Meet our favourite creative partner of the month, Estelle Quilici Tournier, interior designer and author of “La decoration des émotion” Flammarion Edition. She shows us how to enrich each space with harmony and depth to create an emotionally and aesthetically balanced interior. Passionate about revisiting classicism using aninterplay of colors and textures, Estelle skillfully captures and celebrates the meeting of East and West with great sensitivity. She shares her creative and emotional vision of interior decoration below

Estelle, can you introduce yourself?

I've been an interior designer for over ten years, and my leitmotiv is based on a simple idea: revisit classicism through a play of colour and light, a careful selection of fabrics and wallpapers, and made-to-measure layouts that don’t distort the spirit of the place. My approach to decorating is lively, generous, friendly and practical. I’m very emotional when it comes to decorating, and particularly sensitive to nostalgia, the passing of time, ageing houses, the old-fashioned tones of paintings with a patina... And so my style is a little British, the quintessence of all that: a little spleen, a mix of half-tone colours, wood panelling that invades the walls, fabrics and lots of flowers. It’s a combination of beautiful old materials, noble and sometimes deliciously damaged materials (velvet, wood, etc.) and patterns (stripes, flowers, etc.). I also like to contrast with the freshness of some of the more contemporary decorative pieces, particularly the light fittings, which I like to give structure to. My aim is to create a balance, an equilibrium that can shift slightly depending on the customer’s taste, between yesterday and today.

© Estelle Quilici - Tablecloth Rang

There's a wide variety of colours in your decor, with shades of blue, green, pink and prints... What advice do you have on how to get the mix and match right?

It's the mix that creates the personality of a place. To mix is to surprise! It’s that famous “coup de théâtre” in a house to give it a spectacular, surprising look and a strong personality. It’s a game of associating things together to create a singularity. It’s expressed through a mix of genres, a mishmash of styles, a bold composition of colours and patterns. I sometimes mix floral patterns together, as I did on my sofa with your Jamini cushion covers, which go perfectly with another floral print. Then there’s the surprise: a surprising hanging: straw hats with a work of art, a collection of feathers in a frame. Another simple and inexpensive tip: cover a Swedish dressing room with a beautiful floral wallpaper to create a unique dressing room.

Anima cushion - © Cécile Molinié

In 2022, you published a book entitled « The Decoration of Emotions ». Could you explain how emotions can influence the transformation of an interior?

«Tell me where and how you live, and I’ll tell you who you are and how you feel. » ; Every home is the image we give of ourselves. We’re talking about our interior, as well as our emotional and psychological interior. It reflects our tastes, of course, but it also reflects our culture, our history, our position in society and our emotional ties. It is simply a magnifying glass of ourselves. Colour is at the heart of these emotions, it sets the tone. I work with colour in the same way that architects work with the floor plan of a house. They help to structure, to highlight, to show a direction of movement. You’ll never get the same vibe from a grey, a green of grey, a black or a bright yellow! Greys, for example, are the colours of memory, greens of grey, blue-greens that are a little outdated, reminiscent of the colours used by Impressionist painters, are colours that create a soft, dreamlike atmosphere that sometimes leaves a certain spleen lingering, whereas a bright orange combined with a fuchsia pink will create a very different effect of surprise and energy.

© Cécile Molinié

How would you define your decorative style and what emotions do you try to express through your interior?

Joy is obviously a source of inspiration for a decorator, and I’ve devoted a whole chapter to it in my book « La décoration des émotions », published by Flammarion. Joy is linked to the satisfaction of a desire, to the success of a project. So it’s quite naturally the state you should be in when you’ve decorated, fitted out and set up your home. It’s my duty to satisfy my customer’s; need for beauty, as well as on my Instagram feed. It’s something that’s ingrained in me, wanting to make life more beautiful. And I do this with very little: using what already exists, and finding a breath of simplicity to reinvent places. Part of what I find in Jamini is that cheerfulness in the choice of objects, patterns, materials and lightness. And the need for comfort, serenity and well-being to make us perfectly happy. An ode to joy in the home is also, and above all, about bringing the outside in all year round; using the language of flowers in decoration is a way of making the blessed season of bouquets last a little longer. My first market? It’s my garden, or the wildflowers that can be gleaned just about anywhere. It’s often the first thing I do when I move into a house.

© Estelle Quilici - © Cécile Perrinet

Your interior is a fusion of styles. What do you appreciate about the harmony between Indian and French decoration?

Indian decor is a magnificent concentration of everything I love: half-tone colours or downright gaudy ones, endless flower prints... it’s a bit like the translation into another language of the cottage style, which is inspired by traditional English country houses! It’s a style that I’ve reinterpreted, in my own way, in a small house on the Cotentin peninsula opposite England. The Jamini objects blended in spontaneously and very naturally. I mix the floral placemats with my antique plates and silverware, and the tablecloths bring joy to my grey and blue kitchen!

© Estelle Quilici - Tablemat Banna

What does Jamini mean to you and which is your favourite piece?

Jamini is an invitation to travel, femininity and delicacy. I particularly like the Jaipur Pine quilted bedspread, which fits in perfectly with the classic style of a Parisian flat, as well as an old armchair in a family home. I also love the Sajni bag, which is the perfect size to take everywhere with me: I slip my computer and a few files into it all week in the basket on my bike, and my towel and swimming costume at the weekend!

© Estelle Quilici - Quilt Jaipur Pine - Sajni bag