10 Art Nouveau Details For Your Home

I’ve expressed my admiration for the period before, but today I thought I’d highlight some details you can incorporate in your home. Some are inexpensive and easy to find, others tricky and will cost your pocket more. But they’re all lovely. 

1. Fingerplates

These are actually  really inexpensive way to get a touch of Art Nouveau in your home. Easy to fit on wood doors they add a touch of elegance to a period interior, or even one that’s modern with period touches.  Buy them on eBay; new tend to be cheaper that the genuinely, vintage article.

2. Lead light windows

I would love a lead light windowed door, I think they’re stunning. However if, like me, you’re not lucky enough to have one in your home already you can find the real McCall on, again, eBay or from salavage merchants.

Altenatively you can’t try a DIY project for a low cost alternative. I hope to have a couple of different methods coming soon to the blog, so sign up to follow and here about it straight away.

3.Tiffany lampshades

I have a very inexpensive version and it’s stayed with me since my first house purchase, a turn of the last century terrace house. I used to have a beautiful pendant light with dragonflies on it, but made the mistake sacrifice of giving it to my mother in law.

I would give the advice though that if it’s going to be a central light be sure to be careful about your colour selection. One of the reasons for giving my dragonfly light shade to my mother in law was that it had been a central light fitting and it’s blue tones gave people a deathly pallor as they stood in my hallway where it was located. So, if you don’t want to be continually reminded of the scene at dawn between Juliet and her Romeo, chose a warm colour for a central feature.

4. Artwork

I have a framed Klimpt print in our bedroom, as I said in this post here about our Art Nouveau wood stove. It’s beautiful and the colours are wonderfully evocative of the era. Mucha is of course a favourite. If these aren’t your style there’s some more inspiration below.

5. Fireplace

Again, unless your lucky enough to have one already in your period home, this can be something bought on eBay or salvage dealers. Some of the finer pieces in these examples will be more specialist and, understandably, more expensive. Dreams cost nothing though, don’t they?

6. Tiles

Art nouveau tiles are surprisingly expensive. I would love some, but I know I will have to use them incredibly sparingly as on our small budget the cost is prohibitive. Tant pis pour moi!

7. Frames

No matter how modern your decor, the wonderful thing abot Art Nouveau is that stand alone pieces can be at home in even the most modern of decors. There are good reproductions, though one of my favourite stores Past Times has closed down.

8. Draw pulls

I was going to have these in our kitchen, but my mind has turned to other things. I don’t doubt though that a creative furniture project may have just such a touch in the nearby future.

9. Anaglypta wallpaper

Incredibly hard wearing in hallways, Anaglypta wallpaper is wonderful for wainscoting. However similar, paintable wall papers are also used on walls and these are less expensive and easier to apply. I’ve added some more modern treatments in the illustrations to give you a newer take if that’s the way you want to go.

10. Illustrations

These are examples of the Art Deco period, often confused with Art Nouveau, but they’re so lovely. These and illustrations of the earlier period can be bought imexpensively, framed and displayed. If you’re going for authentic period decor maybe it’s a no no, as I don’t think it was the norm to have any outside of commercial enterprises.

Oh My! Art Nouveau Stove

Art Nouveau is my favourite decor period; it has the more restrained elements of the Edwardian period, after the excess of the Victorians, but still maintains beautiful, intricate details. The decorative style wasn’t as commercial as the aesthetic it’s ofen confused with, Art Deco, primarily because the latter is more easily mass produced having cleaner lines. However where I find Deco too sparse and clinical (sorry to you Deco fans), for me Nouveau communicates the romance and, perhaps, innocence of the prewar period.

I naturally gravitate to the colours of the period too and have found, having researched it, that many of the decor items I already owned are of this time. In fact if you look in my wardrobe it reflects this tableau of era’s colours.

The tones are far lighter than the Victorian palette, primarily because of new technologies. The Victorians had acquired wealth, so their decor was opulent with lots of fuss and nicnacs in order to show that new found money, but due to the gas lighting a lot of the textures and colours were sought for their capacity to hide the resulting soot marks. With the introduction of electricity this wasn’t such a necessity.

I say all this to introduce you to a find I fell for today – hook, line and sinker. This little Art Nouveau stove. It’s dirty and I doubt I’ll be able to get it to work, but I still couldn’t resist it. The beautiful intricate metalwork, that soft Art Nouveau blue – heaven.

I naturally did a little research on it as it’s name was proudly emblazoned on the top. I found this website of a company near Fareham, coincidentally my old stomping ground, where they refurbish old, French stoves. They’re a mine of information.

The company, Deville & Cie of Charleville in the Ardennes, called the model ‘le non pareil’, or the none equalled. The French Antique Stove refurbishment company found it advertised in Deville’s 1930s catalogue with the subsequent information on it.

