A day at the Paris Flea Market, Marche aux Puces....

It was a glorious September Saturday, perfect for seeking out "haute brocante" at the Paris Flea Market and discovering sublime inspiration. Our guide, Danielle, from The Antiques Diva (what a great find!) picked us up at our apartment in the 4th Arrondissment.......

......and whisked us to the adventure that awaited at the "M.A.P.", the Marche aux Puces at Saint Ouen, the largest antiques market in the world and the 4th tourist attraction in France.

A map of the Paris Flea Market - the Marche aux Puces Saint Ouen

Covering a little over 17 acres, it's filled with upscale antiques, furniture & lighting, fantastic items for the kitchen - and even taxidermy.

I was focused on finding on what I call "Franco/Italian" items.....

.....and mirrors....

... as well as Copper!! (As always!)

Basking in the atmosphere of les Puces, I was just moseying along when I wandered into one of the coolest places I've ever been - ever - Bachelier Antiquites. Oh, what a place! They specialize in "Antiquites de la cuisine et du vin" (Kitchen and wine antiques) and their very photogenic storefront has been featured in many films and commercials. It was heaven for me!

3rd generation running Bachelier Antiquities in the Paul Bert Serpette market

As enthralled as I was surrounded by all of the "cuisinier" accesories, my husband was having fun, too. I found him deep in conversation, chatting (even though he hardly speaks any French!) with the matriarch of the family, Francoise-Anne Bachelier. She then autographed a copy of her cookbook, Toques de terrines, and gave it to me! Très sympathique!

&nbs… — Bob with Francoise-Anne Bachelier

Lunch was delicious - no surprize - at an outdoor cafe (this is still Paris, after all) in the Paul Bert Serpette market where the people watching, and eavesdropping, was almost as entertaining as the shopping.

It was such a fun day - I can't wait to return! Who wants to join me?

Posted on October 31, 2014 by Jann Placentia and filed under Marche aux Puces st Ouen.

Maison et Objet 2014 - Interior Design trade show par excellence!

Maison et Objet 2014 was enormous, informative, overwhelming and amazing!! Look at the size of this place - and this was only one building of eight!

The predominant impression was Calm & Serene: pale and pastel colors, (quite a bit of greige, taupe and mauve – but not in an ‘80’s way!), natural fibers, animal prints (yes!), and lots of copper.

I did see a bit of saturated, primary color represented..... but....

.......notice how the bright colors of these candles are only about 25% of the color range. And....

.....copper was everywhere!

Vintage-inspired items were also in great supply.

.....Divine!

Lots of natural fibers....

.....and, of course, the whimsical.....

After seeing what's on the horizon for home interiors, it was time to experience history at the flea market.....Stay tuned!

Posted on October 16, 2014 by Jann Placentia and filed under Trends and tagged Interior Design Maison et Objet copper trends.

Neighborhood Beat - Madison Valley Bastille Bash July 12, 2014

Francophiles Unite!

Madison Valley's annual Bastille Day Celebration is July 12th, 2014 from 3pm - 8pm

Last year's Bastille Bash was such a hit that this year it's bigger and better! There will be French-inspired food from such notable restaurants as Crush, Cafe Flora, Luc and Voilà, among many others; Northwest and French wine tastings...

....live music & entertainment - even jugglers and burlesque (oh la la!)....

...in a street festival atmosphere.

Funds raised from this event benefit the Detlef Schrempf Foundation and Art with Heart. Check the Bastille Bash Facebook page for updated information on participants, entertainment, schedules and more:

Facebook.com/BastilleBash.

Tickets for food and wine are available here - Bon santé !

Posted on July 1, 2014 by Jann Placentia.

Countdown to Maison et Objet 2014 - Part deux

It's now just over 2 months before we leave for Italy & France and it seems like there's more to do than ever!

About midway thru the trip, we'll be attending Maison et Objet , one of the largest - if not THE largest interior design/homewares trade show in the world! The 2014-15 theme is:

“Sharing”Our era is clicking on the “Share” icon. Generation G for Generosity is bashing cynicism and liking “We”. New uses and values are reconfiguring ways of living together, exchanging information, goods, services and experiences. In the digital age, networking information is producing new tools with emerging practices in an economy of collaboration and cooperation. We are seeing a dynamic of creative sharing which is programming the future of a caring world.

Hopeful and nice.

Here are some images from the 2013 show...

