A Paris Retreat in Vancouver

I recently completed a redecoration of a condo in Kitsilano.

The ocean view suite is in a thirty-seven year old building...not a huge space, and a typical layout. I really wanted to focus on the view and lifestyle of the owner. She had previously viewed her suite as a hotel room/office as she spent most of her time travelling for business and had homes in Los Angeles and Las Vegas. She is now retiring and was asking herself where she wanted to spend her time.

She happened to walk in to my shop after a three month absence to Vancouver and tells us she fell in love with the look and feel of our space. Within the week I was repainting all of her furniture to help transform her 'hotel' looking space into a soft, inviting oasis. 

One whole wall of the suite was completely mirrored. I suggested we remove it and happily she agreed to that. I wanted to incorporate as much as I could of her existing interior, which is one of the things I specialize in when decorating. I love to coax an existing look into a light and airy retreat with echoes of a Parisian or French Country home, or a romantic all white interior, or a Belgian inspired mix of greys and creams and antiques mixed with ultra modern.

I realized that my diminutive client would appreciate understated elegance more than anything else but she had a need of more storage for her collection of binders and office materials. I painted all of her oversize dark wood pieces to help them 'disappear' into the room a bit as they really chopped up the room as they were. 

You can especially see how that helped in the bedroom as she had a big nine drawer dresser with mirror, an armoire, 2 large bedside tables and a desk in thaty one room. You wouldn't have thought it was a lot by the time we were done...

I showed my client two looks for her room, to show her how easy it is to have a fresh new look when you tire of the old one by decorating this way...

She chose the floral canvas room to start and plans to switch over to the other look in the dark days of  autumn and winter. The green and blue look was inspired by two framed photos she already had, so by painting her furniture and adding luxurious (and washable!) Brunelli bedding in cream we created a fresh palette for the colours to pop.

She got to keep her lovely settee and Queen Anne chair, and her glass topped marble table. I added the antique refurbished toile covered chairs and a sideboard and mirror to the formerly all-mirrored wall. I used her silver collection for display and added a few floral and decorative elements to complete the Parisian feel...a glass cloche, a weathered birdcage, an elegant chandelier and lovely tapestry cushions made in France. I think the end result reflects my client perfectly...elegant, classic and unpretentious, with a nod to Europe. She showed me her collection of watercolours done by a friend throughout his travels of France many decades ago. They were utterly charming. He drove her around in his little convertible along steep curvy roads to take in breathtaking views of countryside and sea, and it seemed appropriate to incorporate that good memory into her home.

My favourite thing in this suite is something I cannot take credit for...she already had these heavy louvered shutters that swing open...how French is that? It gave the room a certain charm and it all worked together beautifully.

The best part of this project? My client tells me she has had her home redecorated three times in the past, and this was the first time she not only liked it...she loves it! Since the project ended she has decided to make this home her permanent home, where she will spend most of her time. She has fallen in love with a space that she formerly thought of as her office. Now she wants to throw open her shutters and drink in the view she previously had not time to admire in her fast-paced and hard working life, and enjoy her space that perfectly reflects her. 

Unfortunately I recently lost my cell phone that had all of the 'Before' pictures of the suite and I had not yet uploaded them to my laptop, would have loved to show you those.

She was also amazed at the price...I did not ask her to rid her home of everything and start anew, painting ALL of her furniture cost her about as much as replacing just ONE of the pieces she owned. A few additions and Voile! A new home...

I love helping clients re-invent their spaces. Please come in for a complimentary consultation on how you can have the space you dream about! My first love is vintage and light Gustavian and Belgian colours, but my visions are not limited by them...rather they are inspired by you and how you live your life!


Cheers
Veerle

Toile

I love toile!

Always have.

I know that I always will. It's such a classic.

I have sold so much of it over the years in my shops...

I have always regarded it as the ultimate enduring classic; after all...if the French have been okay decorating with it for nearly three hundred years, we should feel confident it won't become outdated in our own homes for a few decades yet...perhaps even into the next century!

Nearly every room in my home features toile...with only one exception. My son has banned it from his bedroom. But I did notice that he does pull the red and white toile quilt out of the cupboard quite frequently to wrap himself up in. 

Perhaps it is because our home is a little drafty, or maybe because it is irresistibly and comfortably soft (as it has been washed countless times).  And perhaps, just maybe, it reminds him of me... 

Mom and Toile intertwined forever-more in his mind...

I think it is a combination of all, as there are four or five quilts and throws in that cupboard to choose from...but it is always the toile he pulls out.

I really got to indulge my love for toile at a museum in Jouy-en-Josas, near Versailles, France  The museum is located in an 18th century chateau near the original site of the factory. The term toile de jouy comes from the place it was made - Jouy-en-Josas. It is now commonly used to loosely describe a style of toile but originally meant that the toile came from that French factory.

Christophe-Philippe Oberkampf, an engraver and colourist from Germany, established the factory for printed cottons in Jouy-en-Josas in 1760 and eventually employed up to fourteen hundred people in the area. Due to the very high quality of the cotton and its printing, the factory and area become famous for its toile. It began with block printing and soon after adapted copper plates and then copper rollers. I loved seeing all of the exhibits of old blocks, fabric swatches and rollers; I was quite captivated...I spent the whole day in that place...longer than I spent in the Versailles palace!

The painting below is from the museum's website and depicts the factory in 1807.

It was fascinating to me to see how the process worked. The rollers were gigantic! Some of them were 6 or 8 feet long and up to 3 feet in diameter! The larger the roller, the more distance there was between pattern repeats. Each roller was intricately carved with landscapes, people, and animals. Much of it, I learned, was influenced by the Indian cottons prints that had been imported previously, but the beautiful toiles soon replaced the Indian ones and France began exporting the fabrics around the world. The monochromatic toiles began at this factory and reigned as a luxury fabric for over a hundred and fifty years.

The factory closed down in the mid 1800s. It is pretty amazing to think that they are still influencing major design houses with their toiles over a hundred years after they closed down!

If you are travelling to Paris in the future, I have no doubt you will include the Palace du Versailles in your itinerary...be sure to make time to see this museum that is only ten minutes away from the palace...it is a definite Must See if you love toile...

Au revoir!
Veerle