French Refreshed

Betty Lou Phillips

• Publisher: Gibbs Smith
• Year: 2019
• Print ISBN: 9781423650942
• eBook ISBN: 9781423650959
• Topic: Architektur
• Subtopic: Innenarchitektur

Despite the grandeur in which Louis XIV and his descendants Louis XV and Louis XVI lived in the magnificent Château de Versailles, extravagance rarely suggests elegance these days.  Befitting spaces less assumedly scaled than the vast palace, alluring, of-the-moment interiors exude a more discreet cachet.  Clean, not stuffy, reflects our culture and the times.

Introduction

Despite the grandeur in which Louis XIV (1643–1715) and his descendants Louis XV (1715–74) and Louis XVI (1774–92) lived in the magnificent Château de Versailles, extravagance rarely suggests elegance these days. Befitting spaces less assumedly scaled than the vast palace, alluring of-the-moment interiors exude a more discreet cachet. Clean, not stuffy, reflects our culture and the times.

As if long overwhelmed by excess, simplicity is the new luxury in the world of design. Both icy formality and ornate are passé. Today’s chic settings are sleek, fresh, and brimming with contemporary flair. French leanings are visible—passionate attention to detail, balanced proportions, and kingly artisanship. Quality matters. Fussiness, however, has lost its panache. In rooms worthy of the French, fluid furnishings, cherished accessories, and comfort are in harmony with daily life. Which is to say: More-is-more no longer works. Tellingly, even Paris’s most prestigious grandes dames that hold coveted French government-certified status—Hôtel de Crillon, Hôtel Ritz, Le Meurice, and Hôtel Plaza Athénée among them—now gleam with pared-down sophistication, a refreshed, less opulent look.

For a while now, designers on both sides of the Atlantic have been hard at work revolutionizing a brand, while social media and design-oriented television programs have helped spread the word to those with aristocratic taste: Lasting respect for the classic past and modern-day spirit rule the decorating world today.

And so, channeling our artistry, energy, and resources in fresh design directions, we confidently fuse comfort and glamour with upscale sensibilities tailored to the demands of twenty-first-century American life. For us, there is no greater pleasure than creating a distinctly French and daringly contemporary haven bathed in style, function, and well-being that meets our needs and works with our everyday lives.

—Betty Lou Phillips, ASID

The French favor layering objets d’art that bring a touch of history to settings. Louis XV consoles (one unseen) with marble tops are from The Gables, Atlanta. Engaging art is central to any room’s design.

Classic French
With An Edge

Impeccably crafted, regal and grand, eighteenth-century French furniture glorified the reigning monarchs while fueling a taste for splendor among aristocrats across Europe. Whether intent on affirming their wealth and social status with furnishings few others could afford, or fixated on the class divide, the aristocracy effectively ushered unprecedented fame and fortune to France. Paris, in turn, fast became the epicenter of culture, the world hub of the decorative arts.

Notably, scholars worldwide consider the eighteenth century the most elegant era in European history, with French furniture from this period justly singled out for praise. Accordingly, people globally hail the French as icons of artistic authority who knowingly challenged Italy’s stylistic might.

It seems entirely appropriate, then, that reverence for eighteenth-century towering armoires, beloved bergère chairs, posh commodes, and noble carpets spans generations. No matter that much has changed in the world since the reign of three Bourbon kings, all named Louis with numerals in ascending order, or that an eon ago most began forsaking regal inlaid furniture with d...

Table of contents

• Introduction
• Acknowledgments
• Directory