Another Beautiful French Bistro Table!

Just added to My Faux French Chateau Store................................another beautiful little French Bistro Table!

 

 

 

 

 

 

This wonderful table was purchased recently at auction and is the PERFECT size as a bedside table or chair side table. Or, if you are more traditional, you can also actually use it as a bistro table - go figure!

I had this little flower arrangement on another table in my house and put it on this bistro table just to add a little decoration. Imagine though, what YOU could do with this table.  Take a look at  the great inspiration photo below!

I love this table AND the white confit jar with garden roses! I'm going to copy this idea. By the way, this table looks very similar to mine. My little flower arrangement; however,  looks a little sad in comparison. :(

 

 

 

Have a great day.

 

 

Au revoir, Mitty

 

Unusual Vintage Garden Urn Added to My Faux French Chateau Store!

I just added this beautiful vintage garden urn to My Faux French Chateau Store.  If you love the look of chippy paint on concrete garden urns (a look that some designers refer to as "crusted,") then you'll love this very unique urn!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I had to win this urn at the auction last week! It's a perfect size, large enough to make an impact placed on the floor yet small enough to grace the top of a table.  I also love the three dimensional look created by the four protruding winged cherubs and lion paw feet.

 

 

 

 

For now, I've gone the traditional route and placed a large fern in the urn. In a few days though it could very well be somewhere else in my house used for who knows what!

 

Take a look at some of the creative ways designers are bringing the outdoors inside and using garden urns!

 

 

 

 

Vintage garden urns look beautiful filled to overflowing with ivy as in the room below created by designer Carolyn Westbrook and featured in "The French Inspired Room." These greenery filled French urns add  texture and a punch of color to this living room corner sitting area.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For an unexpected yet symmetrical look, stack vintage books on top of a pair of concrete garden urns.

 

 

Or, as shown in an older issue of Veranda Magazine, fill a vintage garden urn to overflowing with sea shells.

 

Woman's Day Magazine found a clever way to turn a large garden urn into "stylish storage." They lined the urn with a remnant piece of linen and filled it with magazines and books.

In this great snapshot, designer Amy Howard uses a garden urn to hold concrete garden balls.

 

(Photo courtesy of Cotedetexasblogspot.com)

However you decide to use them, garden urns add a great touch of the unexpected to a room.

 

If you have any creative ways you've used garden urns in your home decor, send me a picture! 

 

 

Take care,

 

Au revoir, Mitty

Bringing the Outdoors Inside for an Unexpected Addition to a Room!

This Saturday, MH and I had a great day at an antique auction. I didn't end up winning any of the beautiful shabby shutters that I wanted (bidding got way out of my price range) but I did win a few wonderful items!

I just posted the first of my "wins" to My Faux French Chateau Store!

Vintage Concrete Garden Statue of Young Girl with Bird

This is a charming concrete garden statue of a young girl gently holding a bird. Great detail on the draping of the ruffled dress on the maiden. Purchased at auction, this beautiful statue has signs of wear typical of outdoor use and age.

Garden statue measures approximately 29” High X 12” Wide



In trying to decide where to place this beautiful statue, I was torn between placing it outside as is typical, or using it somewhere inside my home. I've seen many lovely rooms that "bring the outdoors in" with the use of outdoor garden statuary, urns, etc. in interior design.

Take a look at the creative ways the designers below used garden statuary to add texture and an unexpected element to a room!

 

 

 

 

Of of my favorite designers, Shannon Bowers, used this wonderful 19th century French garden statue in the dining area of her home.

 

 



 (2 Photos above courtesy of Veranda Magazine)

 

 

 

 

Designer Brook Giannetti, author of "Patina Style,"  used two concrete flower baskets in her home office.

 

 

 

 

The use of two garden statuary lamps on the table below adds to the beautiful symmetry of this entry hall.

 

 

For now, I've put my beautiful lady in my garden. As soon as I find the perfect spot for her, I'll bring her inside!

