The great escape

« THE GREAT ESCAPE »

LUCILLE GAUTHIER-BRAUD - Beauty trend forecaster for Bureau Peclers

Par: Aurélie ROUTHIER

We met Lucille in her large late 17th century house in Anjou, surrounded by nature and silence. After discussing with jubilation her rose and vegetable garden, she opened a discussion on Burgundy stones. It was hard for us to believe that until a few months ago, she was running  a busy life in Paris, between her flat in the center of the Marais and her office, located a few steps away from the Place des Victoires.

Lucille and her family are part of these Parisians who changed their life right after the Covid years, for better and for… much better!  What obviously spoke to us, it’s the return to the roots of this self-called “girl from the West”. But what we wanted to share with you, it’s how she invests in her new interior and finds in it an inexhaustible source of regeneration.

In your daily job, you sense the signals, indicators of tomorrow's trends. What was the signal(s) that made you change your life and especially your place of living?

I guess I've been caught up with what I've been observing regarding societal trends: neo-rural people, ex-urbanites who choose to live in the countryside in a "Flex-Life" mode while keeping their job: that's me! Except that I'm not from Paris. This new life is above all a return to my roots, close to my family and friends, here in the West.

It had been a few years since I wanted to live in a different way, I had the feeling that I was slowly cutting myself off from what was essential, even if everything seemed "perfect", this life was no longer ours.

I missed nature, I spent my evenings booking the next weekends. Moreover, I wanted to offer another perspective of things to my two children. The Covid was the impulse that made this project come true. My husband is a music publisher, and I work for a creative innovation consulting agency, so living far from Paris was not an option before the pandemic. We had a thousand reasons to give up because everything was so complicated but we held on. We can fail, we learn, we move forward. Life is an adventure!

3 words to describe your new home?

Out of time - charming - elegant and yet simple at the same time.

It is an old sleepy house that has been neglected for a long time, a beautiful manor that has led a thousand lives. The former owner, who bought it twice in her life, changed her mind when she sold it, and even today she often comes to tell us that she misses it. It is a place out of time.

In his book Philosophy of the house, the philosopher Emanuele Coccia talks about "making house", is this what happened?

Yes, that's exactly it. It is really my place of life. In this increasingly "noisy" and digitalized world, we need more than ever an environment that relaxes and recharges us. This place is more than walls, there is the house but also the garden, the trees, the animals, nothing is fixed, everything is in movement. It is a whole ecosystem that interacts with us. 

What does having taste mean to you?

In my opinion, having taste is above all knowing how to appreciate the beauty of things. It's impossible to judge who does or doesn't have it.

You work a lot around color, especially for the trend books you make for your clients. What are your favorite colors of the moment?

Color is indeed very important in my job. It is often the starting point for my creative thinking. I design a lot of ranges for makeup, packaging, leather or even jewelry sometimes. It may sound strange but at home, I need a break, some peace from color. My essential is white. Here in my house, I work more on textures and subtle variations: matte, chalky, gray, transparent or patinated... white really allows you to play with light. And since everything here is very old, white brings the house back to life while blending perfectly with the old materials. 

I accessorize mostly with decoration: cushions, a blanket, a rug, and that's it. You can change the atmosphere of a room  in 5 minutes.  

For more than 15 years, you have been writing "idea books" for your clients in the beauty and luxury industries. If we randomly opened a page of the last one, what would we read?

At the moment, I am working on the next edition of Beauty & Wellness 24. In it, I'm addressing reflections around ancestral heritage, a new vision of nature, liberation of the body as well as meta-sensoriality in the age of digital disorder. It will be released in September 2022. I also collaborate on the publication Couleurs / Inspirations, the agency's best-seller which mixes evolutions of socio-cultural trends, great aesthetic currents and colorful universes.

Where did you put your SAUDADE carpet? 

I really liked the Lagos rug when I first discovered it at Merci in Paris. It is very soft, white as I like it, and machine washable.

It is in my living room, the main room of the house. As I often change my decoration, it will also go very well in my office when I will have advanced on my project. 

Where does your rug take you? 

It stays here, with me! My elsewhere at the moment is home. We are still at the stage of local wonderment, each day is a discovery. It would be a shame not to take advantage of this exploration, as simple as it may seem. During our last vacation, we came home earlier because we missed the house.

So the SAUDADE rug, it stays at home ! !

If your rug could talk, what would it tell us about its new family? 

That we are a funny, simple, food loving and loud talking family (the house is big). A bit messy but very cheerful.

At Saudade, we believe that everyone, object and human, has the right to a second life. In yours, what will you do?

I will do permaculture or grow seeds. First of all, because having your hands in the soil reactivates your body and clears your head. I have replaced meditation with gardening. Secondly, because living in the countryside makes us more aware of the value of water, of respecting the seasons, of recycling... When we live in the city, all of this remains very theoretical. Here, we live it, we experience it and we try to make this awareness a reality.

Saudade is a mixture between nostalgia and hope. What about your last Saudade feeling?

I am the Saudade. Nostalgia is definitely a part of me. I always get a bit emotional when my phone brings up an old picture of my kids. It shows me how fast life goes by... 

Lady carpet or mother cushions?

Mother cushions with a s, everywhere, all the time, in XXL accumulation, on sofas, beds, on the floor, inside / outside. I can't get enough of it, cushions mean comfort.

You are a fan of decoration, can you give us your current favorites?

I love decoration but I especially like to discover new things, not necessarily "big" pieces: last week a 5 euro porcelain cup made me the happiest. I spend a lot of time in flea markets, I don't buy many new objects, I like to know that this object has a history and is a symbol of transmission. But if I had to share my "favorite" objects, I would say: a Toledo lamp by Guzzini or Grès by my friend Aurélie Lecuyer, a Tulip Saarinen table, Audiorama 7000 Grundig speakers, and Labogie or Diptyque candles.

Finally, the Saudadian question: what object in your house would best incarnate the idea of the Saudade?

In the garden, we have dependencies that have never been emptied. Each time we discover something new. It's a real treasure hunt! Each of us imagines the history of these objects, inherited by chance. It's nice to think that we are giving them a new life, a new start!

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  • Aurélie Routhier
  • Tags: interior design, design, rugs, comporta, san francisco, photograph, interior decoration

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