Monic Fischer has updated Provençal chic from the Pierre Frey model to a much more subtle and modern palette with pretty boutis (quilts) and fabrics, wooden trays, painted wooden furniture, armoires in intriguing shapes and all of the accessories for your south of France fantasy house. The rooms are set up like those in a house, and it’s tempting to want to buy them complete.
The Rue Jacob shop is smaller but convenient to the decorating and antiques shops on Rue Jacob and Place du Furstenburg.
The chic editor from Do It In Paris, an online fashion magazine based in the French capital, recommends this unique flower shop:
A workshop entirely dedicated to flowers, By Dani is a rose haven. Passionate about these roses since her early childhood, Dani removes the thorns by hands and assembles the flowers into marvelous bouquets featuring powdered and bright colors. Closed Sunday.
For those who love a bit of the exotic arts from Morocco, Thailand or Bali, but don’t want to hop on a plane, Caravane is the answer. You can find authentic Aladinesque lamps, Arabic cushions, Berber rugs, Pacha beds, Tanger footstools, as well as pure linen sheets and table accessories and more. The largest of the chain is the emporium near Bastille but there is also the original shop in the Marais at 6 Rue Pavée (33-1-44-61-4-20). Both shops are closed Sundays and Mondays. Open 11 a.m to 7p.m. Métro: Bastille.
A native of Paris, Catherine Memmi opened her first shop on the Left Bank in 1993. This larger gallery showcases a much broader range of her modern yet sensual furniture and accessories. Almost everything is brown, beige or white, with just a hint of color. It’s very minimalist. Think a French woman’s take on a Calvin Klein home. She has always emphasized elegant simplicity in the clean lines and neutral color selections, all of which mix well with traditional pieces while adding a contemporary edge. Her collections now include everything from leather sectional sofas, chrome standing lamps and sleek oak dining tables to delicate linens for the table, bedroom and bathrooms as well as cashmere throws and candles.
The ultimate men’s shop, Charvet, has been one of the secret weapons of the world’s best-dressed men for decades. Now the legendary haberdashery has begun to sell fabrics for the house, including wonderful striped linens for only 9.50 euros a meter. Métro: Opéra, Madeleine
Modern, sleek furniture and accessories from the man who designed Calvin Klein’s new apartment and the Mercer Hotel in New York. Trays, bookshelves, beds and more…all to order. Métro: Rue du Bac.
Cire Trudon has been making bespoke candles for centuries, and chic Parisian ladies such as designer Isabel Marant know there is no better house present. You can specify the color, shape, size and scent of your custom candle or buy one of the wonderful signature examples. The company was granted the royal warrant in the 17th century and has created candles for such legendary design houses as Guerlain, Hermès and Dior. This new boutique in the 6th arrondissement has brought it back into vogue.
One of the prettiest tabletop store in Paris, where everyone goes for wedding presents. They have wonderful, whimsical plates, flatware, glasses, linens etc… Métro: Rue du Bac.
The fantastic taxidermy shop that Adam Gopnik wrote about so memorably in the New Yorker is worth a visit, especially if you are trying to entertain children or husbands who are being dragged along on a shopping spree. On the bottom floor of the 19th-century Beaux Art building is Le Prince Jardinier. Climb the winding wooden stairs, though, and you will think that you have entered a natural history museum set in a palace.
The grand salon rooms have ornate wood paneling and chandeliers fit for diplomatic entertaining but the creatures who inhabit them are stuffed elephants, polar bears and tigers. One room is devoted primarily to stuffed birds, from sparrows for $200 to a five-foot-tall ostrich. Another room contains many sea creatures and another insects. Small glass shadow boxes of butterflies and beetles are among the easiest exports, but they do ship larger specimens around the world regularly.
The shop was destroyed by a fire in 2007 but entirely restored. Fans of the beloved landmark will be relieved to know that it has reopened and its restoration is so masterful that you would have no idea that it had ever been damaged. The façade, the staircase and the grand rooms on the second floor which house its collection of stuffed animals and rare specimens of insects, fossils and sea creatures and Le Prince Jardininer boutique on the first floor look just as they did before the blaze. Métro: Rue du Bac.
