法式里维埃拉风情家居画法

The interior of the new Hôtel Le Sud in Antibes, France

Valerio Geraci

When it comes to lamenting summer travel plans canceled due to the pandemic, there are a few ways to cope. You can pivot, and plan a new trip closer to home. Or, you can try and bring the spirit of that far-off destination into your own space. We are inspired to do the latter this summer, especially after seeing images of the new Hôtel Le Sud in the South of France. Designed by architect Stéphanie Lizée, the 29-room boutique hotel perfectly captures the essence of summer on the Côte d’Azur with it’s white plastered walls, terra-cotta floors, wicker furniture and citrus-colored stripes. And though travel restrictions will prevent Americans from visiting the new locale this season, we learned a few simple ways to recreate the hotel’s warm, beachy look with a simple paint job.

A band of deep green is painted along the wall in one of the guest rooms. The palette was inspired by “the warm colors from the South that we find on Picasso’s drawings, terra-cotta from Vallauris pottery, and the yellow of sunflowers,” says Stéphanie.

Valerio Geraci

While the guest rooms of Le Sud were left primarily clean and simple—white walls, white bedding—what gives them a jolt of joie de vivre are the bands of rich color painted along the top border of the walls. To develop the summery palette, Stéphanie explored the work of two of the region’s most famous resident artists. “These colors were obvious after visiting the Picasso Museum in Antibes and the Fernand Leger Museum in Biot,” Stéphanie explains. “It was a real electroshock.” Taking inspiration from a series of ceramic plates by Picasso as well as some of his drawings, she identified colors from French paint company Ressource Peintures including two shades of green (Lincoln Green and I30 Mesculin Green), a terra-cotta (Terra de Sienna Dark) and Yves Klein’s famous bold blue. 

The citrus yellow along the wall’s border is repeated on the striped bed spread. 

Valerio Geraci

By painting just a border of the wall in these rich colors, Stéphanie was able to “awaken” the white neutral base of the rooms. And the effect couldn’t be easier to mimic. Just stencil off a border 8 to 10 inches from the top of your wall, lay blue tape on both sides of the area to be painted, and fill in the border. The effect is like an impactful molding, adding a heavy dose of character to an otherwise plain box. To take it one step further, carry your chosen shade elsewhere in the room, as Stéphanie has done by draping coordinated striped blankets over each bed.

Another paint technique used in Le Sud’s guest rooms requires a bit more artistic skill—or simply courage. Stéphanie designed curvaceous floating headboards in white plaster, and then added a thin line of paint following the shape. “The brush stroke is not perfect,” she explains. “It is handmade by artist Franck Lebraly who also drew the hotel frescoes.” In each room, the headboard paint color was chosen to be complementary to the wall border hue; deep green paired with bright orange, brilliant blue with rustic terra-cotta. And you don’t need a floating plaster base to achieve this look, just grab a 2-inch brush and try your hand at the artistic border.

In the bathrooms, simple square and rectangle tile was used along the shower archway and the base of the room.

Valerio Geraci

This imperfect painted line was also carried through in the bathrooms where Stéphanie used handmade glazed tile along the border of the shower archway in order to “dramatize the entrance,” she says. Franck added a thin line of color to the top of each bathroom’s wall, repeating the linear look. While simple in design, the colorful painted lines and tiled borders add a much-needed energy to an otherwise neutral space. 

“It is a nod to the paintings of artists who made the golden age of the French Riviera such as Jean Cocteau, Picasso, Fernand Léger, or Matisse,” says Stéphanie. “A tribute to this radiant Côte d’Azur which has inspired so much.” Try your hand at one of these paint techniques to add a little Mediterranean spirit to your space this summer—best enjoyed with chilled glass of rosé, of course.