French Style: Tall Mirrors and Paneled rooms

I started writing this post weeks ago, and kept finding image after beautiful image (most of which are in this post – it’s a long one!). I finally had to force myself to stop researching and start writing.

Earlier this year, I went to a tour of homes and was particularly struck by the look and feel of one of the houses.  The house was built in 1993, and has a wonderful floor plan, great natural light, and 11 foot ceilings.  The current owner purchased the house a few years ago, and enlisted the original architect to update the house to suit 21st century life. 

The mirror above the mantel in the living room particularly caught my eye. The tall proportions of the mirror are so elegant, and so perfect for the architecture and style of the house.

The mirror is perfectly sized to the space – the width exact to the width of the mantel, the height right up to the base of the molding. The Greek key pattern on the frame is a subtle detail.  I took a quick iphone photo, and later asked the homeowner where the mirror came from.  She told me that it came with the house, as it is built in. 

Although the room itself is not paneled, the style and design of this mirror reminded me of the many paneled  rooms I have seen in which the mirror is incorporated into the paneling and made an integral part of the architecture of the room.

The mirror in this Paris living room reminds me of the mirror from the house on the tour – perhaps because of its custom fit proportions, and the great height in this tall and airy room. Via Pinterest.

The mirror above the fireplace in this Paris apartment also has a similar look and feel. Note how the width of the mirror is the same as the width of the fireplace, and how the mirror is perfectly sized almost as if it is a piece of paneling in this room. Source.

Here is a side view of that same space, and the mirror profile and molding can be seen quite clearly.

Here is another view of this beautiful room. The wall between the windows shows how the mirror repeats the size and shape of the paneling on the walls.  The mirror beautifully reflects that sublime Parisian light, and provides lovely balance to the room.

Many of the inspiration pictures that I found for this post came from Paris apartments. A tall mirror above the fireplace, often incorporated into the paneling of the room and part of the architecture of the space, seems to be a style that is very French.  It works beautifully with the lofty ceilings and the tall windows and doors that bring in so much light in classic Paris apartments and French houses.

I love the simple style and large scale of the mirror and molding above, which is integrated into the molding. The shape and style repeats the arches of the windows and the framed opening of the door.  As a side note, it’s interesting that the furniture plan for this room is centered on the room, not the fireplace.  Source

Designer Thomas Pheasant’s Paris apartment has a charming mirror above the fireplace. This type of mirror that is incorporated into the paneling was probably designed and crafted as part of the original architectural envelope of the apartment.

Thomas Pheasant’s first book was released a few weeks ago; it’s called Simply Serene. The cover features a vignette from his Paris apartment. The book can be found on Amazon here.  Thomas designed the interiors of my sister’s newly renovated house, and gave me a personally signed copy of the book. I am reading it this weekend!

Initially, I had a hard time finding pictures of mirrors that are incorporated into paneling, as I could not land upon a search term that yielded good results. Finally, I decided to search on ‘chic Paris apartments’, and found some excellent classic examples such as this salon in a French apartment, with traditional paneled walls that integrate two mirrors into the paneling.

Another classic example of a French paneled room (an architect told me the correct term for the carved panels is boiserie). Note the mirrors built into the paneling above the fireplace and on the walls.

A room in a Paris apartment that is currently for sale – the absence of decoration allows appreciation of the pure architecture of the room, including the classic boiserie ensconced mirror above the fireplace. As a side note, what a beautiful door leading to the hall.

More elaborate examples were easier to find. This room is in Château de Montgeoffroy, via a Cote de Texas post.  It is such a strikingly French room – the floors, the French doors, the interior shutters, the carved boiserie, the furniture layout – all are hallmarks of classic French style.   I see different things each time I look at this image, and this time I am noticing the beauty of the architectural mirror above the fireplace. Note how the the detail of the carvings around the arch of the doors is identical to the detail around the arch of the mirror. I wonder if they are the exact same measurement?

A view of the other side of the room shows that the interior door openings are identically designed.

Another highly ornamental example of a boiserie room (I lost my source – perhaps in the Grand Trianon?).  The carved moldings were often gilded to emphasize the form.

Timothy Corrigan has a new book detailing the extensive five year renovation and restoration of his extraordinary French chateau in the Loire Valley. There are many of beautifully paneled rooms that incorporate mirrors, including this room above.  

The book is An Invitation to Chateau du Grand-Lucé: Decorating a Great French Country House.  If anyone has read it, let me know your thoughts – it is on my wish list. I have heard great things about it, and wish I could have attended his lecture in Atlanta last week. The book can be found on Amazon here. Note the elaborate carved paneling and the mirror in the cover room – so beautiful.