Heavenly scented candles make this a fabulous home scent emporium. I love “Figuier,” which captures the smell of fig leaves, and am partial to “Pomander” at Christmas-time. They also carry other finely fragranced home accessories. Métro: Maubert-Mutualité.
NOTE: As of June 2008, the store has another branch in the Marais, The space is smaller but the complete line is on sale. 8 Rue Des Francs-Bourgeois; 33-1-48-04-95-57. Métro: St-Paul.
Bruno Domeau, a successful saddle maker, and Philippe Pérès, an upholsterer, teamed up a decade ago to create unusual furniture. The result: divine leather club chairs with sink-in foam cushions and whisper-thin leather desks. They have collaborated with such designers as Matali Crasset, Andrée Putman and Christophe Pillet and worked on a line of furniture inspired by the set of Jacques Tati’s Mon Oncle. They have also fashioned sublime leather interiors for cars, airplanes, even hot-air balloons. In their new showroom, near Place de la République, you can view samples from their collections and order custom pieces.
Even though you can now find French cookware and accessories on this side of the pond, Dehillerin still surprises with kitchen gear you’ve never even thought of. If you’re in the market for copper saucepans, you’re in the right place, and they ship. Métro: Les Halles.
The Belgian version of Conran’s, Flamant has been the most stylish house wares shop for Belgians since the late 1970s. The aesthetic mixes Scandinavian and Provencal influences for a semi-rustic, yet Parisian chic look with lots of vintage looking leather club chairs, inviting wooden dining tables, sumptuous linens and fantasy flea market finds, such as old-fashioned looking toys, stemware, baskets and objets from antlers to leather rugby balls. Flamant now has branches all over Europe, including two in Paris. The one on Rue St.-Honoré (No. 279) is smaller than this one on the Left Bank, which wends over multiple rooms and floors. As you move through the model rooms, (living, dining, library, child’s room, kitchen and bedrooms), you will find a café, the paint room, where custom colors are blended, and a garden room, full of flowers, vases and gardening tools. Interior designers are on hand so you can decorate an entire house or just pick up special linens, glass urns, kitchen items or unusual gifts. Closed Sundays. Métro: Mabillon
Travelers have been swooning over the work of designer India Mahdavi in hotels and restaurants, from London’s Connaught to Mexico City’s Condesa Df to the wild new Left Bank bistro Café Germain. Now it’s possible to buy her curvy stools, Jetlag sofas and Dog’s Life wooden chairs for your own house at her newly opened showroom on the Left Bank.
Just down the street from her furniture showroom, designer India Mahdavi has opened a sliver of a boutique that sells her signature accessories. Renowned for her sinewy, exotic interiors like those in the Connaught bar and New York’s Hotel On Rivington, Mahdavi brings her worldly sense of fun and flair to smaller objects such as candy-colored bowls, hip silk and velvet pillows and vases with multiple faces peering out.
The famous Marais concept store has moved to a bigger and more fabulous space that was designed by artist Arne Quinze. The husband and wife team behind Eclaireur, Armand and Martine Hadida now have more space to display the clothes and objects that they love along with art installations and high-tech touches like 150 video screens that guide you through. It’s as much an art experience as a shopping detour, but you will probably leave with something new and special to go with the thrill of futuristic browsing.
For other locations: see L’Eclaireur
A sliver of an antiques shop, L’Heure Bleue sits just steps off of the busy Rue St.-Honoré on a tiny street facing the St. Roch church. The owner has clearly spent hours scouring weekend markets for treasured objects of the past. From old-fashioned kitchen utensils and dishes and delicate linens to antique silver brush sets and well-worn tables and bureaus, the store is crammed with charming house wares. There’s also a nice selection of new sleep wear and vintage jewelry.
Across from Blanc d’Ivoire and just down the street from Diners en Ville, this linen shop specializes in embroidery and cotton and linen sheets, napkins and tablecloths. They have a lovely selection of pillows and will do custom orders. Métro: Rue du Bac.
Between the Louvre and the Palais-Royal, this building houses more than 200 really good antique dealers. You can preview the galleries on their Web site.
