Thursday, July 16, 2009

Les Marches des Puces - Take a seat

Maybe my subconscious is trying to tell me something about hospitality, dinner parties, and entertaining. Or maybe it's the fact that one of our old used dining chairs fell apart the other day and we threw it in the garbage. Whatever the reason, during our visit Monday to the Marches de Puce a Saint-Ouen, I kept seeing sets of chairs for sale - usually by the pair, but often in sets of six. The view above is looking down from the second level of the Marche Dauphine, at several different sets - all of them fabulous.

Above, this set of aluminum cafe chairs looked wonderful displayed against a bright wall painted the color of curry powder.

I liked the sleek lines of these two mid-century chairs, upholstered in blue leather.

These brocade-covered chairs have classically carved frames, and are finished in white paint.

The cut velvet upholstery on this Arte Deco club chair is a little bit worn, and the wooden frame is nicked a bit. With a little cleaning up, it could be just as fabulous as the barrel-shaped chairs in the lobby bar at the famed Hotel Lutetia.

This pair of classic fauteuils is newly upholstered in a lovely salmon-colored paisley chintz. The chair beside them is pretty nice, too, with clean lines and sunny yellow upholstery.

How would you like to curl up into one of these armchairs? Upholstered in oyster-colored mohair velvet, they have long silky fringe.

This metal framed lounge chair is one of a pair. The bright 60's era Pop Art fabric is somewhat worn, but still looks fabulous.

Continuing with the modern, these three dark oak dining chairs also include a fourth, which was out in front of the shop on display.

These three are part of a set of six 30's era fruitwood dining chairs. The citron-colored chenille upholstery is a little dingy, but with a good cleaning they would be fabulous. The shopkeeper quoted me 600 Euros for the set of six, which is a pretty good price.....but it would cost equally as much to ship them to the US, so I passed.

Two classic leather club chairs. Aren't they great?

For real glamor, I like these two club chairs - gilt Arte Deco frames and cream-colored leather. They belong in a movie-star's pad.


Finally, here is a classic metal garden chair. The rusty patina is beautiful if you seal it!

Which set of chairs do you like best?

3 comments:

Gilly said...

What gorgeous chairs! I like those dark oak dining chairs, and the blue leather chairs, and I love that 60's pop art chair but I doubt I would be able to get out of it if I ever sat in it! And the metal garden chair can sit by our pond! And the yellow pale wood chairs are lovely.......

Do I have to choose? Maybe I could persuade Mr. G to drive over with me on Eurostar and fill our car up with bargains!

Unknown said...

What gorgeous chairs. I need to entertain more also. I get lazy in the summer. It's always so fun to invite people over though. And most times, I am more blessed than the company because of the dinner : ).

Anonymous said...

I can't decide on a favorite! So many of those chairs are wonderful.