The stove was manufactured in the early part of the Art Deco movement, with production between 1925-1935, however the style is evidently Art Nouveau.

The design, described as a ‘pôele à bois’ visible et continue’ by the manufacturers, was revealed at the 1925 Paris exhibition. It was developed with style conscious Parisians in mind. The site continues that if you look carefully at the film Chocolat, you can see a honey brown “le non pareil” in Judi Dench’s character’s parlour, but I’ve done an internet search and can’t  find any images (not even on one of my favourite sites Hooked on Houses),

Here are some close ups of the working stove on the refurbishment site, just to give you a taster of what mine will look like when it’s been cleaned up a little. Mine won’t be in situ for a while; I have to finish the kitchen first (as well as the finishing touches on the dining room and the soft furnishings in the living room) and then move to what will be the family dining room. So, lots of work. Can you tell I’m loving it?

10 Brocante Buys

Oil painting

I love this painting, it reminds me of the french revolutionary period. It’s incredibly old. However, my husband doesn’t love it as much. He actually encouraged people to vote on whether she was attractive or not once; let’s just say that I could see how devastating the Tinder app could be for teenage girls nowadays.

Dinner service

I have an entire dinner service like this, with different scenes on the plates. It goes exactly with the shades of teal and blush pink I have in the dining room. No way Autuman is here I’m waiting for a dressy Sunday lunch to get it out. When I do I’ll post it in all it’s glory, so subscribe if you want to see it.

Art Nouveau bust

I know I posted about this here, but I couldn’t resist including it in my latest favouraite Brocante buys top ten (for the devious one take a look here).

Dressing table

I love the carved side mirrors on this, as you know Art Nouveau is one of my favourite decor periods. It’s evidently a homage to the period as this light wood would never have been used during this period. I orginally thought of painting it, inspired by similar painted pieces on Pinterest. However I decided in the end to keep it as it is; I didn’t want to risk spoiling it.

Chandeliers

Just two of my lovely chandeliers. I’m avoiding posting some of the others as many of the have carpeted walls for a background as you saw in the house tour when we first moved in.

Café set

These was my Christmas gift from my mother. We’d spotted it together when we were in the brocante and I loved it. It’s Art Deco and beautifully feminine. I have plenty of vintage tea sets, but this is my first coffee set. As our friendships here progress I hope to be able to bring it out for a café with friends. So far I’ve been using a set I don’t mind destroying as I haven’t wanted to risk it with the children around.

Bistro table

This wasn’t from a Brocante, but leboncoin.com – a site where individuals sell unwanted items. These bistro tables were traditionally used to display patisserie on, with the marble top keeping them cool.

Pink Jesus

As he’s called in our house. I saw him in the Brocante with my friend who was travelling through to her holiday destination, with a planned stop on the way back. When I pointed him out she looked at me oddly, evidently wondering what was I thinking. I mean, he isn’t a pink Jesus. Then when we got home she saw Mary in the dining and exclaimed ‘That’s why you wanted him. Yes, you need to get him’ out of the blue. So convinced of this was she that when she returned she actually reminded me of him.

I love his golden heart – what a perfect centrepiece for Easter?

Copper saucepans

These were a bargain at 25€, and I think serviceable. They’re obviously on the small side as a set, but I hope to add bigger pieces to them. I’m gradually starting to do up the room that will be our kitchen – it will take a while as we need the big electrical items as well as new flooring. Nevertheless I already have most of the cupboards we’re going to use, as I’ve opted for free standing vintage pieces for a farmhouse look. I’ll update you on that in the coming weeks and months (I think it will take that long to get the money together).

Architectual prints

I actually had bought two large, black and white photographic prints taken at the turn of the last century of  the area surrounding us whilst we were in rented accommodation here in France.  I loved them and was keeping them seperate, waiting to put them up in our new home. I’d wrapped them carefully, but somehow along the way they got lost in our move. I’ve searched and searched, praying all the time to, as yet, no avail.

So when I saw these prints in our Brocante they went some way to making up for their loss. They’re actually hung in the hallway but, again, the brown carpeted walls put me off photographing them in situ.

A Treasure Still

I found this beautiful bust in a Brocante high up on a shelf. It’s incredibly heavy and you can see inside where it’s been worked in the plaster, so I think it’s an original rather than a copy from a mould.

I’d been wandering around looking for something special to fill a little spot in our home and as I walked and looked I noted things that I might come back to. But she just spoke to me in spite of her slightly distressed appearance, or maybe because of it. There was no additional thinking needed, she was the one.

As I walked with her, the weight heavy in my arms, I fell under her charm even more. The gentle blush of her cheeks, the mauve on her eyelid – she’s been exquisitely painted.