This boutique in the arcades of the Palais Royal is a prime address for gardeners and those shopping for house presents. It was founded by the Prince de Broglie—known for the garden of hundreds of types of tomatoes that he planted at his Loire Valley château—after he became frustrated by the lack of high-quality gardening tools and equipment on the market. He designed his own line of tools and went directly to the France’s top toolmakers. Following the success of his original store, the prince recently opened a Left Bank outpost at 46 Rue du Bac, which shares space with Deyrolle, Paris’ famous eccentric taxidermist. Métro: Palais Royal and Métro: Rue du Bac.
Gorgeous fabrics for curtains (rideau) and much more.
This home décor boutique in the Haut Marais is one of Paris’ most beautiful stores. A stylish Parisian says that this is the one store she visits when in need of a hostess gift. The color-coded displays range from delicate espresso cups to large ceramic installation pieces. It’s not like every item is totally unique and cannot be found elsewhere but the way the tableware and gifts are displayed is so exquisite, with fresh flowers throughout, that you will be hard-pressed not to make a purchase here. Closed Monday.
Connoisseurs would not dream of visiting Paris without stopping by this elegant emporium of multi-hued linens, exquisite housewares and minimalist fine jewelry designed by Grateau. Métro: Rue du Bac.
In search of the perfect Provencal look for a bedroom? At this shop, just off of the Rue de Rennes, you can find the pretty quilts in floral prints and solids, along with loads of pillows of all shapes and sizes. Métro: Rennes.
A great source for beach house linens, this Left Bank shop with its lacquered turquoise floors and white walls evokes a coastal urge in anyone who wanders in. The fluffy terry towels and linen napkins and sheets are adorned with ribbons of fabric or embroidery, all of which can be customized. One popular line has stitching that resembles sea gulls on the horizon; another has grosgrain ribbons of different colors. Métro: Saint-Germain-des-Près.
Aristocratic French families have bought linens of the highest quality for the bedroom and the dining room for decades. The detailing is exquisite, whether it’s a linen table cloth hand-embroidered with dozens of daisies or pillow cases with a scalloped edge to match a fabric in your bedroom. Métro: Iéna.
For more than twenty years, this Left Bank boutique has been a favorite source for sophisticated decorators from around the world. Parisian interior decorator Catherine Colé displays her finds and her own collections—from fabrics, curtains, chairs and lighting—along with rugs and accessories in rooms that you want to move right into or transplant whole. Métro: Solferino.
This narrow shop down the street from the Rue du Bac may be new but its owners have been making some of the best candles in France for years. In fact, they have created the scented candles of many luxury brands, including Louis Vuitton. The small company now sells their own line of scents as well as make bespoke candles to order, so customers can have their own special house scent to burn at home or to give to friends.
R&Y Augousti carries stunning furniture and boxes in exotic skins and a range of colors. Looking for sharkskin side tables and jewelry boxes? You’ll find them here. The designer’s wife had the brilliant idea of using leftover scraps to create jewelry and little clutches that are becoming the new “it” bags among the superelegant in New York and London.
Gorgeous linens for those who want the quality of a brand like Pratesi or Frette but with a French delicacy and designs that are less easily recognized. Imagine lilies of the valley hand-embroidered and pillows with unusual trims.
Like India Madhavi who just opened IMH, Sarah Lavoine has established herself as a sought-after interior designer and has decided to branch out into retail and share her taste and discoveries with Parisian shoppers. Her style is 21st century chic with a mix of graphic Moroccan wool carpets, industrial lights, low slung sleek couches, but all softened with personal effects like books, candles, baskets and ceramic bowls. She picks up treasures at flea markets, auctions and on her travels. For a more old-fashioned selection of housewares, check out L’Heure Bleue just down the street. Closed Sundays.
Beautiful bed linens. Almost everything is hand-embroidered. The boudoir pillows with embroidered flowers and butterflies are very pretty and cost only $35. The little lavender sachets are great for small gifts. Métro: Sèvres-Babylone.
What do you get when combine contemporary kitchen and home design with an art gallery mindset? Tools Galerie, which opened in 2003, to exhibit and distribute the limited edition works of cutting-edge modern furniture and cuisine designers is just such a place. You can find the whimsical works of Marcel Wanders, including his sculptural lamps and vases, and the colorful chandeliers of Stuart Haygarth, which are made of stacked plastic wine glasses. Métro: Filles du Calvaire.
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