Le Style Français

Invaluable for anyone in Adelaide, or Australia, wanting to decorate in the French style. There are so many faux French products out there, even in reproduction antiques, but true French items are so rare, and ridiculously priced. This is how I managed to source our items - many of them shipped to us directly from France. The price? No more than what you would pay for a similar mass-produced product made in China, which you would purchase at a local store. But the quality and the beauty? Nothing like what you've seen in any shops here in Australia.

Louis XV brass sconces

This was my first lucky find on eBay. I managed to purchase 6 pairs of brass wall sconces from France. Our wall sconces are from the early 20th century, mainly collected around the city of Lille in the region of Nord-Pas Calais. These sconces were collected from homes and apartments that were being renovated or demolished. They are good and solid brass reproductions of the Louis XV style. True french antique lighting are virtually impossible to find and exorbitantly prized. The reason for that is when they were decomissioned, most of them were sold to metal foundries for recycling.

The wiring system in France does not come with an earth wire so all the lights had to be rewired and checked by a qualified electrician. We used an electrician who's an expert in antique lighting from Mitcham Antique Gallery in Kingswood, SA.

Louis XV brass door handles

We got 5 pairs of these French brass door handles for the 5 sets of French doors we are having in the renovated section of our house, again from French eBay. These fine early 20th century brass door handles came from a mas (farmhouse) in Provence.

The door handles are excellent quality cast brass, with a maker's stamp. They have a wonderful aged patina which is so unlike ready-made antique brass finish that is readily available these days. The only hiccup we had with these handles was the process of finding mortise locks that would fit. The handles had 70cm centres which are not available at all in Australia unless they were custom-made at about $300 each by the only locksmith in Australia that does customized locksmithing - Jacksons Lock Manufacturing.

We ended up purchasing locks from France, which did require lots of research and we were lucky to find an online French merchant - Marchal Bodin, who was happy to ship to Australia. This process was a lot trickier and did involve a certain level of communication in French. I had to research the technical terms of locksmithing to ensure I was getting the correct lock. The people at Marchal Bodin were most helpful and I became their first ever customer from Australia.

Louis XV brass chandeliers

Subsequent to purchasing our walls sconces, I was looking at a pair of brass lanterns the same seller had on eBay. This was still very early on in our planning stage and I hesitated over the dimensions of the lanterns. My hesitation was going to cost us dearly. One of the lanterns was bought by someone else.

The seller felt sorry for me and offered me a pair of chandeliers instead. We went back and forth via emails re. dimensions and style before finally decidng on a beautiful pair of Louis XV chandeliers that matched the scrollwork of two pairs of sconces I had purchased earlier from him. The chandeliers were perfect for the new extension family room.

They were shipped over from Belgium (cheaper postage than France) as the chandeliers weighed over 10kg each. The photo doesn't do them justice. I am hoping to take a better photo once they have been hung.

Similar to the sconces, we had them rewired and checked by a qualified electrician. The total cost? Less than a third of the price of a similar one you'd find at an antique store here in OZ.

Louis XV brass lanterns

I had my heart set on having brass lanterns hanging over our kitchen island bench very early on in our planning process. Having missed out on the pair of lanterns from the seller we bought our sconces from, I scoured the entire French eBay site for weeks, trying to find a matching pair of lanterns that had the right dimensions. It was a fruitless search.

We found a pair of lanterns in the right style and dimension at MItcham Antique Gallery but the prices made me balk. I had given up hope when my wonderful husband showed me a photo of a lantern he found on eBay. The seller had a matching pair. Unfortunately, they were too small. Undaunted, hubby emailed the seller to enquire if they had another one for sale. They emailed us back with disappointing news.

But a week later, we received an email from the seller - he had located a a third identical lantern. The only difference was the etching on the glass of one of the lanterns. And would we still be interested in purchasing them? Hubby wasted no time in finalising the transaction. We received these beautiful lanterns less than 2 weeks later. Here's a photo of them without their etched glass panels.

19th Century French Walnut Parquetry Top Dining Table

On a whim late one Sunday afternoon, before we even put our plans for the reno to paper, hubby and I wandered down to the antique shops on Magill Road. We weren't planning on purchasing anything when we walked through the doors of Davenport Interiors. But that is how we met Gary.

Hubby fell in love with this beautiful walnut dining table. The wonderful warm patina of the beautiful parquetry top shone through even in its unrestored state. We put down a non-obligatory deposit with a promise from Gary to contact us after he had completed the cleaning and restoration work.

A few weeks later we were back and when we saw the restored piece, we knew it was the one. It seats 6 very comfortably but when extended with its full 4 leaves (which Gary custom-made and stained to match), it seats 16 people - perfect for our family Christmas gatherings!

