At Home with Maria Duff, Paris

“Oh, it’s just a rental,” says Maria Duff modestly when asked about the design of her mid-nineteenth century apartment on Rue D’Assas. It’s been two years since this elegant Spanish interior designer traded London for Paris, but she’s certainly left her mark on her new home. After all, it’s her job.

As the head of her own interior design firm, Duff’s portfolio ranges from residential to commercial and institutional work. A few highlights include the contemporary conference rooms she designed for the London School of Economics and the 17th century farm house in Provence which she recently
redecorated for a family.

In a sense, Duff is in the business of dreams. She helps clients realize their fantasy homes and helps execute that vision. Through a questionnaire she requires each client to fill out, Duff sets about reconciling that “disconnect between how we see ourselves and how we actually are - how we actually live,” in order to provide a design that fits her client’s lifestyle.

Born in Madrid, Duff relocated to London as a student to pursue her PHD in philosophy. However, it was her passion for interior design, “the magic of transforming a room” and creating harmony, which instead led her to enroll at Chelsea College of Art & Design before studying the history of fine and decorative arts at Christie’s London.

That appreciation of tradition seems to inform much of Duff’s design, at least as a point of reference. Having lived on both sides of the Channel, she appreciates the more “organic development of an interior” in London, where mismatches and personal taste lead to a more “country feel.”

However, she also enjoys the typical Parisian home, which tends to be more “sophisticated” and “urban,” with a wider range of colors - all designed with the “awareness that they are going to be seen.”

In Paris, Duff relies on a network of artisans and craftsmen still found in the center of the city, whereas their counterparts in London seem to have fled for the countryside.

She is particularly inspired by mid 20th century classics by French designers like Jacques Adnet and Andre Arbus, while R&Y Augousti and Hervé Van Der Straeten are two more contemporary standbys whose eclectic collections she visits while shopping for clients in Paris.

Having also spent time in Belgium, Asia, and Morocco, Duff describes her style as “international” and “eclectic.” She hates the “interior designer look,” the impersonal style where everything seems arranged in one day for a showroom. She prefers color and “joy in interiors,” which is apparent throughout her home.

Upon entering her home, the first thing visitors see are shelves and shelves of identical white urn-like vases, about fifteen in all. Despite Paris’ overcast skies, it’s remarkable how any midday sun floods into her living room through four windows facing north, south, and east.

Her choice of fabrics echo that air of lightness, with delicate curtains and a colorful yellow sofa. With the original ceiling moldings and wrought iron outside, as always, it’s designed with the existing architecture in mind.

From a mosaic composed of small paintings with antique frame corners and fixtures on the wall, to the red coral candelabra by Thomas Boog in the corner, Duff strives for a pleasant harmony between the traditional and modern. It’s a typically Parisian balance.

“You put your things around and hope they fit.” Not bad for a rental.

To learn more about Maria Duff and her work, visit her site on: www.mariaduffinteriordesign.com.

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by Trafton Kenney
Photo by Norman Suescun
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