"La Carrotte" Apartement, Paris. We Miss it...

Apartement "La Carotte" certainly was a place that will forever be in our hearts. The view of Notre Dame out of our window amazed us every morning.

This is not a postcard shot. This is the actual view with the window open on a sunny day in January 2010.

Robespierre back from the Maubert market with haricots verts. Note: Chef is testing wine glasses for leakage...... and to make sure wine is A OK. He's very dedicated.


The fireplace in the living room with books and a little crown from one of the king cakes at a local patisserie.

A little plate of macaroons and sauternes our last treat before we left. Not from Laduree, but from another bakery we will expound on later in the Marais. We liked these better.

View at night......Seagrass and white slipcovers....Gold accents.

Who wouldn't be comfortable in a place like this?

Robes hard at work checking e-mails ( you can't see the wine glass.)

I forgot to rotate this before it was stored DUH but this is the bedroom fireplace.
My Apologies, just turn your head......:) Whatever...I don't blog for a living....No Arianna Huffington here thank you very much...

The bedroom with the silk fabric headboard and cherubs...

Robes bidding adieu, adieu, to you and you, and you. Already inked it for next year.
Thanks, Jenny.

Maison & Objet Libeco's Spring Collection

Libeco Lagae from Belgium had a spring collection that was livable, fresh and lively with table linens in new colors mixed with traditional ones. There is something suitable for everyone.

They have extensive colors of solid tablelinens and these were the new intros to compliment what is already in the line.

Table cloths are also offered in runners some with contrasting borders. The new colors are muted but they have brights in the line also. We carry this line at Beadboard and are very happy with the new collection.

Another shot...


This is a picnic style with a green border on a cream background.



The bedding brought in fresh new grays mixed with taupes in overlapping stripes and a new 100% linen cable knit blanket that was great.

This was my favorite. The Sisco pattern. A beachy stripe in crisp white and gray. There were also accessories in the gray white and some cushioned bistro chair covers and outdoor lounge covers. The new catalog is online, for some reason I could not link it here. Just Google Libeco home. There is a catalog on the right of the opening page. You can order from Beadboard we don't charge to ship and everyone charges the same......They wash up great and are a great mix with antique linens.......AND remember they do cut yardage in wide widths so you don't have to order as much......Less seams......

Maison Object the Latest in Linens Part One

We, at Beadboard, LOVE Bed and Table linens.

We especially love the ones made out of LINEN and cotton PERCALE.

You see a lot of the cotton sateen these days, the cotton sateen has the smoother more silk charmuse like finish. Percale, feels like your mother's cotton sheets but with todays technology and the higher thread counts they feel smooth as silk. Above, the solid color collection from French Designer Anne De Solene. Beautiful collection...Will provide more pictures and info on a blog later ...

I am sorry I don't know who this is, ( I think it's Graebel) but it looks like Europe is still into color. Even smaller companies are offering coordinating towels and sheeting in Many choices of color.

I think this is Graebel. They are doing a lot of organic cottons and note the pic stitch on the coverlets. Still very popular over there. We saw the same pic stitch at Blanc D'Ivoire.


More subtle colors in a traditional coverlet spread with diamond quilting.



This was the offering at Bellora, Lots of greys thank you very much, (love them) but WHOA!!!!!!! The buy in for this company, I was told, and I HOPE this guy just didn't know what he was saying......... was 15000 EUROS which translates into 22000 US dollars. (Most minimums are in the 1000 Euro range especially after the US Dollar went south) I verified and said are you sure?????That seems high. And frankly this wasn't WOW enough for me to even consider that kind of investment...... Maybe you'll see it at Macy's.(I don't think they'd go for this either)

The floral print on the linen duvet was pretty but we can get very similar looks here in the US.

I think this looks like the Hamptons........

Colors?????Mauve, (but mixed up with other things....) And OPRAH, are you ready for this???????? THE COLOR PURPLE IS EVERYWHERE!!!!!!!! Is is dark even for summer, violet, lavender , indigo like, and portrayed with my favorite pairing, Green........

A lovely bed from Bluemarine, PLEASE NOTE, AMERICAN BED MANUFACTURERS!!!!

I love the platform bed tweaked into a more traditional mode. Yves Delorme did this last year, very successfully, a French bed but in a platform style, with cabriole legs.... There is a company we will be carrying that has platform beds like this and I will be blogging on it later, available in the US with FABULOUS Finishes and incredible grey taupe colors........ No need for box springs!!!!

