When Lebanese model and activist Nour Arida moved to France in 2020, even though she’d never lived there before, she knew that she wanted a Haussmannian apartment in Paris, in the seventh arrondissement. It wasn’t because she wanted to live close to the Eiffel Tower, or hobnob with billionaire wives in Gros Caillou, the French capital’s richest neighbourhood, a five-minute walk from Arida’s pied-à-terre by the Champ-de-Mars park. The reason was quite simple. “It reminded me of home,” she says. “You see families out for a stroll, grandparents shopping at the local grocers, kids playing in the streets and cafes full of happy people. When I used to come to Paris for work, I would always think, “this area is like Beirut.”
Even with some of the city’s biggest tourist attractions mere streets away and the Olympic Games in full swing, this part of Paris feels calm. With its tree-lined avenues, rows of Haussmannian buildings (their handsome carved Lutetian limestone façades glowing in the sun) and shops brimming with colourful seasonal produce, it is easy to understand why Arida felt at ease here.
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Arida’s move to Paris was not planned; it kicked into gear in the aftermath of the Beirut Port blasts. The glass windows of her apartment shattered from the impact with Arida, her husband George Badawi and daughter Ayla (then four years old) still inside. “I am a very proud Lebanese, so it really hurts to say that we just didn’t feel safe there,” she recalls. The family had two options: Dubai or Paris. With the model’s career on an upswing, the latter seemed like the intelligent choice.
5 Easy Home Makeover Ideas From Nour Arida’s Light-Filled Paris Apartment
“I think that our Lebanese way is very close to French culture. George studied here and we got married here. So it felt like a place we had memories we could build on.” Initially, the plan was to live outside Lebanon for a year and then return home, so the family set up base in a rental apartment. As time went on, they decided to look for a property to buy. “Our agent told us to look elsewhere, as houses in the seventh arrondissement are difficult to come by, but we didn’t give up,” Arida explains. It took them just six months to find their dream home in a Haussmannian building as she had always wished.
In the French capital, the demand for flats in 19th-century buildings is high, but as majestic as they appear on the outside, with decorative stone and wrought-iron details, time has not always been kind to the interior of many a Haussmannian apartment in Paris. Many dwellings have been converted into offices or partitioned off, as was the case with this home; however, the couple immediately saw its potential. “As soon as George and I stepped inside and saw the light flooding in, we looked at each other and just knew this was it.”
For Arida, who misses her life in Lebanon, this was the perfect opportunity to fashion her own version of her homeland in the heart of Paris. “I wasn’t after a trendy house,” she says. “I wanted a home that felt nostalgic to us, a place that connected us back to our roots.” The couple enlisted an old friend, the Beirut-based architect Carl Gerges, who would not only help them peel years of neglect off the apartment but also fashion a seamless blend of Lebanese and French influences.
Under Gerges’ watch, the many partitions were carefully removed, the cornices – which had been painted over so many times that their intricate patterns were indistinguishable – were restored, and the three-bedroom layout was reconfigured as a two-bedroom apartment with a large, open plan living, dining and entertaining area.
“The only original features that remain are the old hardwood floors, the fireplaces and the cornices where we could save them,” says Gerges. In many ways, his role became that of a historian and preservationist, as the AD100 designer lined up a raft of French ateliers specialising in ornate plasterwork and panelling to reinstate lost architectural grace. “The design phase was quick, and it certainly helped that I’ve been friends with the couple for years,” he says. “I know how George thinks, what Nour likes and what’s important to them both.” In barely four weeks, the trio had set about ordering furniture and finalising finishes.
A focal point of Gerges’ spatial intervention was transforming the boxed-up entrance hall into a welcoming foyer. Concealing the powder room and storage cabinets behind floor-to-ceiling mirror panels, he brought light into the deepest part of the house, which worked out brilliantly for Arida, who shoots a good chunk of her social media content at home.
5 Easy Home Makeover Ideas From Nour Arida’s Light-Filled Paris Apartment
Off the new foyer is Arida’s favourite space, the kitchen. “I love cooking, especially the recipes I’ve seen my mother and aunt prepare since I was a child,” she says. “I requested a pink kitchen from Carl.” Rendered in dusty rose, the lacquered cabinets reflect the light, transforming the space throughout the day. To forge a connection with Beirut within a quintessentially Parisian home, the couple hired a Lebanese contracting company to carry out the renovation.
The anchor pieces of the living area, a travertine coffee table and a pink onyx fireplace, were crafted in Lebanon. The mohair Pierre Augustin Rose sofas and the Louis Durot dining table had been on Arida’s moodboard for a while. “My cousin had the table in black and I’d always wanted one, so we ordered it in white. It’s perfect for this space,” she says. The table, with its scalloped top, looks like a heavy metal sculpture, but in fact it’s surprisingly light. “It’s made of resin. If you look down you’ll notice the base looks like dollops of Chantilly cream.”
Even though it was not Gerges’ intention, whimsical references to food abound in this milky-white apartment. There is an Isamu Noguchi lamp that looks like a croissant; Miniforms Soda side tables glisten in pistachio-coloured glass; and the golden-brown, gently curved sofas reminds Arida of caramel.
This unexpected theme continues into the principal bedroom, where a deep-pile ivory carpet stretches wall-to-wall and onto the bed frame, completely encasing the built-in headboard and bedside tables. The result is a marshmallow-like lightness that grounds the grand proportions of the space. The only “decoration” here is the restored fireplace stacked with the couple’s favourite books, and a Louis Durot mirror that blends into the walls.
“George wanted a spa-like feel for our bedroom, and I’ve wanted a carpeted bedroom since I was a child,” recalls Arida. Even though it’s all white, it’s cosy, not clinical. “I can leave the worries of the world behind me as soon as I step into my bedroom. It feels safe here.” @nouraridaofficial; @carlgerges
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Video Credits:
Creative Producer – Davina Munro
DOP & Co-Director – Pierre Fontbonne
Sound Engineer – Adriano Cerone
Co-Director – Mathias Holst
Post-Production Manager – Agathe Romain
Post-Production – Meryl Marciano
Post-Production Coordinator – Holly Frew
