Southern Home French Home Style 2020

Antique Aubusson tapestry cartoons, now a rare and precious find, are the original stencils used to create the beautiful tapestries from centuries ago. The woven works covered furniture or hung as artwork, primarily in churches or the homes of nobility and royalty. Dating back as early as the 17th century, Aubusson tapestry cartoons were painted with oil on canvas or gouache on paper by local artists. Then weavers would dye threads to match the paint colors and use the cartoon as a guide behind the warp threads of the loom to create the designs. In the mid-1700s, a school was erected in the central France town of Aubusson for the sole purpose of teaching painters who specialized in tapestry work, ensuring these cartoons would always be called “Aubusson” tapestry cartoons. Themes…

The French have always been style icons. Whether it be fashion, food, or design in general, the world consistently turns to the French to be inspired for the elegant and refined. This coffee-table book from 83 Press, French Style with Vintage Finds, showcases homes in France as well as the United States that have cultivated the art of French charm. Neutral palettes highlighting exposed stone, timeworn furnishings, and wrought iron reign within the book’s 220 pages. But what sets this tome apart are the pages that share the ins and outs of antiques shopping for the uninitiated tourist. This book is every Francophile and antiques lover’s dream.…

Once the French bug bites, the romance of hunting your own treasures and collectibles may lure you to the streets of Paris or the French countryside. While spontaneity can be part of the fun, your search will likely go better with a little planning when it comes to shopping and, more importantly, getting your goods back stateside. A 19th-century chest, a lava lamp, apothecary jars, leather suitcases—what you find will depend on where and how you shop. There are options galore when shopping for antiques or slightly worn goods, and one of the easiest is booking an antiques tour so you can shop on the arm of a local who knows the area. An added bonus is that a tour guide typically has relationships with the vendors, allowing you to get…

Frances Stanford still remembers her first trip to France. She studied French in high school and college and finally traveled to the country with her husband years later to buy equipment for his business. On that trip in the early 1990s, an opportunity arose that she couldn’t pass up. “We actually went to buy a printing press—my husband is in the publishing business. I thought if anything, I’d just be buying things to sell at my antiques booth, but the chance to share a warehouse with another woman came up, and that’s where it began.” Now Frances and one of her daughters, Ginny Smith, own Maison de France Antiques, a shop they fill through numerous shopping trips abroad each year. On that initial visit, Frances could never have predicted it was…

When Tiffany and Bill Accousti were in the market for a home, they set their sights on an 1885 cottage in New Orleans, Louisiana, just three blocks off Magazine Street and nestled in the heart of an eclectic neighborhood. For Tiffany, it was love at first sight. “I was happy the minute I walked through the door,” she recalls, noting it wasn’t just the house she fell in love with but the neighborhood itself. “We have a lovely neighborhood. It was important to us to be [in a community] with people from different socioeconomic backgrounds; I really wanted my kids to live in an eclectic neighborhood and be around interesting people.” While the surrounding area has a wide variety of home styles in all manner of repair, the Accoustis’ home in…