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Overlooking the Square Trousseau in Paris’ 12th arrondissement, La Bonbonnière is a sun-soaked apartment redesigned by Labopop as a feminine, candy-box retreat filled with storage and pink personality.
“Since we didn't have many free walls to showcase them, we decided to use them as facades for three custom-made storage pieces for her glasses.”
“The Pink Panther’s look and spirit was our inspiration for this renovation.”
For architects Jérémie and Ania Brault, co-founders of Labopop, the playful spirit of the Pink Panther was top of mind when he set out to create a whimsical, ultra-feminine bachelor pad in Paris’s 12th arrondissement. Perched on the top floor, overlooking the tree-lined Square Trousseau, the 54-square-metre (581sqft) apartment would come to be nicknamed La Bonbonnière – French for “candy box” – thanks to the layered palette of pinks that Brault introduced in pursuit of this whimsy.
From a pastel pink floor-to-ceiling bookshelf in the living room to a flamingo pink pool ladder for the mezzanine, the colour is woven throughout to create what Brault describes as a fully immersive experience. “The owner, Caroline, loves pink,” Brault explains, “so we developed a predominantly white space with the idea of being able to add touches of pink that maintain a sense of balance. It was important for us to choose several shades of pink to reveal different moods in the apartment.” And while the signature colour may be the first thing that catches your eye, it represents just an accent of personality in a home designed to feel comfortable, spacious, and functional. But it’s still a work in progress, Brault says. “We actually left behind a few cans of paint so Caroline can turn even more of her items pink in the future,” he tells Never Too Small.
With abundant light from tall windows, high ceilings, and a generous skylight above, the apartment offered strong bones. Before the renovation, however, the layout was disjointed and uninspired, featuring: a tiny, windowless bathroom; a central toilet at the entrance; and a mezzanine that awkwardly loomed in the living room. The apartment’s owner initially made small updates before deciding that a complete transformation was needed.
Brault’s team unlocked the space’s full potential by reimagining the entire floor plan. The kitchen was brought into the main living space to create an open-plan layout, while the bathroom and toilet were moved to a larger, ventilated room with natural light. A walk-in closet was added between the kitchen and bedroom, and the mezzanine was repositioned above the kitchen and wardrobe to maximise light and headroom in the living areas. New white-painted timber floors and mirrored surfaces throughout further brightened the interior, creating a soft, luminous backdrop for Caroline’s favourite hue.
In the bedroom, the walls are completely wrapped in pink, a bold choice Caroline requested specifically to wake up and fall asleep surrounded by her signature shade. A small side table, recently painted to match, tucks neatly into the corner – just one of the many objects she continues to personalise in pink. Another specific request of Caroline’s was a spacious kitchen. And Brault delivered, forming an L-shaped kitchen that’s remarkably large for a small apartment. Drawers were chosen for easy access, and major appliances – including the fridge, oven, and dishwasher – were discreetly integrated. The quartz countertop was selected to match a beloved coffee table she already owned, while mirrored upper cabinet doors were integrated to help the kitchen blend seamlessly into the living area.
Storage was a key priority for Caroline (as it is for most small-space occupants); yet, she is also an art lover, and was faced with the reality that more storage means less wall space for her art – namely, her collection of prints by American photographers. Breault came up with a clever solution to this too by integrating them as part of a custom-build storage system for her glassware. “Since we didn’t have many free walls to showcase them, we decided to use them as façades,” Brault explains. An extra storage nook was also added under the sloping roof to hold Caroline’s work items, using leftover bathroom countertop material to blend seamlessly into the living space.
For Brault and his team, projects like La Bonbonnière reflect a broader ethos: that small spaces are full of big potential. “Working with small spaces pushes us to think about how to expand them, bring light into the volumes, and rethink how they’re used,” he says. The architect believes it’s crucial to create spaces that not only adhere to a city’s architecture but the personality of the people who live in them.
And in Caroline’s apartment, personality shines 24/7. Even at night, a neon pink light from HAY adds an ambient pink glow to the apartment from the mezzanine. “There is a switch right next to the bed and another one in the kitchen, for when Caroline wants to flood the space in pink at night,” Brault says. Because in LaBonbonnière, if it’s not pink yet, it’s probably just waiting its turn.
