Emma DeRoche
This month Emma De Roche proposes a special selection of Mass Beverly’s best products.
Emma DeRoche is the founder of Emma DeRoche Interior Design, which focuses on residential and commercial design in the US. Emma was born in France and grew up in a creative environment surrounded by historic European architecture. Her design point-of-view provides an haute couture expression for her client’s spaces, layering texture, shapes, lighting, color and layout. She took time to answer a few questions from her home in the LA neighborhood of Runyon Canyon and reflected on the exciting year to come.
2020 was a challenging year (understatement of the century!) but was there anything you learned about yourself from staying home and slowing down?
I truly feel blessed to have kept busy with current, past and new clients. The process has definitely been slower between getting samples, answers from vendors, delays in the delivery and production of furniture or hardware... but things are progressing and my clients have been pretty understanding and patient with the situation! I do a lot of custom work, designing every element from scratch, so my custom clients are used to that precious quality which is called patience. I always say that it’s like the difference between a naturally ripe fruit of the season versus a waxy, mass-produced version. Which one is worth waiting for and which one do you want to enjoy for years to come? On a personal level I was surprised to see how OK we were being at home, including my kids. We adjusted very quickly to the new norm.
Photography Credit: Katya Grozovskaya
What kinds of projects are you currently undertaking in the new year?
A lot of remodeling: kitchen, bath, office, family rooms, full house remodel… but also outdoors. There’s definitely a rush to execute those big projects that were on the back burners for so long as people were too busy to dedicate time. Also a ton of condos homeowners took the leap to purchase a house that they now are needing to renovate.
How would you define your design style?
I’m a European millennial born and raised in Paris, who has traveled and been living in Los Angeles for over a decade now, so my background makes me kind of a chameleon for most design styles. But my motto is to incorporate Art not only as curated objects but through the design of a space as a whole. I work hard in detail so that not one corner is left un-thought out, while infusing my client’s personality through. My spaces always tell a meaningful story, unique to its inhabitants, and a journey through styles and eras when my clients are open to it.
What are you currently obsessing about?
I’m currently obsessing about baking like a French Chef Patissier. Not many people realise how complex this is. Because we feed on savory more than sweet, savoy chefs are more praised, but baking is the fruit of so much patience, scientific knowledge, and attention to details and precision. I’m not saying that cooking is not technical either - at my house we cook beautiful meals from scratch everyday, kids included - but there’s also this search for the absolutely pristine looking, textural layering, and artistically beautiful result that comes with baking, and that is just the cherry on top for me. So far I have baked almost a dozen various tarts since COVID started. My next frontier is cakes. I started to share on my Instagram but will share more.
Do you have an ALL TIME favorite cake that you made recently? Just a couple weeks ago was the Epiphanie, it’s a French tradition to eat Galettes des Rois on the 12th day after Christmas (pie made out of frangipane baked between two sheets of puff pastry, hiding a little ceramic “toy” to be found to become King). Nowadays it’s an opportunity to celebrate with family, friends, and work colleagues, so it can start as early as December and lasts the whole month of January. Due to Covid though, it's the first time I haven't invited friends over to eat it, but nevertheless I baked 2 and bought one last month. They are just that good!
Where will you go as soon as it’s safe to travel again?
I’ll answer by seasons.
Winter: There is nothing like bathing in Christmas in New York
Spring: People watching while seated at a Parisian cafe
Summer: Breathing in the pristine nature in Bali
Autumn: Eating freshly caught lobster, drinking coconut water from the coconut tree, and coconut sorbet on the beach in my family’s native island in the Caribbean: Guadeloupe.
There’s something about that fixture that is so dreamy and romantic. It makes me think of a sumptuous dinner al fresco under the stars. Its scale and structure, while delicate, also displays strength. Because this is what love is. As all long time couples know, love is about that balance between that which is delicate and strong.
Pollux suspension lamp by Quasar
I also have a “coup de coeur” for the poetically visual and sexy curves of the Audrey Sofa. A beauty at its quintessence.
Audrey Motion by Gallotti e Radice
The Tre chair is beautiful in its simplicity, as simple as saying the 3 words “I love you”.
Love is also about sharing memorable moments and having fun, hence my selection of the most glamorous foosball table in the world and the cosiest place to snuggle.
