A new book gives solid advice on how to give your home a French twist, without resorting to formula, writes Eoin Lyons.
It's a Japanese phrase, wabi sabi, or "perfect imperfection", which best captures the style celebrated in French Home. Author Josephine Ryan, a London-based dealer in French furniture, writes of combinations such as an 18th-century salon chair covered in shredded silk placed next to a 1930s Lucite table or a contemporary canvas hung above a rococo table. This makes for interiors that are truly unpredictable - there's no formulaic decorating here - and say something about the inhabitant's interests and history, rather than the taste of an interior designer.
The photographs may be of homes that are intrinsically French, but what the Irish reader can take from them are ideas about how to mix. Most who look at this book will wonder how to get some of the spirit of French style without creating a pastiche - this is Ireland, not France, after all, and there seems little point in recreating Marseilles in Mullingar.
The answer is the juxtaposition of different objects. That means incorporating one or two beautiful pieces of French furniture rather than decking out your entire home in a fantasy of toile de Jouy and painted armoires - the former approach is more sensible and appropriate to this country.
The number of shops selling naff reproductions of French furniture seems to be waning - no bad thing; isn't everyone sick of cream-painted furniture with glued-on carvings? Try to choose furniture with some kind of authenticity. It's far cooler to see a chair that shows its past life through a few scuffs and cracking paint than a shiny, new cookie-cutter version.
One could travel to Paris, where the most famous place to buy old French furniture is Puces de St Ouen, the flea market at Porte de Clignancourt. It's open on Saturdays from 9.30am to 6pm, with 300 dealers selling all sorts of bric-à-brac.
But closer to home, a wonderful place that is worth going out of your way to visit is the Antique Warehouse (052-41187; www.theantiquewarehouse.ie) in Cahir, Co Tipperary. Owners Michael and Celine Kennedy specialise in old French furniture, which they scour small markets in France to find. They have some lovely things that aren't over-restored. At the moment, there is a curved serpentine-fronted chest of drawers for €1,100; beds painted in muted Farrow & Ball-type colours from €1,500; and low farmhouse tables that have had their legs cut so that they can be used as coffee tables. The warehouse is large and stock changes frequently, so phone in advance if looking for something in particular.
Another good, and little known, source of French furniture is also run by a husband and wife team - Paul and Mientje Drum's small showroom. They used to have a business stripping and restoring antique wood, but nine years ago they set up a business importing French furniture, and now they sell it from their thatched cottage in Killinick, Co Wexford. They also have a home in Bordeaux and go to France eight times a year buying and sourcing furniture at dealers' fairs. Most of the furniture ranges from the late 19th century up until the 1940s, such as a fin-de-siècle mirror or an early 20th-century dressing table. Nothing is too perfect or precious. What they have is more about character, and because they don't have the overheads involved in running a shop, prices are reasonable. Their painted beds generally cost from €650. Chandeliers, which Paul cleans and restores himself, average about €750. There are usually 1920s mirrors with shell motifs from €350, and original bistro chairs are €50. Theirs is a small, personal business and so they are open only by appointment (Tel: 053-9158779; drumantiques@eircom.net).
In French Home, Josephine Ryan notes that there are some classic styles that immediately evoke French style. "A pair of Louis Quinze gilt fauteuil chairs will always have a certain elegance, but their shape is infinitely adaptable, working in both contemporary and traditional settings." For example, the fauteuil is that familiar shaped chair with an oval or round upholstered carved backrest and arms with small pads where the elbow rests. It's at places such as the Antique Warehouse and Drum Antiques that you'll find classics such as this that are not museum quality but will be affordable and, as the book points out, it's the overall effect that matters most in a French interior, rather than any one particular item's worth - a good rule of thumb for decorating, even outside France.
French Home, by Josephine Ryan, with words by Hilary Robertson and photography by Claire Richardson, is published by Ryland, Peters & Small, £19.99 in UK