Another example from a Paris apartment.  Note the elaborate ceiling, seen in the reflection. Source.

The Paris apartment of Mario and Anne Grauso, featured in Elle Décor many years ago, via Habitually Chic. Note the trumeau detail in the glass panes.

I appreciate the contrast of the 19th century boiserie and the sleek and modern style of the décor. It appears that the mirror is part of the paneling, and the edge is gilded. The style of the carving on the mirror is more in reference to the paneling on the walls versus the elaborate style at the ceiling.  I appreciate how the height of the mirror emphasizes the glorious height of the room. The carved decorative piece above the mirror is another important detail – and it appears that this element is matched on the other side of the room, based on the reflection in the mirror.

Found on Pinterest, a decidedly modern take on a classic French paneled room. This looks like it could be a separate mirror, or it could be part of the carved molding of the room, gilded for contrast. I am not sure what I think about the lettering on the mirror, but the bones of the room are extraordinary. Note the interesting take on the chevron pattern on the floor.

 

I love this modern take on a paneled mirror, in a sophisticated room by designer Stephen Sills (photo by Heather Clawson of Habitually Chic).  This apartment is from a historic building that was recently renovated top to bottom; the apartment is one of the projects featured in Stephen Sills’ new book Decoration, which is one of fall’s most anticipated design books. Decoration is being released next week; click here to get a preview on Amazon. It looks sublime!

A project by famed designer Robert Couturier was featured in Elle Décor in a spread called “Francophile Fantasy in New York”.  In this no budget renovation, Couturier and the clients decided to create interiors inspired by 18th century French style; all of the boiseries and wall moldings throughout the apartment are made by Féau & Cie in Paris.  The vignette pictured above particularly caught my eye because of the mirror, and I love how an additional mirror was hung on top.

 

This room beautifully displays the French style, with the tall paneled mirror, and the addition of the antlers to cap it off is the perfect touch to balance the formality of the design. I really like the chaise that is placed in front of the fireplace – an unusual furniture arrangement. I wonder what the rest of the house (or apartment) looks like? I am not sure where this picture is from, it was found on Pinterest.

Design by Richard Halsberg and Barbara Wisely. A beautiful modern day example of a mirror incorporated into the carved panel design of a room.

Greet Lefevre’s family company specializes in exquisite custom design and hand crafted paneling. I found this beautiful example of her company’s work on her blog Belgian Pearls. I love the trumeau style detail of the mirror – note how it is split into two pieces.

So, after a many different inspirational images, from Belgium to France to the East Coast to the West Coast, back to the original inspiration for this post in Atlanta.  What I originally appreciated about this from the moment I saw it was a fresh take on French style. The feeling is created by incorporating a tall, elegant, and perfectly proportioned mirror, created with carved molding in a delicate Greek key pattern .  It is not necessary to have a room with elaborate molding to create this look and feel, but high ceilings are a must if the mirror is going to be placed above a mantle.

What do you think of this style – does it speak to you?  Creating this post was such a pleasure as it reminded me how much I love French architectural details. I particularly like seeing spaces in France that are hundreds of years old, being lived in and decorated for the 21st century. And, how aspects of 18th and 19th century French architecture and interiors are being incorporated into designs today.

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Wood floor tips from an expert

My admiration for wood floors has been expressed many times on this blog.   Some of my all time favorite blog posts were on floors -  light colored floors (here), and another one on French style floors (here).

We are doing wood floors throughout the new house, both on the main level and the upstairs.  My designer, Suzanne, prefers 7 inch planks on the main level for my house; she says that anything larger than that takes on more of a casual look and feel,which is not the look for my house.  We might do 5 inch planks if the budget doesn’t allow for 7 inch; my architect suggested that the finish is most important, and if we need to spend a bit more on the finish, then we will balance the budget by doing smaller planks.  Although most of the main level will be planks, we are also planning on doing a herringbone pattern in the living room and one of the halls.

One of the most beautiful floors I have ever seen, in a house with interior design by Melanie Turner, home construction by Benecki Fine Homes.  Floors were by Olde Savannah. Image via Veranda.

Last year I had the opportunity to tour the production facility of one of the finest custom flooring companies in the United States, Olde Savannah Flooring.  They are based in Atlanta, but they produce custom floors for designers and customers all over the United States and beyond.  Their beautiful floors are frequently seen in projects that are featured in Veranda, Traditional Home, House Beautiful – to name a few.  When I visited their headquarters, I was thrilled to see a floorplan of a very large house with interiors by a top New York City based designer – and all of the flooring was being done by Olde Savannah.

