BEHIND THE SCENES - Paris Apartment Renovations

The Hoist ... or The Heist?

People often ask us how in the world we manage to get our furniture in and out of Paris buildings. The short answer? Very carefully. The long answer involves strategy, paperwork, money and a touch of comedy.

Remember the Louvre robbery last month? We use the same truck and ladder method – minus the disguises and criminal intent.  Because if you’ve ever experienced Paris elevators, when there are some, you know that even you and your suitcase will barely fit.

So in Paris, when you need to hoist a sofa up to the fifth floor, you call in the same kind of professionals who pulled off the Louvre heist, and you hoist it through the street side window.  But before that, you need permission - from the Mairie (town hall), of course. Because nothing in Paris happens without paperwork and official approval.

You fill out forms, request permission to block the street, and then pray that the timing works out. We usually get a small window of time to turn chaos into elegance. Which sounds fine… until something goes wrong. Like the morning when our moving crew showed up at 7 a.m. sharp and the furniture truck arrived, with our merchandise, five hours later. The entire street watched our movers drink coffee, stare at their watches, and slowly lose hope, while I tried my best to ignore all the honking and just breathe in and out!

Then there was the day we meticulously organized an entry through what we thought was a generous doorway to the courtyard, from which we knew we had plenty of room to mount the ladder.  Until we came across the third courtyard door, which was ½ inch too small. The contractor ended up dismantling the sofa, piece by piece in the courtyard, muttering words we’re pretty sure aren’t in the Polish dictionary and carrying the sofa up four flights of stairs.

But that’s Paris. Behind every perfectly styled apartment photo is a ballet of logistics, paperwork, and pure luck. You learn to expect the unexpected, laugh when you can, and keep a toolkit handy, just in case that beautiful new front door needs to be dismantled!

In the end, it’s all part of the charm. Renovating in Paris is not for the faint of heart, but like most things here, you get better (and slightly more patient) over time. 

Follow along with us on Sunday's Instagram series for more behind the scenes, if you want to know how we get from this ...

to this!

Ta ta,

HH

PS:  About that Louvre heist:  did you know that the company that provided the ladder is now advertising their services:  “When you need to get in and out of a building quickly!”  They don’t mention that when it happens too quickly, you may drop a few crown jewels along the way.