Another lovely offering from Blumarine...

A little note........Swarovski crystal was everywhere... But used very tastefully, and they actually laser them on, no glue, so that they can endure the cleaning process much better..... Much more to come........The next installment Libeco Lagae and how they hit one out of the park!!!!!Also Peacock Alley, how they have reinvented themselves to be a new force in this market!!!!!!!

Maison et Object: "Le Planning"

This year's muse......Spring 2010

There will be a lot of blogging on this, the European trade market on home fashion and decor.in Paris, France, MAISON & OBJECT.

Some will be from designers whose primary interests differ from mine. So as to not be redundant, Beadboard will focus on how what I see presented at this huge market translates into your world and home. As a design shopgirl,my considerations trickle down to my customers/readers. Will they "Get" a certain look? Is it duplicated in the US? Is is saleable, the quality there, a good value? Will the look be here down the road a few years? Is it comfortable livable and WOW???

WILL I RUN INTO GERARD DEPARDIEU AT THE SAME RESTAURANT I DID LAST YEAR??!!

This will consist of a series of provacative and entertaining series of blogs on the experiences of one design shopgirl and her seemingly French partner in crime, Robespierre,

who actually did see

Monsieur Depardieu at a restaurant in the Marais that we frequent, last year.

That being said, we are still in Paris gathering info for you and will be back soon..

A Bientot....

Paris, Look Out, We're Baack!!!!

Oh where, oh where, has my Metro ticket gone??? Oh where oh where can it be????I checked all my pockets and the little stinking thing was gone. When you travel on the Metro in Paris, (in this case the RER) we buy two tickets one out and one to retournee. Each has to be entered in a turnstyle to let you board the train and when you arrive you have to reenter the ticket so that you can leave the station. There are some people who "cheat" and jump the turnstyles to not pay the fare. NOW, it seems, I am one of those criminals.!!!!! I however, did not cheat I bought the ticket and lost the stupid thing.

,So ,in front of everyone at Maison et Object in Paris I crawled on my knees in my vintage cashmere coat (much to Robespierre's amusement) under the turnstyle to get the hell out of the metro before I went to meet Greet, Amanda ,Tracey and Haley.(They don't know what a moron I was.) Robespierre was only sorry he couldn't get a picture of me doing it and actually asked me if i could do it again tomorrow!!!!! (NO, I DON'T THINK SO.) See how small this little ticket is???

When I crawled out of the turnstyle at our destination, (I had to do it twice) there was this tall young man who looked like Michael Phelps who saw me on all fours and actually winked at me like I was ONE OF THEM as he leaped over the turnstyle to board the train!!!! Tune in Sat night for my television debut on the ever popular Paris's most wanted!

Paris, go with the flow...

Here we are, all of us "Blogettes" trying to get all the stuff we need

on the airplane and these are just the "make up"bags!!!!!!

But now there is no liquid in them so they are full of every kind of wipes you can imagine!!!!!! Face Wipes , eye wipes, Yikes, wipes!! It doesn't matter,

whatever it takes to get to Paris or anywhere else

SAFE. Go with the flow.....

Picture courtesy of art.com.

The 2010 Spring Collection from 18 Karat

Canadian designer Maureen Whelton really hit the mark with this fresh white spring collection.

The white textured ceramic pieces mixed with opalescent glass in pale blues are crisp and beautiful.

The showroom was accented with white roses everywhere.



For the first time this season they are adding offerings of Mirrors and table/floor lamps from another Canadian company.



The lamps mix well with existing product and they are not acrylic.
They are glass and crystal at remarkably affordable price points.



One of the marble and steel coffee tables with the frosted vases surrounded with a 1/2 " mini ruffle out of the glass....How cool is that?

Some of the new mercury glass table lamps

These are gorgeous. The one on the left is the "River Rock" lamp and it looks just like crystal river rocks stacked up. Stunning! We carry this line at Beadboard.

Even though our shop is more Euro Country, people appreciate the artistry and texture of 18 Karat, and the collection changes every six months so there is always something new.


A blog note: I just discovered "The Provence Post" Julie Mautner is an experienced free lance magazine writer who lives in the South of France she is refreshingly entertaining. Check it out!!!

http://www.theprovencepost.blogspot.com/

Another note: There's been a lot posted about Haiti. Please donate to the aid agency of your choice, Red Cross, Unicef, any of them......