WOODEN INLAYS

IR: Wooden inlay work and other unique and precious details are something that at Mignonne, we scout for diligently, keeping an eye out for pieces that reflect skilled craftsmanship and sturdy construction, therefore reflecting quality, and value. We apply this to our workmanship as well.  When redesigning a piece, we keep in mind what qualities it possesses that make it something worth re-vamping, and focus on playing those wonderful qualities up. It's important to know what aspects are better left alone, and what can be done to highlight those special details.

As most of us know, these little details can make us fall in love, with furniture that is, but the rough edges or dated style can hold us back from actualizing their potential. Some furniture looks dated by nature, but don't let that stop you from re-imagining it. Re-imagining is something we've been doing here at Mignonne Decor for years. There's no need to be hindered by your love of classic pieces, it's possible to modernize practically anything! Using your eye, you can find pieces you love, you may even have a few already. With the help of our skilled team they can be everything you imagined and more!

'VIENNA' coffee table and side tables.

We revamped this 1940's wooden inlay coffee table and side tables set, and only modifications we made to the inlay work was to sand off the areas that were too far gone to be saved, then we varnished up the rest.

The next step was to find a color that was modern and classic altogether. Marie (assistant furniture re-vamper here at Mignonne), after much deliberation, made the decision to mix a creamy pastel with a touch of green, resulting in a color similar to home made key lime pie. The color is so light that it's not accosting, but weird enough to have a funky edge! The color both complements the beauty of the woodwork while making the set look vibrant and incredibly unique.

Something that we must consider often here at Mignonne, is when to make a full transformation, and when to make subtle changes, as to not effect the integrity of what we're working with. Especially when it comes to furniture detailed with things like woodwork, inlays, veneers, and more.

If you're not sure of what you want to preserve about a piece, or if you should preserve it at all, we can help you. With a distinguished eye for quality furniture and details, Johnelle(about) has been scouting furniture for Mignonne years, and has an educated taste to help you modernize, without jeopardizing your classic furniture.

Have a piece of furniture in mind? The possibilities are vast, and here at Mignonne, we can help you achieve them. Start a conversation by emailing us at quotes@mignonnedecor.com, we'd love to hear from you!

xoxo mignonne

The French Connection ... Douzième Note: Le Creative Sweatshop

Bonjour mes amis!

I was drawn to today's subject simply by the fact that the title made me smile. Yes there is in fact a French enterprise called Le Creative Sweatshop! those who know me know my penchant to call everything Le something ... it is my (probably lame) attempt at humor and to frenchify things...so imagine my grin when the french turned tables on me and used the same approach.

I have now decided to christen my own ateliér le creative sweatshop deux ... or maybe redux. it makes me smile, but maybe the real owners of the brand won't like that so much. le sigh.

so let me say a word ... well, okay TWO words about le real Le Creative Sweatshop and you will understand even more clearly why I am smiling.

Jello Lamps.

ok. who doesn't love jello? (and if it is you, WHAAAT? are ya crazy?). first of all, don't forget it goes with everything! and second of all, it comes in pretty colors and tastes good! and thirdly, jello is F-U-N, fun. it is bouncy and jiggly and you can see through it! it conforms to the shape you put it in. and let us not forget Jello Shots!

but now, french design teams at le creative workshop have combined jello and lighting! presto whammo/ JELLO LAMPS! woot!



























but ... but ... how'd they do that? well of course they didn't have some poor intern rip open thousands of Bill Cosby's favorite dessert option, in fact I don't believe I have seen THOSE color options in Jell-O before ... the designers at Le Creative Sweatshop combined pork gelatin and inks poured into special molds combined with the lamps to achieve these effects ... all the same we know it MUST be jelly cos jam don't look that good!

other interesting finds from ye olde sweatshop include these Righteous Origami Shoes, as well as other fun, flashy and totally unique stuff you can view on their site...





Le Creative Sweatshop includes in their mantra the following statements "...Le Creative Sweatshop is committed to originality and quality, hand-crafted work constitutes the identity of Le Creative Sweatshop. Most pieces are handmade which gives them a humble, precious and fragile stature..." this vision marries nicely with the work we strive to produce at Mignonne Décor and The Bohemians ... I continue to be amazed and inspired by many things I see and discover in my journeys here in la belle france ... did I say amazed? well I also meant amused! you can design seriously and be serious about design and it can still be fun, I promise you!

well then, I am visiting Paris this week-end, I am certain I will find something designy and funny and inspiring all at the same time. see you next time!

