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WALES AT HOME GUEST COLUMNISTS | GEORGIA METCALFE TALKS FRENCH STYLE

From the early Wales at Home days, we´ve been big fans of The French Bedroom Company. So, we were delighted when founder of super stylish, French furniture website, Georgia Metcalfe, agreed to talk us through mixing French style with 21st Century living, and here´s what she said…

 

Q. Wales at Home asked: How do you incorporate French style furniture into a modern home?

 

A. These days most homes will feature something French-inspired. From a beautiful chandelier (Flounce Flock Chandelier in Purple, £65) that will sit easily with a modern sofa, to a chaise longue (Very Velvet Chaise, £495) against a wallpapered wall - people are making really bold design statements but don’t actually realise they are being so creative. It just proves that French-style needn’t be stuffy and traditional anymore; stick to a colour scheme, think eclectic - for example, mix a hand-carved mahogany bedside table with a laser cut acrylic table lamp - and away you go!

 

The designer ‘hotel-chic’ trend is still going strong in 2009 and really exemplifies that new luxurious French look. Think monochrome schemes including French-style furniture and accessories, opting for smartly upholstered details (The Hedonist Headboard, £395) and sparkly chandeliers (Clearly Now Chandelier, £265) to make a scheme look like a hotel room you don’t have to pay for the next morning. Combine, for example, the antique white Provencal Louis XV Bed, from £575, with a soft and very modern Black Goatskin Rug, £180 and a pretty Provencal Foot End, £365 at the end of the bed, for a slick monochrome look that’s modern without losing traditional detailing, or brighten up a room in an instant with an all-white scheme – a Lit Lit Bed in White, from £1095, for example, with a Mimi Chandelier, £245 hanging above it, and two Goatskin Ivory Rugs, £190 sat either side is a luxurious and rather glam take on the not-so-favoured-in-2009 minimalist look.

 

If you are looking for that next statement piece to save up for, look no further than a beautifully grand French-style seat (Glamour Girl Lipstick Throne, £1425) or 4-poster bed (Sassy Boo Majestic 4-Poster Bed, £1295 for a kingsize) and introduce a new kind of contemporary French glamour to your home. Remember that other furniture in the room needn’t match exactly – just use colour as the theme to tie modern and traditional together.

 

Log on top The French Bedroom Company for more information or to purchase any of the pieces mentioned online.