living with patina

One thing I have learnt through buying beautiful brocante pieces full of character and patina is that it's one thing to buy, it's another to use the treasures in a home without looking like a showroom or an antiques mall!

The pictures are from a home south of Paris, belonging to two devoted collectors.  They bought and restored the house with their brocante pieces in mind.  There are good ideas to borrow in every picture.

 In the bedroom they use at least four gold mirrors , the colours are kept soft and provide a perfect backdrop for the shine of silver candlesticks  and gold frames.

In the kitchen they have made a backsplash to the sink with an iron decorative plaque orginally designed for a fireplace.  Central to the wall, above the tiles, is a 'fronton', a piece of carved wood that has been taken from the top of an armoire.

A lot of 'things' in this room, maybe a little too many.  I spy fishing floats on the side table, gold frames inside gold frames on the wall, antlers, antique paintings and lamps.  Still the soft colours to keep it calm.

I love the use of this large urn, designed for the garden but brought inside and used as a planter on the table.

How pretty are these turquoise plates urns and bottles!  Used in the wrong way they would just look cluttered, here they stand out beautifully against the muted grey of the open armoire.

My favourite part of this inviting vignette is the zinc 'faitage' originally used to decorate rooftops and used here to disguise the join between the glass veranda and the rest of the room.

Thank you for stopping by, hope your week is off to a good start.

all photos with thanks to Campagne et Decoration