This beautiful piece of furniture was the catalyst for our journey into decorating our home in the French style. And Gary became a friend and ally in our quest.

19th Century French Commode in Walnut

Our beautiful dining table wasn't the only thing that caught our eye during our very first visit to Gary's shop. I fell in love with a beautiful French commode with beautiful floral marquetry and ormolu mounts. She had a speckled beige marble top, which is rather unusual (they are usually reddish-brown or dark green) and she bore the stamp of her ébéniste - R Bacchin.

After seeing all the exquisite commodes in beautiful châteaux in France, I had dreamed of having a real French commode in our bedroom. I never imagined that it would be so easy to turn my dream into reality. She will be a wonderful piece in our bedroom.

Louis XVI Bed from The Ritz Paris

Finding a bed to fit our king-sized mattress was always going to be an almost impossible task. French bed sizes do not correspond to Australian sizes. This is why most antique French beds you find will only fit a double or a queen. If you are lucky, sometimes a sleigh bed or a bed with curved ends can be modified and extended to fit a king bed, but they are rare and hard to find.

Imagine our delight when we found this bed at Town & Country Antiques. Before I go any further, let me first say that I do not endorse this business. The owner has no love or passion for antiques and views them purely as a profit-making means. He totally wrecked the restoration of this bed by painting over the gold-leaf finials with gold coloured paint. We had to comission Gary to strip the paint off and regild everything by hand.

However, even that negative experience cannot take away from the charm and delight of this bed. This bed used to live in a room at The Ritz Paris. The complete refurbishment of the hotel (it is currently still closed for refurbishment) meant that all its furniture was removed and sold. And this is how we came to acquire a tiny piece of one of the most historical hotels in Paris.

Early 20th Century French Bergère Armchairs

I found a pair of these bergere armchairs sitting in Gary's showroom when I stopped by one day. My aunt was visiting from Brisbane and I had told her about Gary's shop and the good collection of antiques pieces he has and she was keen to check out some pieces for her house. While she was busy admiring a chest of drawers and a writing desk that he had, I was captivated by the bergeres. They had beautiful curves and lines that were very well proportioned and the fabric was so delightful. Gary told me that he had just put them out that morning. I wasted no time in putting them on hold.

I got hubby to stop by during his lunch break and it was also love at first sight. We were lucky we got in early because one of Gary's regulars came by later in the week and was dismayed to see the 'sold' signs on them.

While this is most definitely a French reproduction, it is a very good quality reproduction. The chairs are unbelievably comfy and I can't wait to curl up in one of them, on a cold rainy day, with a good book.

19th Century Louis XV Tables de Chevet

While we were looking at the beautiful pink bergeres, I came across a pair of walnut bedside tables that I thought would go well in our bedroom. A week later, hubby stopped by at Gary's shop and found this pair with floral marquetry and ormolu mounts and beige marble top which marries well with our commode. A swapover was arranged and we decided to go with this pair of beautiful tables de chevet instead.

Brionne Escutcheons and Cabinetry Hardware

I fell in love with these beautiful escutcheons when I saw a photo of the most beautiful kitchen on Houzz. I looked everywhere and searched every website I could find for those escutcheons with no luck. I even wrote to a french online merchant. I managed to discover the brand of hardware was told that line was discontinued and no longer made.

Unwilling to give up, I emailed every single online merchant I could find. Imagine my surprise when I found a company in Australia that could source them for me. Mother of Pearl & Sons Trading ordered the escutcheons and door knobs that I wanted. They had to be shipped from France but we received the order in under 4 weeks. An Australian company did what a French company could not, who would have thought.

Brionne is a French quincaillerie company founded in 1955. They still produce their hardware the traditional way, based on the knowledge and skill of their French artisans, near Tours in the Loire Valley.

Early 20th Century French Oak Cabinet

I despaired over ever finding vanities for the bathrooms. Everything I saw online were either crappy looking French reproductions with exorbitant prices, or plain and modern looking. I brielfy entertained the crazy idea of butchering up a French commode and converting it into a vanity, but the price stopped me. That and the fact that I could not bring myself to do that to a beautiful piece of antique furniture.

When I told Gary about my dilemma, he suggested we consider some French cabinets instead. He said lots of them could be easily converted into vanities, and they are some good quality 20th century cabinets that would do the trick. He had a French oak one in store which suited us perfectly with its dimensions. Perfect!! Now he just had to find us another one for the other bathroom...

Louis XV French Oak Dining Chairs

We never thought we would be able to find dining chairs to go with our dining table. We were told by our upholsterer about a brand called Montique that did reproduction French chairs, but when we enquired about the prices, they were ridiculously expensive. We could not justify the cost.