*all images courtesy of lecreativesweatshop.com

Our guest correspondent for The French Connection is Kimberlee Mancha, mother of Johnelle and co-founder of Mignonne Décor. Now living in France, Kimberlee started our sister shop "The Bohemians" in 2009. She will be providing live updates for all you Francophiles and lovers of beautiful European inspirations.

The French Connection ... Dixième (10th) Note ... It's A Sign!

a fading sign from times gone by, I would love to restore this beautiful old building ... and keep the signs! (épicerie = grocery shop)

Bonjour à tous! I thought it would be fun to share some snapshots of signs from Laon, a city near where I have been this winter.

Driving around most parts of France, you can find signs from so many periods ... and their accompanying styles and fonts. So often, I find myself wishing I had my camera to grab ... I get a lot of inspiration and ideas from all sorts of things, not just looking at other furniture but nature, cars, rooftops ... and yes, signs. They can put you in a mood, send you to review another era, display colors gone by and generally just get you thinking in another way about something you see every day.

Here, most signs are 'eries ... as in Boulangerie (bakery), Poissonerie (fish shop), Boucherie (butcher) etc. Signs are more often focused on the activity vs the name of the shop ... well at least it is the activity that is emphasized.



Neat as a pin Boulangerie (bakery).

Above, the emblems regarding the bread and flour.


















Cordonnerie (shoe repair).













Close-up ... It reads "teinturerie blancherie"

the little painting gives it away ... it is a Laundry shop, 'teinturerie is dyeing and blancherie is bleaching' ... they also iron clothes and launder by the kilo!

LOVE Love love that green ...






easier to guess this one ... but here he uses his name 'Nourry' on his butcher shop. He specializes in pork and sausages, could you tell!!



love the shades of grey and aging on that metal pig.









speaking of metal, I adore the sleek, industrial look of this sign, very modern!

Horloger (Watches) and Bijoutier (jeweller)










not a big fan of their clothing, but their sign is terrific ...

love that Déco font.



















another butcher!

(we were making the rounds on Sunday which is why the shops are all closed!)







Bar à Manger (rough translation "eat at the bar!") ... this has that early 70s feel, kind of ugly cute! digging that 70s orange too!

Another painted on stone, La Crèperie is a sign of good things to come!










kind of crappy picture, but you get the drift ... it is american (like) stuff! how about them stars on the As? lol














my post would not be complete without the Texas News ... made us smile because there is the good old flag of ... wait, what? Britain!? ha ha



















this is actually a beautiful, older but not SO old shop with a very mod sign and cool black tile. wish that car wasn't there!
















another beautiful example of a flashy tiled storefront in black ... this one is a print shop (imprimerie) with a déco flair!









finally, one of my faves. now I can tell myself (get thee to a rhumerie ...hee hee ... and do it! slurp!) Music AND rum, how could you go wrong?


See you next time!

*all images courtesy of Kimberlee Mancha

Our guest correspondent for The French Connection is Kimberlee Mancha, mother of Johnelle and co-founder of Mignonne Décor. Now living in France, Kimberlee started our sister shop "The Bohemians" in 2009. She will be providing live updates for all you Francophiles and lovers of beautiful European inspirations.

The French Connection - Septiéme (7th) Note ... oo la la Maison et Objét, where to begin?

Rebonjour à tous! I am very sorry to be tardy with this week's edition but have been suffering from amazing décor overload as well as struggling to get photos downloaded and thoughts organized.

The salon seemed even more enormous than usual, and I was a little overwhelmed even before entering ... these huge signs greeted us with loud bursts of color!

Well, first off, first impressions ... the theme as I would describe it is 2012 Get Happy! (emphasized with this year's Pantone color of the year TANGERINE tango!) now I know Maison et Objet has its own theme, logo, etc. but in general everyone seemed to be trying their hardest to inject some fun and whimsy into their offerings.

I saw lots of bright, juicy colors. Punchy primary colors are in in in...!

Whimsy! Lots of quirky little accessories to brighten up a space affordably. Humorous touches. Upbeat vendors.

