Shabby Chic furniture from France, what could be better? Well, how about bargain French Shabby Chic furniture and accessories at knock down prices? That’s what 2.5 million visitors, (yes I did say 2.5 Million!) will be hoping for over the next few days in Lille.
The heart of Lille is Vielle Lille, the old quarter, is a treasure trove for Shabby Chic enthusiasts to visit at any time of year with it’s pretty red and mustard Flemish style buildings, quaint shops and delicious cafes and restaurants. During the Braderie though the whole of the city of Lille is converted into Shabby Chic heaven.
Of course this is France so there will also be lots of excellent food. The restaurants compete to see which can build the biggest pile of mussel shells so you should expect to eat moule and frittes at least once over the course of the weekend. Apart from that there will be all sorts of street food and don’t miss a visit to the epitome of Shabby Chic, The Molinaire Tea Room. Have a reviving tissane, or what about a bottle of specially brewed Braderie beer? Just don’t have too many though, as the beer is very tasty and refreshing but incredibly strong.
What is a braderie? It is a huge French/Belgian flea market and Lille is just about the biggest of them all. The Braderie takes over the whole city with stalls crammed into every space. This slideshow of images will automatically update over the next few days as the Braderie progresses.
People are travelling from all over Europe and beyond to be at Lille Braderie as you can see from this real time twitter search. If you are there you can use this to spot where the best bargains might be found and if you are not there maybe it will just inspire you to be there next year!
If you can’t get to the Braderie this gorgeous book is one of my favourite and it might just give you some inspiration and an insight into Braderie style:
The wonderful Dianne at Ghost Furniture is having a massive clear out. There’s 50% off everything in her current range. That includes this fantastic Shabby Chic chair:
The chair is covered with fabulous vintage fabric. Just read what Diane says about it:
This fabulous, huge chair with the most wonderful curved back slats, was found in a cellar of a medieval house just outside Paris. The sad and tired old covers were discarded and replaced with a fantastic linen and crewelwork, fully-lined fabric taken from a throw purchased back in the 1990s from The English Home Sussex House collection.
The throw itself cost £450 originally . We have covered the cushions in such a way as to show off the best and most ornate parts of the crewelwork. The chairhas been painted with Farrow and Ball White Pointing Eggshell. This is one seriously comfortable chair – ideal for curling up in with a good book and a hot chocolate.
The chair is reduced to £600 – that’s half price gorgeousness to you!!Run over there fast -there’s lots more shabby chic furniture in the sale too, including some very modestly priced items.
How about this idea for instant shabby chic furniture? If you just happen to have some old suitcases why not try it? Ideal for that Ghost furniture look we love so much but do remember it’s not easy to get that perfect smooth white finish and messy just won’t do for this look.
old cases painted white and turned into a side table
The Shabby Chic furniture group on Flickr is happy to welcome a new member. This gorgeous furniture and the matching lamps are the work of the very talented Dan. He gives us more details on the lamps and table:
this hall console set with mirror is given a finishing touch by adding a pair of hurricane lamps, also finished in my lacquer and distressed. The colors are the same, but the lamps are given a very subtle glaze that tints them slightly more amber. The mirror and table are the same finish, to match, with no glaze. In this way we can finish objects with identical matching finishes, giving the impression they are original as a set. Or we can add objects of the same color with tint variation, to give a harmonized impression of decorating with found objects of the same color theme
Dan says:
Friends have long told me to join Flickr, but I’m just not the type who does personal photos. It never dawned on me I could find ‘shabby friends’ here
My name is Dan, but I have been dubbed the Sheik of Shabby- this is as much due to my profession as it is a jab at my corny sense of humor.
My business is Kitsch-n-Kaboodle.com, and I have made a career out of furniture restoration, specializing in high-end shabby finishes and custom restorations. I have one of the top used furniture stores on ebay, and I paint furniture year-round. I take custom-orders and ship globally. I am out to change the world of cottage decorating. My finish is as sleek and smooth as a baby’s bottom. I use no latex paint, only oil-based paints, lacquers, and varnishes. I offer customers over a dozen color choices including varying shades of white and others. I started as a wood refinisher and apply that knowledge and standard to furniture in paint colors. I treat my shabby furniture like any other wood restoration, and I fix anything & everything. If you need some tips on creating accessories out of old parts, applique work, where to get supplies, carving & veneer repairs, rebuilding chairs & other things, I am your go-to man.
We’ll be checking in with Dan for more great painting tips I can see! But Dan doesn’t like everything Shabby Chic. Like many men he’s not too keen on the overblown rosy cottage look:
Don’t take offense, but I don’t like roses…. I prefer the fun flapper and exuberant Gatsby looks of the 1920s. The occasional blossom is ok, but I tend to keep them to a minimum, unless a customer asks otherwise. But hey, I have an excuse- I’m a guy! Lately I am interested in taking distressed furniture into new territory- I have plans for some outsider-art decorated pieces, hallway stands made from old headboards and doors, and I’m painting some Heywood Wakefield black!! I call it ‘Urban-Chic’. Looking forward to sharing….
Well, Dan, I like all sorts of Shabby Chic stuff and I’m quite fond of a bit of Outsider Art too so we’re going to get along fine
Dan has an ebay store which you can find at Kitschnkaboodle.com
Entries (RSS)