a curve, so movement around this space is easier.
05:53The bathroom entrance is through a frameless door in the corridor.
05:58I found this cute little yellow door handle on the marketplace which matched so well with the yellow in the
06:05apartment.
06:08The bathroom has no windows and it's extremely small, so the best idea was to work on details.
06:15First, I chose a yellow tile, of course.
06:19It's a checkerboard tile which gives an impression of space.
06:24I used it in the shower and for the backsplash as well.
06:32The entrance to the bedroom is quite spectacular and that's entirely intentional.
06:37The space is very small, so the idea was to keep it as open as possible with minimal furniture.
06:46The bed platform was entirely custom-made.
06:50We cover it in a Gucci wallpaper and protect it with several layers of clear varnish.
06:56So it's very durable contrary to what people might think.
07:02The circle doorway was inspired by the work of the architect Jean Balladur.
07:07I worked together with my craftsman and came up with the idea during the construction.
07:15We created niches in the world for more open storage including shelves to display items I have.
07:28There is a large almost 3 square meters closed closet.
07:33I added some shelves in here so I can hide everything.
07:37Like my clothes, vacuum and just household things.
07:46When it comes to a small space, I think we should make it fun, make it clear and create space
07:52to hide things.
07:54I think tiny spaces force the architect to focus on the essentials
07:59and centre on the person who lives there.
08:03This restriction can often create opportunities for something that is personal, unique
08:10and to taste ideas that would be too costly in larger homes.
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