She’s obviously of the Art Nouveau period, the lilies swirling around are typical of that style. Further, the pale lavenders and pinks go beautifully with our living room.

After I’d paid for her I noticed a man look at her, then silently catch the attention of his wife and signal to her to look too. They seemed to politely watch our progress, evidently in the hope that I’d place her down somewhere. Alas for them I walked out of the brocante and placed her lovingly in the car to take home.

I was rather perturbed when I was repeatedly asked the question ‘are you going to fix it?’ No! She’s beautiful as she is. It reminds me of Shakespeare’s sonnet 116;

“Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove.
O no, it is an ever-fixed mark
That looks on tempests and is never shaken;
It is the star to every wand’ring bark,
Whose worth’s unknown, although his height be taken.”

Love. Beauty. An objective reality pointing to the existence of the divine.

10 Details For A French Period Home

I’ve been doing some posts on some little details I’m adding to our French period home, but I thought I’d do one on other  things to introduce some French period style to your home. Some of these projects are bigger, some small, but they’re pretty much all in the affordable range – particularly if you salvage some of these things from your local flea market, eBay, charity shops etc. So here they are…

Fingerplates And Doorknobs

I’ve been doing loads of posts on these and, believe it or not, there are more to come. There are the brass doorknobs that where already in our home when we moved in, and are a staple of most period homes, which I’ve finished off with these uniquely French style fingerplates.

I’ve started to introduce vintage glass doorknobs, with Art Deco mirrored fingerplates. Also you can find these beautifully decorated porcelain ones, often labelled as Limogés porcelain.

Buying brass fingerplates new was very prohibitive – they worked out at about £20 for an Art Nouveau style one, or sometimes I could find two for the same amountof a style I didn’t like as much. The postal fee to France was excessive though. Buying vintage ones on the UK eBay site was eye wateringly expensive as well! However a quick look on French eBay revealed a whole different picture!

Also I’ve often found going to my local Brocante was far cheaper. I think this may be because a shop has physical space, so needs quicker turnover to pay their bills. Whereas thee are many people on eBay who sell these items just because they have them and as a result it creates a false pricing structure. So shop around and try different ways of buying them to make sure you keep costs down.

Armoire

Every French home needs a beautiful armoire – the  curved detailing and elegant shapes are gorgeous. Living in France they are relatively numerous; I’ve observed French fashions seem to go more towards the new unless it’s an antique piece.

When you buy a genuine French one it’s worth noting that they don’t tend to have a clothes rail, but shelves. Great if you want somewhere to store folded clothes, handbags etc. Not so great for dresses. It’s easily rectified by maintaining one shelf and inserting a curtain pole; though maybe not something you want to do with an expensive antique.

Alternatively you may pay more, but you can buy a purpose made Armoire in the UK, US etc. But, for me, just one of these beautiful pieces of furniture would be worth it.

Lightswitches

These are more a period house addition, not particularly French.

There are actually some Bakelite versions of dolly light switches in parts of the house that were evidently seen as unimportant; the garage, the attic, the old maid’s bedroom (really, there’s a little room in the attic that the maid of the doctor slept in years ago). I love them, but I really love brass versions.

I’ve actually found some of these using eBay and, like the fingerplates, they are a lot less expensive than new ones on the market and even less expensive than the reclaimed ones you can buy in the UK.

However as period style is more popular in the UK (and America I imagine) there are alternatives. I found these dolly switches pictured aboveon this site, they’re a reproduction of an original Art Nouveau design. I love it and even though I have some I’m seriously thinking about ordering just one for my dining room. Admittedly it’s a bit of a waste and it goes outside my attempts to make the house as Earth friendly as possible – but it’s just so gorgeous! It’s the delivery price again that’s giving me pause.

Marquise

I did say some of these suggestions were a little more expensive than others and, depending n where you live, this is definitely in that bracket.

I’ve actually just bought one from the French site leboncoin; a real bargain at 50€. It’s taking a little time to strip the old putty, paintwork and rust in order to replace the glass and ensure it’s protected from rusting further. However it’s still going to be a more expensive outlay as it will need to be put up professionally due to it’s weight.

It will be worth it though as I love these – they’re so typically French! I’d never seen glass porches before I started coming to France and I fell immediately in love with them. They let in light whilst providing protection from any inclement weather for you or your guests whilst you wait to get in the house. Perfect!

Shutter Holders

Since I made my front of the house decor plan I’ve changed my mind on some items. Shutters are really expensive – about 160€ per shutter, not a pair, a shutter. So 320€ per window. We have a lot of windows!

As the front of the house is shadier they’re not essential, so having bought a marquise I’ve made other plans (more on that later).

