Decorating with Shabby Chic Furniture

Decorating with Shabby Chic Furniture

According to Wikipedia, Shabby Chic decor is where furniture and decorative items are either old and show signs of wear or are new items which have been painted and distressed to give them an antique appearance.

French Furniture Company  Offer various collections suitable for this style of decorating . The shape and style of French Furniture is so charming. The painted & distressed look makes it a perfect choice to get the Shabby chic / Cottage style feel that is so sought after these days.

White painted furniture

Shabby Chic means to mend and renew.  The style started in post war Great Britain, when resources were limited, so the old furniture was given a new lease of life by being painting and the sofas were given slip covers. Thus a whole new style of decorating began. Who would have thought it would get so popular that newly built furniture would be distressed to achieve the shabby chic lived in look. 

Console Table

Furniture is generally painted in white and purposely distressed around the corners and edges to give a used and worn shabby chic look.  White furniture is good for uplifting any room and making it look fresh and new.  That said people do use others colours to paint furniture so as to compliment their existing decor.

Shabby chic chest of drawers
Thrift shops , flea market and the local second hand furniture shops are the best place to get furniture for that DIY shabby chic project. I am sure all shabby chic enthusiasts will agree that nothing is more satisfying than turning an old and unwanted piece of furniture into a new and beautiful accent piece. 
For those who haven't give this a try, believe me its well worth the effort.

xx

French Furniture brings Timeless Elegance and Romance to your Bedrooms

Decorating with French furniture is indeed a pleasure.  If its timeless elegance and romantic feel you are after this just fits the bill perfectly.  The French Furniture Company brings you furniture grouped in various colour ways. We have various French Beds, and matching French Bedroom Furniture in each colour to choose from.

Firstly choose the colour that speaks to you.  For fresh and bright looking bedroom, white painted furniture is perfect. We have 2 collections in white"French Provencal Furniture" and "Chateau Royale".  However if you are looking for some warmth in your decor our "Ivory Bedroom range" or "polished Mahogany range" of furniture would be just right for you.

If your heart desires something more opulent, our Muted Silver leaf "Manoir" and Antique Gold "Palais Royale" ranges are a must.

Louvre Bed From Provencal Collection

French Furniture Looks good on its own or you can use bright embroidered cushions or velvet bedspreads if want to personalise it.

Bordeaux French Bed from Provencal Furniture Collection.  White bed teamed with blue plain and embroidered cushions looks fabulous, and the Toile de Jouy quilt finishes off the bedroom set.  Don't miss the table chandelier on the bedside.

Classic French Bed from Loire Ivory Furniture Collection with mink coloured silk quilt and cushions

Baroque Chest of Drawers in Muted Silver Leaf

Palais Royale Rococo Bed, You may either play this up by adding coloured bedding or keep it simple with white. We have various matching pieces to compliment this bed from our gold french furniture  Palais Royale collection.  Victoria and Albert Museum have a good collection of antique French furniture and are a good place to get inspiration.

Designing and Planning an Inviting Hallway

Hallways can be the most exciting as well as challenging rooms to decorate.  The entrance and hallways set the mood for the rest of the house.  Most importantly first impressions count so you want to get it just right.  The decor should be stylish and welcoming without being overpowering.  The shape of hallways can be awkward and one has to make the best use of the space available. We have perfect pieces from our French Furniture collections for the purpose.  Out hall room furniture collection offers you an array of commodes, console table's , Bureaus and seating.

Roses Deco Console and Mirror £2500

Some sort of console and mirror or perhaps a commode with a mirror above are ideal storage solution.  The mirror gives an illusion of space and proves useful for giving your appearance a final check before you leave home . A bureau is also a versatile piece that can be used in a hallway. 

Gilt Console Table with white marble top £985 from our gold French furniture Range.

Arlequin French Commode in Black and Ivory £1600

Belle Bureau £1450

If you have the space, a chair,(better still a French chairs ) or a bench in the hallway are also functional pieces of furniture. A cheerful and well decorated hallway makes walking into your home a pleasure. Put extra effort and creativity in decorating this area.

