French Cafe Chairs

They seem to be everywhere I look, and I just can’t get them out of my mind. I love them, because they remind me of France, and they’re simply beautiful.  From Paris to the Cote d’Azur, these are the typical chairs that line every sidewalk cafe. Did I ever tell you I grew up in Paris? Yep, I’m French, and I immigrated to Canada when I was young, so I’ve got a real soft spot for these cafe chairs. Believe me, for the longest time, years ago, I’ve wanted to get some, but they were nowhere to be found since they weren’t popular at all, and definitely not in home environments.  All of a sudden, it’s like they’ve somehow become mainstream, and making their way inside (brilliantly I should add).

Check out how fabulous they look in almost any settings, inside or out, as chairs or barstools. I love that they are available in almost every colour and weave, and are super durable to tear and wear. No wonder they’ve been around for so long.  

(all images from Pinterest)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you’re in the hunt to find some, here are some options I found:

1) From Serena & Lily - the Riviera collection - my favorite! I like that you can mix and match the 2 styles and the colours are beautiful!

 

 

2) From Pottery Barn: French cafe side chairs

3) From Ikea: the Almsta chair (comes in black or natural - if you go for the natural, you could probably spray paint the seat and back for your own pop of colour!)

All this talk of cafe chairs...if only I could take a trip to Paris now...

Sarah Richardson Design: New website

I promised you some pictures of my new backyard last week, but unfortunately, we are bit delayed. The weather wasn't cooperating much last week, with rain most days, which stalled the project. Although there are only a few things to finish, I'd like to keep it a surprise until it's all done, so you'll just have to wait a little bit longer before I reveal the transformation. If all goes well, things are supposed to be all completed by this Saturday...almost there.

Moving on to some really great news, my fave designer, Sarah Richardson, just launched her newly redesigned website. Yay! The new site is sooo much better than the old one (although it was already one of the best sites), it features much bigger pictures, lots more of her portfolio (incl. all her shows), a new section for "getting inspired", where her articles and tips are all featured in one place, and the best, a new section about her team. It's so nice that they finally dedicated a section on them. They all deserve credit for making magic happen at her design firm and shows. But best of all, we can finally figure out how to get Sarah's signature design services! Perhaps my budget could afford some help from her super talented team? :)

The new site also includes videos, all in one place, and also imbedded with relevant articles. Overall, the new design is much more user friendly, and way better in terms of marketing her overall brand & anything Sarah-related. Well done. Sarah also has a new fabric collection coming up. I can't wait for that! I'm sure it will be a huge success. Next, I hope she also launches a lighting collection, how great would that be? I'd love to get the look of some of her vintage lighting finds without having to hunt for them all over the city. The one thing I noticed though, is that they left out her paint collection. Oversight? Not sure...

Anyway, here are some teasers for you...

From Sarah's new country residence - the living room:

(She did a series of webisodes about the renovation of this project, using Lowes products. You should definitely check out the webisodes, it was really good.)

This condo - from one of the Sarah 101 episodes - absolutely one my favorite transformations:

Well, what are you waiting for, head over to the new site and check out all the amazing pics from your favorite episodes and shows! It's full of eye candy. Thanks Sarah!