The contents of my chair room...

One of our readers is working toward creating a chair room in her home. At Glamour Living we think that is a mighty fine use of space and so we provide some chair inspiration below.

In the French furniture world, all these styles are easy to replicate. The only tricky bit, in some cases is the sourcing of the fabric. 

Our philosophy is that where there is a will, there is a way.....

A statement chair.

Modern floral & traditional shape = Lovely

A pin dot silk - timeless.

A tapestry pattern is forever a classic.

Lovin' the summery butterfly outer wings against the black velvet.

Beyond words. Very cool.

One word: Stunning

This burnt orange colour adds a dimension of richness.

Do you dare?

A silk satin brocade will always work for a French chair. Another way to achieve this look is with a crushed velvet.

We actually have this chair in stock at Glamour Living at the moment.

These are from a Christie's auction...

This is one way to masculine-ise a soft pink - with broad stripes. 

A modern graphic on traditional chairs. It definitely works.

Another modern floral, just lovely.

The warmth of the buttery background captured our hearts.

Very funky

A relaxed choice of upholstery

Your favourite movie star in your home!

Five things you should know about French furniture making

Five things you should know about French style furniture.


1. Country of origin: Indonesia

Most of the best affordable French style furniture is made in Indonesia. Specifically, on the island of Java, in central Java.

The furniture trade in Indonesia is broken down to French style furniture, classic furniture and the domestic Indonesian style furniture.

About 80% of Indonesian people are involved in the furniture trade covering these three styles.

If you were to buy French style furniture made in France or Italy or even made in Australia it would cost many multiples more than the Indonesian sourced pieces do. 

Indonesians has the experience and the manpower to undertake the intricate work required for French style furniture.

2. Timber: Mahogany

The wood used for most French style furniture is mahogany. Mahogany describes various kinds of tropical hardwood, 

most of which are a reddish brown colour. 

It is widely used in furniture making and boat building. 

Mahogany's colour darkens over time and displays a reddish 

sheen when polished. It is also very durable.

It has excellent workability and is hence terrific for the

intricate carving required for French style furniture. 

The tree's large girth makes wide boards and this makes it 

suitable for crafting cabinets and furniture.

3. A labour intensive trade. 

The carving work which is the distinguishing hallmark of French style furniture is the labour intensive component.

We adore this floral motif on the skirt of an armoire. 

4.  Colours & finishes

The basic colours for French style furniture are usually white, cream, black, silver, gold and polished wood. Of course there are many variations of each of these colours. 

There are also many finishes for each colour - matt, semi gloss, glossy, antique, distressed etc.

The brown swirls on this cabinet are a laquer which creates the antique look on the silver paint. It is painted on (as in the photo), then wiped off to give the appropriate look to the silver paint.

The gold and silver furniture has a special "leaf" process applied to it. The process is called gilding and it creates lines and shadows on the furniture surface. The process of gilding adds extra time to the furniture making. Gilded pieces are more expensive than straight painted surfaces such as black/white/cream.

Methods of gilding include hand application/gluing, chemical gilding and electroplating.

In Indonesia, furniture makers use the traditional hand gilding. Firstly the furniture is painted in silver or gold. 
Then very very fine foils of silver (or gold) are applied over the wood to create the gilded look.  
Finally, a clear top coat is applied and this seals the look.

Applying the fine foil to a chair by hand.

This may look like aluminium foil, but it is one tenth the thickness of even the cheapest  kitchen foils.

5. Every piece is unique.

Antique white armoir before the apex carving has been added.

The consequence of this is threefold:

a) Manufacturers do not carry stock. Every piece is made to order, starting from scratch. This helps to explain the long lead time required to make the items. 

In addition to time in production (which includes upholstering), there is time on the boat travelling Australia and the time in customs getting clearance. In total, 4 months isnt an unusual lead time from order to delivery to the customer.

b) As the whole process is so labour intensive, it is impossible to match exactly, sample items to any finished product. For example, colours may be similar, but will never be identical. The same applies to the actual items made. 

Further, even if the same colour pot is used on the sample as is used on the finished product, the different wood used on the two items can create variations in the final finish.

c) Finally, wood is a natural substance - it breathes as well as expanding and contracting with changes in the temperature. There can be no guarantee that there wont be natural cracks forming in the timber after the furniture is made - after all, each piece travels via sea to Australia and spends time in varying environments before it reaches your home. 

These cracks can be fixed simply with filler and paint.

Those who invest in French style furniture know that they own something unique and very special.

Unexpected things on your walls

Background

A couple of months ago, we helped a client decorate an empty wall in her bathroom. We worked together with her to select a combination of prints & a mirror with an unusual frame.

Today she popped in to say thank you and that she loved what our pieces did to her space. 

Project: Lounge room

Her next task was the lounge room. She showed us a sample of feature wall wallpaper and told her she was looking for ideas for the lounge room which had this paper. 

The wallpaper was white with irregular vertical silver stripes (a perfect neutral paper with a touch of interest).
She had a chaise in paprika, grey tiles and two chairs in grey.

There was also a red chair in the house which could end up living in the lounge instead of the two grey chairs (darned size limitations!)

There was also a black/grey arched floor lamp in the mix.

Usual things in unusual places

By now, you've probably figured out that this lady loves unusual pieces. She is the sort of client who would take our French style furniture and use it in unexpected ways. She is very open to new ideas. Lovin' this lady!

We talked about coffee table and side table possibilities and she is off checking measurements.

We drooled over the chaise in such a stand out colour.

We talked about the feature wall (behind the chaise). A mirror was not do-able as the wall faces the kitchen & the view wouldnt be ideal.

The traditional idea was a print or an oil.

Given her openess to interesting ideas, we suggested "unexpected things on walls".

Here are some ideas for inspiration:

Use the accent colour on the couch for many medium size, varying textures of empty frames. Yes, empty frames. The oval frames add a distinct softness to the rectangular frames.

A single large very traditional frame, empty. Wow! And you've saved money on the print/oil too!

Many same colour frames in various textures.

Very graphic, sleek frames in primary colours.

Lots of colours, lots of frames & many overlapping.

Very bold frames in a single colour.

Metallic frames picking up the rectangle shape of the fire place.

Another breathtaking wall.

This one is a little bit bland in our opinion.  But it's an option.

Or you can add photos and leave some of the frames blank.

Light fitting plaques.

More light fitting plaques.

More light fitting plaques.

Notice how the wall fittings pick up the colour of the throw/cushions.

Pick a colour & mix it with white, then find it in many different prints.  Crazy energy here, but in a good way.

Various plate ideas

Plates with mirrors - these may take some work, but the end result is lovely.

White plates mixed with white/black toille style plates. Get the idea?

Toille plates in a Wedgewood type blue/white colour. A wonderful complement to the lavender   upholstery.

The plates look like they are flying away...gorgeous.

If you love symmetry, something like this will give you peace. If you love asymmetry, this will drive you nuts! 

The vertical ribbons used here are an interesting twist. But you have an additional decision to make, what colour ribbons?

More toille style plates. in toning plum/red shades.

We hope these photos have given you some inspiration for your home and we also hope that our client returns to our store soon so we can play with some more ideas for her home.