A beautiful home in a recent Traditional Home, with interiors by Suzanne Kasler and floors by Olde Savannah. Image via Traditional Home.

I asked Bill Riley, president and founder of Olde Savannah Flooring, and Steve Brightman, one of their top salespeople, for their thoughts on wood floors from both a architectural and design perspective.  Here is what they said.

A beautiful dining room, with interior design by Jim Howard.  No rug in this room allows for the beautiful custom floors by Olde Savannah to be a subtle but beautiful foundation for the room. Image via Veranda.

“The wood flooring in a home is a critical part of the perfect design. It should be a canvas or a place to start for the overall picture that a quality designer will create. It should not be the focal point but a back drop.”

Image via Traditional Home. Flooring by Olde Savannah.

“It would be very difficult to create a design for a beautiful French Normandy home if the house started with red oak strip flooring or an out of the box 4” short length polyurethane floor. Where a 7” wide by 5’ to 16’ lengths, lightly scraped, mix of rift and quartered and plain sawn white oak, in a warm brown color would create a place for a designer to start and be very successful.”

“When choosing a floor we recommend thinking and doing a little research of what has been used in the type of home being built or remodeled over time. Taking that information and inserting the design plan and that should be a great place to start. A good designer will almost always know. “

A beautiful wood floor in an unusual chevron pattern, by Olde Savannah.

“We like to look at the grain of the wood first. Do you like an open grain such as plain sawn oak? A tight grain such as quarter sawn maple? Walnut is a highly prized grain as well as rift and quarter sawn white oak. The main idea is get a grain pattern that you like. Color should never be an issue at this point."

Craftsmen hand waxing floors from Olde Savannah.

“Color and finish are very important. Most colors can be achieved on most species. Our favorite finish is hand applied wax. Of course most clients cannot or do not want to deal with the maintenance required for a wax floor. The alternative is a hand rubbed oil. This gives you the look of a waxed floor with the low maintenance of a polyurethane finish. We avoid poly because of the cheaper look. There is just something about pouring or spraying plastic on wood that real woodworkers avoid. We believe the floor should be treated like furniture and not a bar top.”

Image via Olde Savannah.

“We sell mostly random width floors. However single widths tend to look a little more formal.”

Image via Olde Savannah.

“We are seeing a lot of border work being done. Just low profile things like same color and species as the center of the room. Not different species and colors.”

We [Olde Savannah Flooring] are seeing the following in the market:

• Never red oak (this is not really a trend)
• Brazilian cherry is often cited as an upgrade, but it is not.  It’s also red and not a trend.
• Environmentally responsible choices. Staying away from rain forest woods.
• Planks are getting wider. We now see flooring in a 5” to 8: as normal with widths regularly going to 11” or even 12”.
• Long lengths. Setting minimums such as 3 feet or in some cases 8 feet and flooring boards going to 16 feet long.
• We are selling more hickory than ever. However wide walnut is still far out in front.
• We are seeing less ebony floor colors, but do a bit of dark floors with brown bleeding through to black color.
• Medium browns to dark browns tend to be our best sellers.
• Sheens are picking up a bit from the past.
• Versaille, herringbone, and chevron patterns tend to dominate the parquet choices.
• Elegant light hand scraping is very popular. Most hand scraping on the market is too heavy and looks contrived.
• Light wire brushing on oak does very well.
• Acid washed and hand colored very light walnut is one of our most popular colors.
• Bevels are getting very small.

Trends:

• Colors. Black, white and natural are emerging. Of course the usual cast of browns.
• Finish. Oil. No polyurethane.
• Types of wood. Hickory, walnut, rift & quartered white oak. Also, tight grains.
• Widths. Wide.
• Decision process.
• Generally starts with an interior designer. What is the type or style of architecture and the interior. Traditional, contemporary, classical, eclectic?
• Sometimes start with a species (walnut, oak, etc.) or grain pattern (open, tight, minimal, etc.)
• Sometimes start with a color.

Image via Olde Savannah.

A combination wood and stone floor, by Olde Savannah.

Personally, I am partial to a wood floor with an interesting pattern, and Olde Savannah truly excels in this area.  They have worked with many designers and architects to recreate beautiful patterns originally seen in old homes all over Europe.

For more information on Olde Savannah Flooring, please visit their website:

http://www.oldesavannahflooring.com

Contact information:

Phone: 404-691-3834
Fax: 404-691-4082
Contact Steve Bright with questions: brightlines@comcast.net

Readers, anything you want to share on wood floors, any type of wood floor you particularly like, or any questions you might have for Olde Savannah? If so, please post your question or observation in the comment section (email subscribers, click here for the comment form). 

