At Ekhi Busquet’s Home, in Marseille
Sunny, welcoming, and warm. Ekhi Busquet embodies the spirit of the city where she has settled with her partner and baby. Nestled in the heart of Marseille, the designer has infused her home with the energy of Cours Julien. Like an ode to the Mediterranean sea, her 75 square meters nestled under the rooftops blend blue waves and earthy pinks that echo the tiles of the surrounding roofs. A nest thoughtfully and responsibly designed by a designer firmly rooted in her time. Guided tour!
Marseille
One foot in Paris, the other in Marseille. Ekhi Busquet splits her time between the Marais and the Le Panier in Marseille. This arrangement requires a meticulously planned schedule, but it allows her to excel on all fronts. As an added bonus, she gets to design two interiors, each with its own unique characteristics. “In Paris, creativity comes from constraint. The space is small—25 square meters—so I focused on compactness and storage solutions. Here, I had a blank canvas, but with different challenges.” With its high ceilings and a living room conceived as an agora, her Marseille hideaway lacked clear landmarks. “I’m used to sleeping boxes, which save a lot of space, but here I felt like I was losing it.”
Nothing is lost
Never mind: Ekhi played with color to delimit the space and fit into its environment, by stretching our Iceberg on the walls of his kitchen open to the sky. Shining floors, pristine facades and almost new worktops, it had just been redesigned by a contractor when the designer picked up the keys. “I would never have chosen that, but it was new, I wasn't going to take it off.” There is no question of endangering the planet and renovation budget! A saw cut to make the island a console in which everyday technical elements disappear and a few liters of paint drastically change the space at a lower cost.
A Meeting of Creative Universes
Two blue waves dancing on the Iceberg wall… Cut in a Parisian workshop from recycled plastic, the floating shelves come from our Plum Living x Ekhi Busquet collaboration, available in France. A meeting point between our two worlds, this incisive and frank blue enhances Ekhi's favorite movement, a must-have in Marseille!
"Iceberg blue became an obvious choice. It inspired this wave design, which I use to minimize industrial waste. I love the idea of simple beauty, elevated by mindful production."
Rosé Pool
In the living room, blue is showcased in a deeper shade, complemented by bold accents that echo the underwater world. The Blush pink extends the hue of the tiles framing the bedroom windows. As a final nod to Marseille, the glass partition, which reinterprets the curves of the Mucem, adds dynamism to this large wall dividing the living space from the sleeping area.
The Big Blue
Vintage sideboard and customized sofa, designer pieces and upcycling... The soul of the apartment has a lot to do with the mix and match dear to Ekhi. Take the ladder that leads to the mezzanine bedroom: custom-made by a craftsman from Marseille, it ticks all the boxes of the swimming pool ladder, monumental version. From its exaggerated handles to the generous width of the steps, no detail has been left to chance to make it a strong creative gesture. Next door, simply stained okoume doors replaced uninteresting PVC fronts to give the cupboard personality, again without breaking the bank. The art of cohabitation!
Closing shop
Who hasn't dreamt of being able to work from home, while leaving their to-do list at the office when evening comes? For Ekhi, the solution lies in three words: closet doors. "It was originally a dressing room attached to the family suite, which I reworked to create an office. During the day, I hustle and in the evening, I literally and figuratively close shop!" A small, ultra-optimized space that once again turns a constraint into an opportunity
Child king
If Ekhi and his partner Mathieu are perfectly happy with their cozy sleeping nook nestled at the top of the pool ladder, their little boy certainly gets the lion's share of attention, much to their delight! The designer has incorporated elements from the living room, blending Blush wallpaper with wave-shaped patterns, all accentuated by an emerald green Togo sofa that enhances the space. "At some point, you have to create disruptions in the journey, otherwise it would be too monotonous. This green complements Iceberg and Blush in the color palette, confirming that the duo steals the show!"
Barbapapa
Don't expect the bathroom to dethrone this dynamic duo. Ekhi combined a matte lacquered vanity unit with a mirror from our collaboration. The bold Barbapapa shower curtain in rainbow colors brings in a touch of pink that enhances the whole look. "Here, we can only have synthetic electric light. The blue still reacts very well, even with non-natural light."
37°2 in the morning
Ultimate luxury for a former Parisian, the terrace adds 15 square meters to the apartment. Designed as a fully-fledged room where the couple spends most of their time as soon as the good weather arrives, it echoes the living room colors in a more intense way to trick the sun's rays. Add some plants, a few cushions, and freshly baked navettes, and like us, you’ll have only one idea in mind: to stay!
Ideas that inspire us
- The paint that gives a second lease of life to the kitchen at a lower cost
- The choice of bright colors in a bathroom that will never see the light of day
- The office hidden in a dressing room to make screens and paperwork disappear at the end of the day
- The Iceberg and Blush color duo energized by touches of black and green
- Okoumé cupboard doors which allow the structure already in place to be reused.
