French Style Furnishings

April Veranda magazine features the gorgeous Texas  Lehne family home.  Interior designer Eleanor Cummings has done of beautiful job in this house, placing everything perfectly.  The walls are white, the floors are pale stone and the furnishings are antique, fabulous and sculptural.

In looking at the photo below from the Lehne house, I was struck by how easy it would be to duplicate this look on a budget. 

A little quick research into prices on French settees showed me that 19th century pieces are running around $5,000-12,000 and, of course, 18th century pieces would be much more.  However, there are lots early 20th century versions around that have the right antique look but are available for under $2500.

In my recent posting on Chelsea and Sienna Antiques in Petaluma, I mentioned that I had seen a number of wonderful affordable settees.  Here are some that I photographed that day, below.  All were priced under $2500.

The price on this settee (above) was $1250!  The mirror was $850.

A quick browse through the 1stdibs.com settee selection turns up a number of similar pieces at reasonable prices.  It's a buyers market these days!

One last way to go on the settee is flea marketing.  I know that with a few months of searching at my favorite market, the Alameda Flea Market, I could come up with a suitable settee.  A lot of old French settees are in brown stained wood.  If I liked the lines of a piece, I would not hesitate to buy it and repaint it a white or pale French grey color, sanding the painted finish in places to let the brown wood show through for an aged and worn look. 

For the upholstery, I've pulled three fabrics from one of my favorite affordable fabric houses, Stout Bros., which would all give a pretty look on any of these settees at a price you can afford.  

This is Norge and it is $17 per yard.

Plimsol is $50 per yard.

Hayfever has beautiful embroidery and at $72 it is a bargain compared to similar fabrics from European companies at twice the price. 

As for the mirror, here are a few choices I found at various price points.

1stdibs.com had many beautiful trumeau style mirrors but most were above $5,000 and therefore too expensive.  For example, the one below was $6500.

A version I've been admiring at the Summer Hill showroom in San Francisco is not much less at $3600.  I love the old barn wood mixed with the rubbed antique gold moldings, however.  This mirror has the "rustic and aged but elegant" look down perfectly.

I also like this mirror from thebellacottage.com for $2200:

And this mirror from Big Daddy's for $1000, below.

The best price I found was also from thebellacottage.com at $338.

A good mirror could be a little more difficult to find at a flea market than the settee, but for those determined die-hard hunters, it might be possible.  If you love a challenge, here's a good one.  Happy hunting!

And if you really want to do it on a budget, check out the Susie Harris blog for instructions on how to make this do-it-yourself version.

For the final element, you'll need a chandelier. Here are two from 1stdibs.com.  Both are $1200.

The first one is from Olivier Fleyry, Inc.   It's French and from the 1900's.

And this is the Chateau Beaulieu chandelier from Aidan Gray.  The price is $1200.

A chandelier is definitely a flea market item.  I'd look for the most attractive shape and price I can find, keeping in mind that it needs to be large enough not to look like an earring hanging up above your large mirror and settee.  Don't worry about the finish.  Wrought iron, or a funky 60's guilded style can be easily fixed with a can of spray paint. 

Voila!  You've got the look at the price that's right for you. 

And finally, just for fun, this is a photo of my grand-daughter, Luna, in a dress my mother hand-knit and sewed for my daughter, Hallie, when she was Luna's age.  The chair is a directoire bergere with vintage Fortuny toss pillows (that I've had for so long they would be vintage even if I had bought them new) and next to it is a lyre-style French directoire side table.

Not every item in a room has to be rare, perfect or expensive, of course.  If you want to create a great room, however, it is important to get a few wonderful things just right and to portion out your budget to do just that.  In a living room, the fireplace is essential.  Get it right and it will add major impact to your room.  

Here are some photos of fabulous French fireplaces for inspiration.  Which one is your favorite?

This is a classic and simple French country fireplace and  I love the clean styling with the creamware plates.  The herringbone bricks create such a gorgeous pattern that you really don't want much to compete with them.  I also love this yummy yellow stone color which you see everywhere in Provence. 

Stunning, stunning, stunning!  The contrast of the edgy modern artwork in the perfectly traditional room is jaw-dropping.  One of the reason it works so well is that the artwork is so tall. 