Another trend was, of course, the ever expanding green market. upcycled, recycled, reimagined, transformed materials.

Artisanal everywhere. Locally-made in big demand and emphasized greatly. If something wasn't hand made, it was still created to look like it was.

Lighting ... seems like there was alot more lighting on display! trying lift our spirits, maybe?

A whole building devoted to Ethnic Chic with lots of interesting ideas and presentations ...

An inspiring expo of the Ateliers d'Art of France with young designers strutting their stuff...

Really, the whole show was phenomenal and, because it is a truly international affair, I can definitely say the whole world is feeling a bit in need of a mood change... and designers everywhere are doing their best to encourage, inspire and uplift starting with our home environments!

I am going to share photos for the next few columns so you can see more about these themes I've mentioned.

Since Johnelle and I adore color so much, maybe I will start there!









here is a raspberry hot flash, very nice to punch up your boudoir!



















colorful lamps in fun shapes too!






















colorful in lace, too!

COLORFUL ACCESSORIES & MIRRORS

LOTS of color for the table top, too!

and who doesn't love some color drenched chairs? not us at Mignonne or The Bohemians!














loved this olivey, chartreusy green chair!




















more of my favorite green on a stripy indoor outdoor ensemble ... much brighter in person!

Next week I will share ideas imbued with whimsy and playfullness ... and more COLOR! Really, much of the show had a no camera policy so my pics are meant to whet your inspiration appetites and some were even on the sly so .... no promises that I will be landing any photo shoots soon, but you will get a taste for sure.

*all images courtesy of Kimberlee Mancha

Our guest correspondent for The French Connection is Kimberlee Mancha, mother of Johnelle and co-founder of Mignonne Décor. Now living in France, Kimberlee started our sister shop "The Bohemians" in 2009. She will be providing live updates for all you Francophiles and lovers of beautiful European inspirations.

The French Connection ... Sixième Note- à la brocante

Brocantes are many things. part antique store, part thrift shop, part junk and salvage. Always a little part heavenly! for me, they are made all the more interesting because it is all old FRENCH stuff and somehow all the more intriguing. Sometimes that may be because a lot of what you find will be naturally older ... because folks have been around a lot longer in these parts so even their old crap is more interesting ... ha!

While I have been up here in northern France, between Soissons and Reims ... I haven't spent too much time yet sniffing out the good spots.

However I have regularly passed a pair of shops and been curious, so today I dashed by one and have some photos to share with you, my fellow armchair "chineurs" (loosely translated, to chiner or shee-nay, you are scouting or thrifting or antique hunting or somesuch, in a brocante or at a vide-grenier / flea market).

So this one is not very creatively named Antiquités et Brocante du Laonnais. The owner lives there, his house is attached to a big garage/warehouse for his store and it is located on a very organized, neat as a pin property.

Here are some highlights ...




Before we head inside, here were a few treasures arranged in the courtyard ... next to functional items like cords and cords of firewood !

This is a really lovely gate in good condition for its age ... likely 20s or 30s ... not too much rust and the lock functioned too.




Leaning against it was ....














This gorgeous window (well, mostly frame now)

There were four to six of these out and about, in varying degrees of decay. I have fun just imagining the chateau or manor that these graced in their better years.

These are amazing architectural pieces, salvage to be sure, but I could go crazy picturing the various design possibilities even one of these could afford.







approaching the entrance, it was great to see some humor and attention had been used in the displays ...

Hey look, he loves chairs too! and I got a few inspirations for The Bohemians as well ...

this also made me think that if you have a single chair that you adore ... not too heavy, maybe even kind of fragile ... why not think about putting it up as wall art?

I might try that, so there!


Heading inside, I soon discovered it was a little more antiques than thrift, with lots of huge old wooden furniture items like ancient armoires, bureaus, kitchen cabinets of old ... many beautiful big things and a lesser selection of 'smalls' ...


but these were some wonderful candelabra and the clock wasn't so bad either!

This armoire was ENORMOUS and I loved the women's faces carved on each door ... do you?



