Nathalie Chianura says she is always dreaming of design.
The French native’s visions come to life at Paris-Milan Home, her luxury showroom and design studio at 15551 N. Greenway Hayden Loop, Suite A110, Scottsdale. Founded in January 2019, Paris-Milan offers an array of high-end pieces of contemporary European furniture and décor for all corners of the home, as well as interior design and home consultation services.
“It’s a nice job. It’s a passion,” Chianura says. “In this world, we know that a lot of people have a job that they don’t like, they have a job to put food on the table and money in the bank. So for the people to have the opportunity to have a job that they love — just enjoy it.”
Chianura, who has resided in the Valley for half of her three-decade career in the furniture design industry, aims to preserve the European “savoir faire.” She translates this as the “knowledge to do the best.”
The designer describes her style as contemporary, but true to traditional European craftsmanship. She strives to capture a classic appeal with elegant, clean lines and a calm color palette.
“The timelessness of the furniture is very important. We can make the designs different by the material you choose and the colors you choose, but the base structure of the design will be timeless,” Chianura says, adding that furniture designs repeat themselves every couple of decades like fashion trends.
She strongly believes in “quality over quantity,” and her selection — which is curated from Italy and France — is a reflection of this value. She thoughtfully chooses noble materials like marble, brass, Murano glass, leather and high-quality fabrics for everything from her office furniture to rugs and lighting.
With access to such a large variety of products and materials, Chianura makes an effort to feature unique pieces no one has seen before while providing comfort and functionality.
Chianura’s aesthetic is heavily influenced by her European roots. Born in Croix, northern France, she was raised by a French mother and an Italian father in nearby Lille.
Design was always surrounding her. She went to school in Roubaix, the birthplace of Bernard Arnault, the owner of multinational luxury goods holding and conglomerate LVMH. Coincidentally, Chianura says his parents built their home not too far away from her own parents’ house in Croix, where she was born.
“This is my inspiration: where I come from, this feeling, this obligation to show you how my world is,” she says.
“I want to communicate that to my clients. And I’m pretty sure that’s why I have a nice, beautiful connection with my clients. I’m curious, but they are curious, too. So we exchange our worlds, and it’s amazing.”
Chianura highly values building meaningful relationships with everyone who walks into Paris-Milan Home.
She says her job as a designer requires talent as well as experience in human relations to bring each individual’s vision for their home to fruition.
To better achieve this, Paris-Milan offers private showroom appointments to provide each client one-on-one attention.
“You need to understand who you have in front of you to connect with your client. It’s very important,” Chianura says. “And like that, you will discover a human being, what they like, what they want, what makes them happy. … If you start to know them, they will talk about their travels, and they’ll say, ‘Oh, we went there. We love this architecture.’ This gives you all the elements for you to understand the package.”
For Chianura, it is vital to help people create a home environment that allows them to recharge and unwind.
“Your home is your cocoon. Society is a part of every day,” she says. “If I can make the other side of the door, when they close the door of their home, the perfect place where they can relax, enjoy life and not stress — it is the accomplishment of a good designer.
“The only way you can know is when your client invites you to their home and you see the smile on their face … and how they express their gratitude, (and they say) ‘Nathalie, we love it.’ That’s it. I did my job. And so this is the joy of this work.”
Before Paris-Milan Home, as previously reported by Scottsdale Airpark News, Chianura worked with a French furniture chain with 250 locations across the globe for several years.
She then accepted an interior designer position at the most renowned avenue in Paris, Avenue Montaigne, where she worked with international clients and was surrounded by haute couture brand boutiques such as Louis Vuitton and Christian Dior.
Chianura said this “helped her take her flight to the United States” and establish her first furniture store company in Scottsdale, which she sold in 2018.
Then, she launched her Paris-Milan Home venture alone — a reflection of her achievements as a designer.
“I’m proud to be an example for young generations, particularly women, because I am a woman and I accomplished everything alone — I am not married, I don’t have children, my life is my work. It shows. I don’t regret anything because my life, it’s full of experiences, full of nice things,” she says.
“But for this new generation, I can be proud to show them it is possible. You don’t need to be rich. I don’t come from a rich family. … You can do everything you want. You can have everything you want. You just need to work on it.
“Just don’t be scared. Jump. If you don’t try, you will never know.”
Paris-Milan Home is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays, and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays. It is also available by private appointment.
More information can be found at paris-milan.com.
