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Designers Emma Collet and Thomas Diettert renovated a Paris Haussmannian apartment that had not been updated since the 1970s, opening its formerly compartmentalized layout. A recessed black kitchen, bespoke travertine fireplace and preserved personal objects give the remodeled home a mix of contemporary design and older character.
Designers Emma Collet and Thomas Diettert have remodeled a Haussmannian apartment in Paris that had not been renovated since the 1970s, opening its divided rooms to improve movement and allow light to travel. The redesign pairs a recessed black kitchen with a bespoke travertine fireplace and original architectural features, while retaining personal objects and vintage pieces chosen by the client.
According to Livingetc’s report, the apartment’s rooms were tightly separated before the work, making movement through the home feel fragmented and limiting the spread of light. The client asked for a brighter, more comfortable home that would still preserve the character of a traditional Parisian apartment. Collet and Diettert responded by opening up the plan and integrating storage into the architecture rather than treating the rooms as a collection of isolated spaces.
The entrance is painted entirely black, despite being small and windowless. It recedes from view when seen from the living room, where the contrast makes the adjoining space feel brighter. The living room also combines original features with a bespoke travertine fireplace. The client initially considered a traditional marble mantel, but the designers proposed a contemporary feature intended to bring different periods into conversation. Mirrored panels behind built-in shelving reflect the room and change with the light, while pale walls provide a counterpoint to darker details.
The kitchen sits in a recess open to the living room and is defined by black cabinetry and Zimbabwe granite. Instead of filling the wall facing the living area, the designers left it uncluttered and placed upper cabinets and technical elements on the opposite side. The apartment’s other rooms carry through the mix of materials: the bedroom combines painted walls with vintage objects, and the bathroom uses polished concrete walls with a mineral-cast vanity. A red ceramic family heirloom, which the client had expected to put on a shelf, was given its own pedestal.
How the Black Kitchen Shapes the Plan
The project offers a specific design response to a common challenge in compact apartments: making an open living area feel connected without requiring every feature to disappear. The kitchen is visible from the living room, but its dark palette gives it a distinct identity. The largely clear wall facing the living space avoids adding cabinets and visual clutter to the shared area.
The designers’ use of black is not limited to the kitchen. The dark entrance creates contrast with the brighter living room, while the kitchen’s cabinetry and stone countertop make a deliberate focal point within the open plan. These choices show how contrast and selective restraint can define separate zones without restoring the tight divisions the renovation set out to change. The report does not provide measurements or before-and-after lighting data, so the effect is described through the designers’ account and the published photographs, not quantified.
The work also places personal history alongside new construction. Rather than reproducing a period interior, the design gives the client’s family heirloom a visible place and combines vintage objects with contemporary materials. That approach matters to the project’s character: the renovation changes how the apartment works while keeping objects and features that connect it to its occupants and its past.
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From 1970s Layout to Open Rooms
The apartment’s starting point was a layout that had not been renovated since the 1970s. Livingetc says the rooms were tightly divided and that the arrangement restricted the way light moved through the home. The client’s brief was not simply to modernize the finishes: the apartment was to become brighter and more comfortable while retaining the qualities associated with a traditional Parisian home.
Collet and Diettert describe their aim as avoiding a design tied to a single historical period. They paired original architectural elements with newer interventions, including the travertine fireplace and integrated storage. Their account of the work focuses on the relationship between those elements rather than on reproducing a historical style. The black entrance and kitchen, mirrored shelving and pale painted walls are among the specific choices used to establish contrast across the plan.
The project’s personal details are part of that mix. The client’s red ceramic heirloom was initially intended for a shelf, but the designers proposed displaying it on a pedestal. In the bedroom, the report also identifies a painting by Anita Geins and a vintage Mexican stoneware pitcher. These objects help explain why the finished apartment is presented as a blend of contemporary work and pieces with individual histories, rather than as a period restoration.
““We prefer to blur the sense of time.””
— Emma Collet and Thomas Diettert, as quoted by Livingetc
Project Details Not Reported
Livingetc’s report does not state when the renovation was completed, how long the work took, or what it cost. It also does not provide the apartment’s dimensions, the extent of any structural changes, or a detailed account of which original features were retained beyond those described in the article.
The reported effects of the design—such as the impression of added depth from the black entrance and the reflections from the mirrored panels—are presented through the designers’ explanations and the project images. The source does not include independent assessments, measurements of light levels, or a client interview confirming how the changes have affected daily use. The designers’ account is the available basis for their intentions and choices.
No Further Project Milestones Listed
The available report presents the completed design and does not announce a future renovation phase, opening, or follow-up date. No additional project milestone is listed. Readers seeking further detail would need information from Diettert Collet or the client about the renovation timeline, construction scope and day-to-day results.
For now, the published project account centers on the apartment’s finished arrangement: an opened-up plan, a dark recessed kitchen, a sculptural fireplace and a display for an inherited ceramic object. Whether more details about the work will be released has not been stated.
Key Questions
Who redesigned the Paris apartment?
Emma Collet and Thomas Diettert, working as Diettert Collet, redesigned the apartment, according to Livingetc.
What was changed in the apartment?
The designers opened up the formerly divided layout, integrated storage and introduced a recessed kitchen with black cabinetry and a Zimbabwe granite countertop. They also added a bespoke travertine fireplace and used mirrored panels behind built-in shelving.
Why is the kitchen black?
The designers said they wanted the open kitchen to have a character of its own, rather than blend into the surrounding space. They left the wall facing the living room uncluttered and placed cabinets and technical elements on the opposite side.
What happened to the client’s ceramic heirloom?
The client’s red ceramic family heirloom was placed on a pedestal. The designers proposed displaying it rather than putting it away on a shelf, giving the object a visible place in the remodeled home.
When was the renovation completed, and what did it cost?
The report does not give a completion date or renovation cost. It also does not specify the project’s duration or full construction scope.
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