A beautiful sideboard, the wood and carved details were a beautiful honey brown ...and of course there were SOME goodies throughout , but not as 'sanford and son' as some of the shops you find:



these little gals caught my eye ... especially the one in the green dress ...

a serene art deco plaster sculpture ...

chairs more chairs, and a collection of old cast iron irons ....



heading back outside a few things I missed on the way in ... a cool old buffet with a birdy theme, and a collection of old pitchers ... some in zinc, some enamel.











and this group of funky old wood or coal stoves, how did I miss those on the way in??








Finally though, one of my most favorite discoveries and one I will probably be going back to bargain for were these ..

a ginormous pile of old floor tiles ... and there was another one, smaller, but all from one cool old floor ... I dream of putting a whole floor of these in, possible a bath or sunroom ... I actually think it would be even more fun to have a whole room floor with mismatched but unique tiles ... that requires a chunk of time for sorting and reflecting, which I didn't have today.

Well, that concludes my small tour ... thanks for coming along with me, hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.

Looking forward to next week's update, because it will be after the Maison et Objet conference in Paris and I hope to have loads of décor madness to share! à bientôt!

*all images courtesy of Kimberlee Mancha

Our guest correspondent for The French Connection is Kimberlee Mancha, mother of Johnelle and co-founder of Mignonne Décor. Now living in France, Kimberlee started our sister shop "The Bohemians" in 2009. She will be providing live updates for all you Francophiles and lovers of beautiful European inspirations.

The French Connection ... Troisième Note! Grey, The New Neutral.

Grey has been a much maligned color in design schemes. In America, it can be considered somber, the color of ciment, a bit sad even... for me even prison-like!

Since moving to France, I have a whole new regard for the color grey. I am surrounded by all sorts of inspiring examples of grey which are so much more beautiful than those I remember in the U.S.

Here wherever you look you find a shade of grey.

Check out the beautiful cupola roof slates here ... not only is the color sharp, but the shape of these rooflines inspire me in all sorts of design directions ... just a typical corner of Reims, with the added bonus of a décor shop tucked away for future investigation.


You can be walking along a busy shopping boulevard, peek between two buildings and be blown away by the view behind. Here is a lovely example of soft pearly grey, very sophisticated.


Wait awhile, pass back by and discover a completely different shade, an almost bluish grey. The contrast of these neutral greys against the soft creamy beige of freshly cleaned limestone give ideas as well ...


Here, Reims' cathedral tower with aging stone. Limestone is affected by many elements and the colors can vary tremendously. Weather, traffic, age, smoke ... all of these add to the depth of colors present. Some might consider this aging 'dirty', but if you look beyond that label to the palette of colors, you find beauty.



Nature here provides some examples as well, of the beautiful options for neutrals in your design with greys, browns, creams. Take this tree bark for example. I am dying to put together a beautiful 'commode' (dresser) or 'placard' (cabinet), incorporating this color combination.


Here in the far north of France, I reveled in the early winter's seaside climate in the village of Cayeux as another creative inspiration. The thousand subtle shades of grey found in the beach stones, the effect of the foggy day on the color and reflections in the water ... the curvy shapes of the inlet, all reminded me that these neutral colors can compete, in fact overcome, the standard eggshell or ivory we sometimes lean toward.



I am currently finishing up a redesign project of a small stone house or what we have called 'chalet', incorporating a dark grey, a grey called 'plume' and a blue grey called 'ciel' or sky. You'll see how it all came together in an upcoming edition.

In the meantime, here are some examples of grey in design action:





Soft
Pearly
Grey

Makes for an inviting and classy
Welcome

In this Entry Hall ...

photo courtesy of apartmenttherapy.com

Here modern sleek lines in an
Open Kitchen and Dining area
are highlighted by a
SLATE GREY
accent wall

photo courtesy of gapinteriors.com

photo courtesy of iheartshabbychic.blogspot.com

This shabby chic bedroom with grey and soft brown patinas makes me want to snuggle up with a good book ... or walk barefoot on that plush textured carpet ... these neutrals are not boring!!

I hope this peek into some of my everyday discoveries here in la Belle France has offered some inspiration and a new view on (n)ever boring grey!

except where noted, all images courtesy of Kimberlee Mancha

Our guest correspondent for The French Connection is Kimberlee Mancha, mother of Johnelle and co-founder of Mignonne Décor. Now living in France, Kimberlee started our sister shop "The Bohemians" in 2009. She will be providing live updates for all you Francophiles and lovers of beautiful European inspirations.