However lots of the ancient stone houses that still have them have these little shutter holders too. I adore them. You can get them on French eBay super easy and inexpensive – if you’re in another country though it’s going to come down to delivery again.

Baguette Bin

A really inexpensive addition, baguette bins are awesome! They hold your baguettes and have a little draw on the bottom to get rid of the crumbs. Kind of like a toaster draw. Love them! Haven’t got me one yet, but when we start our kitchen it’s going to be on my list!

Chandelier

Did you know each design has a name? They do. Maybe that’s another post though. They’re lovely.

Catholic Statues

One of the things I love to do is keep my out for these and collect them. Then when it’s a particular saints feast we can make a little tray display like this.

Whether you’re Catholic or not these worn, plaster devotionals are beautiful and evocative. Personally I love to have the ones that have belonged to others; it always seems to me a beautiful symbol of the eternal nature of the Church knowing that in my home is something that has probably belonged to someone who either is or are on their way to being a saint triumphant.

Decorated Plates And Soup Dishes

Again, this is more a period touch that a particular French one. They are also inexpensive. I love hanging vintage plates on the walls, and having beautiful soup dishes displayed on shelves. I haven’t actually used any yet, the girls have been too little for them, but that may be happening in the future.

Baroque Gold Mirrors

These can be really expensive – but if you find one a little damaged on the gold plaster work you can get yourself a bargain. I have and I’ve been thinking about what to do to mend mine – if it works I promise to post my method (so subscribe to get that in your feed or inbox).

My mirror isn’t up in our new house yet, I’m patiently waiting for the right place to put it. But here’s a picture of it in the old house.

Little Details

Just the door – don’t look at what’s around it (ha).

The bedroom is still a strong yellow, but I’m planning to have decorative paneling half way up the wall in this dusky pink and toning down the yellow above. But after we broke through the doorway I couldn’t resist painting the door after I did added this glad she door handle.

If you look at the other post you’ll see the door had wall paper on the paneling which actually had a fabric like mesh underneath. The only way I could completely remove it was with a heat gun – the kind you use to strip paint.

The top panel felt funny as I was working and then when I heard a cracking sound I realised why – it was a window. The other side of the door is padded and I didn’t  have a clue.

I carried on carefully working round the broken glass anyway as I remembered I had this ‘Josette’ window film from Laura Ashley tucked away. You can see in the next image the cracked glass which the film is now holding together.

The finger plate is an original, mirrored Art Deco piece and I got it from eBay along with the vintage glass handle.

I haven’t taken the other side of the door off yet so the panelling is behind the glass. It will eventually lead to a walk in wardrobe and then a bathroom if we’re able to get the plumbing in place. That’s going to take a little while yet though. In the meantime I’m loving the little vintage pieces.

What do you think?

Breaking In

One of the big plans we have for the house is to turn an ajoining bedroom into a walk in wardrobe and on suite. The walk in wardrobe part sounds very upscale, but I’m actually talking about something like this…..

which is a lot cheaper than a fitted wardrobe.

We took an unexpected step towards this situation over the weekend when we tried to move an armoir into our bedroom. The owners had kindly left us two of these wardrobes…

and I wanted to move the armoir in, but we couldn’t due to the layout of the landing. There is already an interior door between ours and the spare room, but it was sealed. The hubby and I were contemplating putting the armoir back and unsealing it during the week. As we talked about it my Pops, who was there, asked for a hammer and a flat screwdriver. If you’re British you’ll have heard jokes about Scousers, of whom my Pops is one; let’s just say he lived up to the reputation. Within minutes the lock was broken, the door taken off its hinges and we were in. Here are some photos of the doorway…..

Don’t you love the floorboards? Alas it looks like they don’t extend to our bedroom, so we’ll be keeping the laminate. But the floorboards will definitely be a feature of the bathroom/walk in wardrobe.

The armoire is in and it looks like this…

The room seems to be taking on an Edwardian/Art Nouveau feel. I found the chandelier on a site called Le Bon Coin and chose it because it went so well with the Tiffany lampshade that sits on the dresser and it was a steal at 15€.

Speaking of the dresser, which I love, it was only 120€ and is incredibly well made. I’ll post some more photos of the details on it at a later date.

In this image here you can see the curtains that where in the living room when we first moved in. They were left by the previous owner and are incredibly thick and well made. However they didn’t quite go downstairs, so I thought I’d move them here. I’m not 100% certain if they’ll stay and if they do I intend to add a cornice.

At the moment I’m only working with what I’ve got in the bedroom. My main concern is getting the walk in set up and finishing the dining room and living room this year. It’s really a next year project, but I like how it’s coming together; especially now I’ve removed the insulation from that interior door.

What do you think?