No goods or services have been exchanged for this post.

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French floors

When I had a meeting a few weeks ago with my architect and designer, my architect pulled out this sample board of a floor that he had in mind for the house:

Given that we are designing a French inspired house, a beautiful herringbone or chevron floor seems like a natural fit. My designer suggested that we keep the floor color as similar to this natural oak color as possible, and my architect noted that this sample is just a starting point, the planks can be made longer, wider, thicker based on his specifications. Chevron and herringbone floors are definitely a fit for my style – I have literally over 100 pictures of rooms with these kind of floors in my inspiration files.

However, when it comes down to making a decision between the two – I am now looking at my pictures with even more scrutiny. Here is a side by side look at the two styles. On the left: a chevron style floor, where the planks are set on the diagonal, and meet in a center line. On the right, the herringbone pattern, where the planks are also set on a diagonal, but interlaced. Although the looks are very similar, they each have their own distinct look and feel.

Herringbone

One of my favorite pictures from Suzanne Kasler’s book ‘Inspired Interiors’ – in fact, this was selected as the cover. I have looked at this picture a dozen times, but only just noticed that the floor is in a herringbone pattern – to me the ebonized finish is what defines the floor, rather than the herringbone pattern.

Designer Lori Tippins (whose home is a source of endless inspiration to me) used a herringbone pattern in the floors of her family room and kitchen. The size and scale looks very similar to the sample board that my architect showed me.

A herringbone floor created with short planks. The size and scale of the planks can be adjusted for different looks.

A lovely, well worn herringbone floor in an apartment designed by Miles Redd; these planks are medium in length. Image via House Beautiful, photo credit Thomas Loof.

A charming space in a S.R. Gambrel designed townhouse, with well worn herringbone floors adding interesting texture to the space.

This picture, from a Southern Accents showhouse, utilizes thinner planks in a herringbone pattern – these are perhaps 3” wide. I prefer the planks to be wider, although this is still a beautiful look.

The chevron and herringbone pattern is frequently seen in materials other than wood. In a stone and tile store in Atlanta, Materials Marketing, there were some beautiful examples of stone floors with herringbone and chevron patterns.

This stone floor in a herringbone pattern is in the basement of a beautiful home that I saw recently, with interiors by John Oetgen.

Chevron

There is something so architecturally pure about an empty room, and even with no furniture this room is beautiful in part because of its stunning chevron floors. Image via Blayne Beacham, from a home listed by Beacham & Company REALTORS.

A charming French room, with striking chevron floors.

One of my favorite entry hall pictures. I like how the center seam of the chevron floors lines up on axis with the center of the door. Image via Southern Acccents.

Designer Ty Larkins’ house has beautiful chevron pattern floors. The planks are on the shorter, narrow side, which gives the floor a lot of pattern. Image via Cote de Texas.

A pretty chevron floor in the city apartment of Phoebe and Jim Howard shows the importance of the scale of the wood pieces on the design of the pattern.

A charming apartment in Paris – to me, the chevron floors in the space are quintessentially French, and to be more specific – very Parisian.

A vignette with four of my favorite elements: a chevron floor, interesting chairs, books, and art hung gallery style.

One of my favorite rooms in Max & Company, Phoebe and Jim Howard’s store in Atlanta, is this bedroom that has an unusual chevron floor that is set in two directions, making an interesting ‘x’ pattern where the two directions meet.

Architect Design has had a magnificent series of posts on Petite Trianon, and the billiard room caught my eye because of its chevron floor designed with long planks.

One of my favorite pictures of a dining room, from a house in California with interior design by Betty Burgess. I had to look closely to see whether these floors are chevron or herringbone, but given the straight seam, my guess is chevron. (Click here for intaglios very similar to the ones seen in this picture).

Another room, from the same house. Clearly Burgess is letting the beauty of the floors take center stage as a design element; note that she did not use a rug in either room. This image and previous image via Veranda, photo credit Roger Davies.

I came across this show-stopping picture last week on the Splendid Willow blog. The post was about the mirror, but I couldn’t get my eyes off the floor. What an interesting handling of the chevron floor – it is almost like panels done in a checkerboard pattern, with varying shades of light and medium tone wood.

A chevron floor in stone, at Materials Marketing stone and tile store in Atlanta.

So far, my project team has not discussed the floors in any great detail, but it is helpful to look through all of these pictures before making a decision. What are your thoughts? Are you team chevron or team herringbone? In your mind, is there something distinct about the look and feel of each pattern?

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