Mixing old and contemporary in colour

Every architectural style carries chromatic codes anchored in its historical context. Haussmann beiges and ochres come from the pigments available in the mid-19th century. Art Deco powder pinks and seafoams come from the aesthetic codes of the 1920s and 1930s. Mid-century modernist whites and primaries come from the Bauhaus and De Stijl aesthetic.

These codes are not obligations, they are anchors. Knowing them allows you to decide whether to respect them, update them or subvert them. Ignoring them produces interiors without roots, without depth.

The professional rule: identify the original chromatic codes of the architecture, keep at least one, then introduce a single contemporary element. Not three. One.

For a Haussmann interior. Native chromatic codes: patinated beiges, ochres, Prussian blues, pewter grey, blood red. To update it, keep a warm off-white on the walls (which respects the mouldings), introduce a single contemporary colour on an accent wall or on the main furniture. Teal on the library, terracotta on the sofa, sage green on the curtains. Avoid highly saturated modern colours (bright yellow, tomato red, flashy pink), which clash with the mouldings.

For an Art Deco interior (1920s-1940s). Native codes: seafoam, powder pink, Klein blue, gold. To update it, keep one of these codes (the powder pink or seafoam), neutralise the others with off-white and black, and add touches of matt brass (more contemporary than bright gold).

For a modernist interior (1950s-1970s). Native codes: white, primaries (red, yellow, blue), light wood, burnt orange. To update it, keep the white and light wood, replace the saturated primaries with their desaturated versions (terracotta instead of vivid red, ochre instead of yellow, teal instead of primary blue).

For a contemporary interior (loft, recent construction). No historical codes to respect. But without codes, the interior risks anonymity. Introducing an "old" shade (deep sage green, terracotta, burgundy) on a wall or piece of furniture anchors the space.

Jean-Louis Deniot is arguably the undisputed master of mixing Haussmann and contemporary. His Parisian apartments retain the mouldings, parquet, fireplaces, but introduce a Pierre Paulin orange armchair or a deep black Soulages work. The implicit rule: the architecture speaks old, the furniture speaks contemporary.

India Mahdavi takes the opposite angle: she introduces powder pink or seafoam (Art Deco codes) into purely contemporary contexts. The old code makes reference without appearing to.

Joseph Dirand works on the systematic desaturation of historical colours to update them. He takes a Haussmann blood red and pulls it toward a contemporary powdery burgundy. Same family, different value.