Again, a beautiful piece of mordern art brings sophistication and elegance to this French style room designed by Charles Faudree.

The classic way to do up a French mantle--with a beautifully painted trumeau.

A huge simple traditional stone fireplace mantle is juxtaposed with stacked etchings, a modern sofa and pillows.  They have balanced the scale of the fireplace with an enormous oil painting over the sofa.

In this room by Charles Faudree, one of my favorite designers working with French style, he has used a beautiful traditional Louis XV fireplace and stone carved over-mantle.

In this actual French house, you can see a stone fireplace in its original setting.  Charming!

Charles Faudree contrasts clean modern elegance with a traditional French fireplace.

Another Charles Faudree room.  The mantle is new from Formations.  The scale on this fireplace is very large and would simply make any room fabulous.

This wood fireplace mantle is beautifully carved in wood.

Gorgeous!

A classic French fireplace mantle paired with a tall mirror.

Intriguing carved stonework.

The French are less enthusiastic about their antiques than we Americans are and love to add new modern elements to update their interiors.  Here, a stunning modern fireplace has been added in an old country chateau.

A beautifully styled antique mantle.

Richard Lowell Neas creates a gorgeous study in blue and white in this French house.  Repetition, repetition, repetition!

This new fireplace cleverly reveals portions of stone behind the plaster for a simple rustic look.

A wonderful old outdoor stone fireplace.  The perfect place to enjoy supper with friends. 

If you've figured out that a bergère is an armchair, you're right.  But perhaps you've wondered, as I have, exactly what characteristics create a bergère vs. a simple armchair.  By the way, the French word for armchair is fauteuil.  

A bergère, or "shepherdess chair" turns out to be an enclosed upholstered chair with an upholstered back, upholstered arm rests and a cushy upholstered seat.  The rest of the wood on the chair is exposed.  The wood can be carved, painted, guilded or waxed.  The bergère is essentially a lounge chair, designed for resting in comfort and it has a deeper wider seat than the fauteuil.

I've always loved French bergère chairs and own quite a few of them myself.  Here are examples of various bergère styles:

Above are Louis XV style bergère chairs with guilded frames...graceful and lovely.

Louis XVI Style bergère chairs--these are in need of a little fresh upholstery, but the lines are sooooo pretty!

Directoire Style bergère with painted details--personally, I prefer a less fussy fabric, but the chair is stunning.

French Marquis Painted and Guilded c 1890--again, not my choice in fabric but a gorgeous shape.  I actually have a pair similar to these chairs but mine are painted. I've had them for twenty years and I still utterly adore them.

These chairs are Louis XVI style bergère à oreilles, with ears.  The wings (or ears) were developed to protect the users face from intense heat which would come from the fireplace.  Don't they look pretty in the simple linen upholstery?  And I love the little tootsie roll toss pillows.

This last chair is an Empire Style Berger c 1815.  The fabric is authentic to the period, of course.

Below are some beautiful photos of bergère chairs used in interiors by Charles Faudree. 

This is a beautiful old carved antique bergère.  I always love Faudree's details.  Take a look at the way he's given the upholsterer a trim tape plus nail heads to use where the fabric meets the wood.  Fantastic--even the dog loves it!

This bergère is from the Charles Faudree line of furniture. Look--it has ears!

And these are also from his line.  I like their simple country lines.  The chairs look really comfortable, too.  Faudree's seat cushions always have a nice big crown, something I like to see on all chairs and sofas. Cushy and delicious!

 Have you seen the furniture from Patina yet?    I just love this company.  Their pieces are quintessentially pretty and would look fabulous in just about any French-inspired room I can think of.   The quality of the hand-painting is simply perfection and there are so many utterly lovely motifs to choose from. 

Not only that, but the "patina" of their solid color painted finishes is just FINE!

Here, one of their case pieces has been used as a vanity in a powder room.

These are some Patina pieces that I think would look great in French rooms.

This entire bedroom is filled with Patina furnishings and they've even painted the walls.  Sooooooo pretty!!

And, I've saved the best for last.  Wouldn't you just kill to have this 40's movies set piece of fluff in your bedroom? 

Yummy!