Again, we asked Gary to search for the chairs for us and he found us a set of 6 dining chairs in French oak, with the beautiful and graceful curves that characterizes the Louis XV style. He restored and stained the chairs to match the dining table, and they are now waiting to be reupholstered.

Scalamandré Louis XV Silk Lampas Fabric

I searched everywhere for upholstery fabric for our bed. While I found some beautiful French Lelievre fabric, the price was too expensive for our budget. I turned back to trusty old eBay where I found this gorgeous Scalamandré fabric. This beautiful fabric is a reproduction of an old French pattern circa 1730. It is heavily influenced by the chinoiserie design. The peony and cloud form an idealized portrait of a garden in heaven.

Coincidentally, Scalamandré is the company that was commissioned to provide fabrics for the current renovation of The Ritz Paris. Here is a photo of our newly reupholstered bed in this wonderful fabric, and our little girl Chloe seems to approve.

19th Century French Walnut Cabinet

After the success with the first cabinet conversion into a bathroom vanity, Gary saw this gorgeous walnut cabinet on one of his buying trips and thought about us. The Empire style matches very well with our bed and the warm patina on this piece is just gorgeous.

We are having matching granite tops cut for all the vanities to provide a uniform element to tie in all the bathrooms.

Louis XV Hand-Carved Carrara Marble Mantelpiece

I had seen pictures of beautiful French marble mantelpieces during my initial research. They were beautiful but the logistics of having to transport them over from France, and hope that all the pieces arrive intact was just too complicated and the cost would be astronomical. I wrote it off as an impractical idea and decided to try and find a plaster replica that could sit over the face of our gas heater to create the look. We tried two local businesses but the look just wasn't right.

While I was away for the weekend, hubby came across a posting on Facebook from an old friend of his in Melbourne. She is renovating her house and trying to sell various items that she no longer had use for. Believe it or not, this mantelpiece was one of them. They are renovating their house in the Victorian style and this French style piece just didn't suit. Hubby got in touch with her right away and a deal was made. Now we just need to transport it over from Melbourne (most probably in our own car).

We are super excited and can't wait to place it in our home. Coincidentally, the dimensions were a perfect match to the opening we had built for our gas heater.

French Oak Double Bed circa 1910

Another gorgoues find at Davenport Interiors. Gary had this double bed out at clearance price and I just couldn't resist it. It is a wonderful piece with beautiful carvings and warm patina to the french oak. The smaller double bed size fits perfectly into the study. We were not going to put a bed in there initially but logic has prevailed as we will need two guest rooms to accomodate visiting family members and guests on occasions.

I think it looks lovely in this photo with the toile de jouy bedlinen. However, I'm planning on dressing it up with a little more colour.

To think, this bed is almost the same age as our house!!!

Early 20th Century French Canapé & Bergères

We have been looking for a suitable sofa and a pair of armchairs that would fit our new extension area. Because the style of that little area of the house is so French, only a proper French sofa and bergere chairs would do.

Again, we looked no further than Gary at Davenport Interiors. We found a lounge setting with a lovely sofa and pair of bergère armchairs in our favourite Louis XV style. The sofa has wonderful curves and lovely proportions. The cushions are a feather-filled and so comfy. The sizes are very petite and suit us to a tee.

We're still undecided if we will reupholster it in the same fabric as the curtains. We'll have to wait and see.

Hand-painted Terracotta Tiles

We fell in love with these beautiful tiles when we first saw them featured as a splashback in a kitchen on Houzz. I managed to track down the supplier of these tiles - Cabochon Surfaces & Fixtures in the US. I was a little apprehensive about ordering a whole heap of tiles form halfway around the world. But the beauty of these tiles just could not be matched by any other tile we saw. My contact at Cabochon, Jill Gonzalez was very helpful and lovely to deal with. In the end, our love for the tile prompted us to place the order.

When the tiles arrived, we were not disappointed. Every single tile was wrapped carefully in bubblewrap and packed with foam cushions. Every tile arrived intact. There was not a single breakage. We can't wait to see the finished splashback in our new kitchen.

Early 20th Century French Trumeau Mirror

We have been searching everywhere for a trumeau mirror to sit above our commode. They are not easy to come by, those French trumeau mirrors. When Gary first showed us this mirror, we were both rather put off by the horrible green paint that covered the frame. It was dull and lifeless, although the proportions were just perfect for us.

Undeterred Gary told us that he would restore it. He stripped the horrible green paint, repainted it a lovely cream colour, and hand-gilded the frame with gold-leaf. The result was a thing of great beauty - the perfect mirror to place above our commode, in the master bedroom.