Flower Bench with Storage £600

Chippendale corner chair £400

Chippendale 2 seater bench £800

French Dressing tables

Every Girl needs a decent dressing table, somehow the top of a chest of drawers or a window sill are not quite the same.

Like all French Furniture there are various styles and periods to choose from. One thing to keep in mind is the functionality and the storage you need. The dressing tables given below are unmistakably feminine in design and ooze glamour.  Some come with a mirrored top to allow you to display your makeup. 

I can just imagine how lovely the reflection of perfumes, assortment of makeup and scented lotions would look mixed with glints of light from an overhead chandelier.

Once you have it you cannot imagine ever doing without it. Pictured above is a triple mirrored table  in the fabulous kidney shape and of course 3 secret drawers at the base of the table.

Large mirror is a must, Silver is the in colour of the season, Our Muted Silver range is finished in painstakingly hand applied silver leaf.

Another firm favorite is the triple mirrored dressing table in Ivory finish.

Ornately carved table with 3 secret drawers and a kidney shaped top.

French Furniture Fit for Royalty

French Furniture Fit for Royalty 

Our designers have excelled themselves with our new bedroom range fit for a King or should we say an Emperor.

The center piece of this collection is the bed which is specially crafted and meticulously hand carved and then finished in gold leaf with very slight distressing to give depth to the carving.

This bed like all our French style beds is made entirely from mahogany and takes over Four weeks to carve and further 10 days to apply gold leaf. Only then it is ready to be upholstered in the most sumptuous 

of velvet.  The finished article is a work of art that will give you joy and pleasure for years to come.

The Empress Bed

The chaise longue built to compliment this bed has elegant curves and is again hand carved and finished in gold leaf.

Josephine Chaise Longue

This beautiful bedside table is a good companion for the Empress bed 

Bergere Nightstand

New Classical French Fabric Range

Over the years we have been sourcing unique and distinctive french style furniture, and this year we have been looking into Fabric, that gives a distinctive classy look to your furniture.

There are literally thousands of different fabrics available so we set Jo to the task as she has a 1st Class Degree in Art , and her oil paintings are fantastic.

The key is to locate fabric that naturally blends into the French feel, andshe has done just that with quality of eye, not only that but she also gave us a list of upholsters in the UK that would work to our high level of detail.

Ralph, never to be outdone, also put a local upholster in contact with us.
He came down, and collected a chair and said” I’ll impress you with what I can do”

Three months later, this guy has still not returned with the chair, and Ralph has “Misplaced “his Number.

I think we should check on EBay to see if our chair turns up there.


Simple and Logical

Anyway we have given Ralph the task of lobbying Local government (Hopefully he will keep a note of phone numbers this time!)

I must admit I was impressed by his idea, sometimes in life the simplest ideas are the best (No offence Ralph)

Okay here’s the deal

Our couriers collect from us on a daily basis and our furniture has a layer of corrugated cardboard and a cardboard box.

We coerce them into returning the cardboard and packing material when they collect their daily deliveries and the local council collect the cardboard once a week and recycle it .

Its not rocket science (I actually have a friend who is a Rocket scientist ) but like Airbus 380 vs. Boeing 777. Ones going for Point to point and ones going for sheer volume.

Local Government can help us but are literally charging the earth for collection.

Anyway watch this space for further developments.

Journeys

One of our Buyers returned after 3 weeks abroad and what a magnificent haul she brought back , majestic Obj’ art and some quite amazing Design Classics , made by highly skilled artisans and sooo detailed.












Due for release October 2008


Ralph after being grounded after his last buying exploits (Fantastic finds, and quite amazing expenses!) Had to dig deep and rekindle old contacts to redeem himself to the Boss.



Happy to say he has more than redeemed himself with cementing openings exporting to France, USA and Canada, this time his expenses were more reasonable and his waistline was the same as when he left!


This autumn we have released over 120 + new hand picked products mainly French Beds, French wardrobes or armoires, and glamorous seating.



The Press Office and marketing department are gearing up for the exciting Winter Release of hand crafted Designer Classics made with passion and pride by 5th Generation artisans at realistic prices.