Oh la La!

Our Paris home, (I love the way THAT sounds!), is located in the Village St Paul neighborhood of the 4th Arrondissement, near the Marais.

Village St Paul

We booked through Guest Apartment Services. They actually specialize in Ile St Louis, the oldest Master Planned Community I've ever seen, developed in the mid-1600's and about 2 blocks wide. Ile St Louis is bisected by one main road - St Louis en l'Ile - running its length and is absolutely filled with restaurants/cafes, residential buildings, a few hotels. Ile St Louis also boasts the original location of Berthillon, maker of world famous ice cream.

All so beautiful!

Our apartment is about 2 blocks and a bridge from l'Ile St Louis.....

Besides scouting out the emerging interiors trends at Maison et Objet, I'll also be mining the past by scouring the Paris Flea Market, Marché aux Puces, with Toma Haines' company, The Antiques Diva. We're looking forward to finding some unique and beautiful things, like those below, (yes, please!) to send home.

Before France, we'll be in Italy, where I'm intending to make it to the Porta Portese flea market in Rome's Trastevere neighborhood and hopefully find unique and wonderful objects there, too, to send home....

like these.... perche no?

But the bulk of the trip will be spent in Paris. Stay tuned!

Posted on June 23, 2014 by Jann Placentia and tagged Guest Apartment Services Maison et Objet Marche aux Puces Paris Flea Market The Antiques Diva Village St Paul.

Mirror, mirror on the wall...

Did you know that mirrors, as we know them today, were perfected by the Venetians and that they had a corner on the market until Louis XIV came along?

And that during the Renaissance, a fine Venetian mirror cost more than an old master painting and was framed similarly?

According to "The Essense of Style, by Joan DeJean", Louis XIV (the Sun King) wanted his palace at Versailles to outshine all others; he decided to tout his wealth and power through the display of his French artisans' mirror-making talents. Prior to this, mirrors were difficult to make larger than a little more than 2 feet high; hand mirrors were even tremendously expensive!

Louis had "huge expanses of mirrored glass measuring 18 feet high and 6 1/2 feet wide" installed in Versailles in what became known as the Hall of Mirrors (Galerie des Glaces) . The panels reflected seventeen windows directly across from them, and the luxurious gardens just outside.

The Hall of Mirrors at Versailles became an immediate tourist attraction and remains one to this day.

After mirrors were able to be produced more efficiently and size was (almost) not a problem, the possibilities became endless.

In interior design, mirrors are a wonderful way to open up a space and add a little sparkle to a dim area....

....including kitchen backsplashes .....

......and furniture for every room in the house.

French mirror makers have given us so many beautiful choices!

Posted on June 13, 2014 by Jann Placentia and filed under Mirror and tagged Joan DeJean Versailles mirrored furniture mirrors.

Are you on Pinterest? What is Pinterest, anyway?

When Pinterest first launched, I thought of it as an appendage to Facebook - a sort of scrapbooking site for crafts-oriented folks - and I was really resistant to join in. How wrong I was!

Thanks to the urging of Kris Prochaska, a visionary writer and coach, I'm happy to say that I've now fully embraced Pinterest and find it to be a great way to connect with the entire world and refine an ever-evolving "brand".

Pinterest is basically a high tech cyberspace Vision Board

I created my first vision board in 2000. I had no idea what I was "supposed" to be doing, but the artist in me loved to create collages so I happily ripped through magazines, tearing out images and headlines that resonated with me and depicted those things I wanted to attract - how I wanted my life to "look".

2000 Vision Board

Seeing is believing! In time, the images and phrases on that first inspiration board came into my life; became my life.

In order to keep moving forward, I created a new board in 2007 which, interestingly, looks way more philosophical and travel-centric than the first one. And has lots about Paris! Makes sense.

2007 Vision Board

Fast forward to now: after opening Piacenza Design in late 1999, garnering a NW Design Award in 2006, experiencing intense involvement with my local professional design organization, Northwest Society of Interior Designers (serving as President 2009-11), and meeting a zillion wonderful clients and colleagues - some of whom have become treasured friends - I found it was time to create a new vision board, cyber style.

No more tearing out magazine pages, but "pinning" them, instead, on my boards! Here's the first page of my cyber inspiration board:

Piacenza Design on Pinterest

....and these are some of the incredible images to be found on my boards - that have been "pinned" from myriad sources. Just a tip of the iceberg!