An American in Paris

I am Ajiri Aki, the founder of Madame de la Maison, a lifestyle brand focusing on art de la table using antiques and our private label of linens. My husband is Thomas Buchwalder, a Swiss German producer who founded Cactus Films. We have been living in Paris together for ten years in the XIth and have two kids, Noomi, 7 and Baz, 4.

I first came to Paris for a few months to research and write my master’s thesis about Jean Patou in the 1920s and 1930s, but then sadly left thinking my time in this beautiful city was over. Nine months later I met my husband Thomas while we were both working on a production job together in New York City during fashion week. It was an epic week with long hours filming runway shows and a big crew. The intensity of this week, 11 years ago, connected us and we’ve literally never been apart since. Thomas was already working and living in Paris for over ten years at the time so after long distance dating, we got married in New York City and Austin,Texas and then I moved to Paris officially.

When I was six years old, my mother started dragging me to garage sales in Austin, which are equivalent to a vide grenier here in France. (Of course less organized and more like individuals selling things in front of their houses). My mother taught me one man’s trash is another man’s treasure and I think this stuck with me. However it wasn’t really until I moved to New York and started to dive deep into a diverse selection of books, old movies, and exhibitions as sources of inspiration did I really start to develop an “eye” for what I love and appreciate. Consistent reading, researching, and learning new things has developed my taste over time.

I can say my first true love was my mother’s wedding china which she kept behind glass for appreciation but never for use. She passed away before she got to use these plates she adored. This affected me a lot and it’s something I share in my campaign for always using the good china, which the French have no trouble doing. But my deep passion came with knowledge. I got my Masters in the Decorative Arts, Design History, and Material Culture. It was such an amazing program that really gave me a holistic approach to design and cultural history. I realized how much I loved what I was learning even though the pace was intense and there was so much to remember. I started to love knowing about the objects that I saw at brocantes. This love turned into a deep passion for the French decorative arts and finding treasures that probably borders on obsession at this point.

I was raised as a child of immigrant parents in Austin, Texas. My kids are now being raised as children of immigrant parents in Paris. We are sadly but honestly in a better place than most immigrants to France, but I can imagine there are a few parallels. I have no idea what is happening sometimes here in current events and school. However I’m really happy for my children to have this experience of being raised in Paris. To make sure they still connect to their Nigerian-American roots we travel home to visit the family once a year in Texas and my brothers come here. We also try to do a lot of face time. We only read books and watch cartoons and movies English. I am pretty militant about buying books that educate them about women’s history as well as black history also.

We are definitely the slow and steady type of people. I like to live in a space and slowly get inspired and fill it up. I spend a lot of time at brocantes across France so I find a lot of wonderful items for our space. I also find inspiration on Instagram then go crazy trying to hunt down something similar.

Our home is the perfect patchwork of our shared history. Most of the books, which I hauled over when I moved from New York, I collected while studying the decorative arts and working in fashion. You can take one look at the spines and know what I love and where I draw inspiration. My husband is a techy film guy so his projector, computers and equipment are everywhere. I also like collecting little things we find or make on our travels and putting them on shelves or the mantle. I like to walk around my space and have memories flood my thoughts. The antiques we have mixed throughout also fill me with memories of travels where we found items but also it’s clear I have made them my passion and work. We are family with young children so I try to make sure they can be comfortable here too and not feel like everything is too precious.

It is very very important. I spend all my time in these spaces with my family and friends. Something that brings me great joy is when people come over and feel 100% comfortable and cozy. I don’t want a space that feels too austere and cold. I want to invite people to my table or my table basse to laugh, cry, make a mess, eat, drink, dance or whatever. I prefer that these spaces don’t feel perfect but really “lived in.”