 

Take care,

 

 

Au revoir, Mitty

Antique French Doors and Shutters - Adding Warmth and Texture to a New Home

This  Saturday, MDD, MH and I are headed to one of my favorite auctions! I always preview the on-line auction catalogue and have zeroed in on some wonderful, old, chippy French doors, windows and shutters that will be on the auction block!

I love the look of reclaimed architectural details in interiors, especially when they are incorporated into a newly built home. Antique doors and shutters can immediately add warmth and texture to a home that has little or no architectural detail.

Take a look at these beautiful rooms that embrace architecture from the past in unexpected ways and places!

There's so much to love in this room! For this post though I'm sharing this photo so you can see the old French shutters on either side of the door opening (on the left) into this room. These wonderful French paneled shutters add visual interest and texture even though they appear to be too small to be functional.

If you're looking for ways to reclaim, reuse and repurpose architectural elements in your home design, no one does it better than Brooke Giannetti, as evidenced in her design book "Patina Style." This book was on my Christmas list last year! In the photo below, Ms. Giannetti has redesigned antique Swedish doors to create a closet in her new (8 years old at the time of publication) Santa Monica beach home. Imperfectly beautiful!

In this photo, Ms. Giannetti uses antique French pine doors as a backdrop for art work. In "Patina Style" she shares her preference for antique doors in place of standard interior and exterior doors. She also likes to simply hang them on a blank wall to "celebrate the beauty of the doors."

One look that has me longing to imitate is actress Sela Ward's use of reclaimed doors to hide a "sleek" bar in her Southern California home! I absolutely love the raised French detailing and distressed look of these folding doors. I'd love to rip out the new folding doors in my pantry and add these! Oh to dream.................

(Photo courtesy of "Traditional Home" September, 2012)

In Sela Ward's dining room, gold accents add elegance to the room while reclaimed, whitewashed doors add "rustic charm."  These doors fit the space perfectly and didn't even have to be trimmed!

(Photo courtesy of "Traditional Home" September, 2012)

Of all the the rooms I've shared today, this one is my favorite.  I love everything about this room, especially the green shutters used instead of fabric window treatments on the interior windows!

Au revoir, Mitty

Vintage French Bistro Champagne Buckets Aren't Just For Champagne!

Browsing though the August 2012 issue of Veranda Magazine, I was excited to see vintage French bistro champagne buckets used as design elements in beautiful tablescapes. Having recently purchased several of these at a French Brocante market in L'Isle sur la Sorgue France, it was exciting to see designers incorporating them into both home and garden decor.

These vintage champagne buckets date back to about the 1940's through the 1960's and have been used in bistros and cafes throughout France for years. When found, these functional yet charming buckets bear the signs of years of use as evidenced by their scratches and imperfections which, for me, only add to their charm! Many of them are decorated with the name and logo of a vineyard and it's respective champagne(s) and were used as advertisement.

The wonderful photo below shows a vintage French champagne bucket used as a cachepot for an orchid! This photo is actually an advertisement for On the Veranda, a design-forward Phoenix, Arizona shop where owners Sharon Saffert and Diane Egizii offer a large collection of garden accessories and home furnishing "with their unique indoor/outdoor settings." 

(Photo courtesy of Ontheveranda.net)

Loving this photo, I immediately searched their website and totally fell for their design aesthetic.  I also found the photo below showing another way in which they used a French champagne bucket in a tablescape.

(Photo courtesy of Ontheveranda.net)

Inspired by the photos above, I took one of my own French champagne buckets and copied their idea. (Don't worry, I'm sure they won't mind!)

In the same issue of Veranda, I was intrigued by the textures and colors in this amazing photo of designer Kathryn M. Ireland's French countryside retreat.

On this quintessential country French table, Ireland uses a vintage French champagne bucket to hold "afternoon aperitifs."

If you're inspired by these charming vintage French bistro champagne buckets, you can see some currently available in my on-line store, My Faux French Chateau, by clicking on the "Shop" button above! 

Thanks for spending a few minutes of your day with me!

Au revoir, Mitty