Paris Apartment: La Vie en Rose

… and the pursuit of the perfect pink.

We were surprised and delighted that our favorite blog, Cote de Texas, featured the Paris Apartment Kitchen in a recent series on kitchen redos. And we were tickled pink with how many people commented on the pink chairs! Sure enough, that touch of pink is our favorite little exclamation point in the apartment. But it came about in a somewhat circuitous manner, with the help of many of our gallerinas. Here’s the story of pink:

As art gallery owners, it’s perhaps not unexpected that many of our interior decorating decisions first start with the art. It so happens that back in October, Linda and I, having one of the most fun flea marketing days of our lives (and no, this one didn’t involve bumping in to Catherine Deneuve …), found some paintings that we fell in love with and each had to have. The one I selected, whose provenance is unknown, jumped out at me so fast that I knew it belonged in the Paris apartment, and I knew it would have a significant role. I had it framed by our favorite Atlanta framer and for six months, it sat in a plastic bag in the bottom of a closet while I waited for the apartment to be finished, for the dust to settle and for its final destiny to be revealed.

Meanwhile, on another wonderful flea market excursion, this time in the South of France, I found six exquisite chairs that I just had to have. I loved the simple Louis XVI lines, the sturdiness of the frame, the patina of the wood and especially, the nubbly linen upholstery. They were a little pricey but worth it, and I decided to plan the Paris apartment around them.

I was very excited about the purchase and couldn’t wait to show them to Sam when she accompanied me on a trip to Les Murets, where I had decided to store the chairs until the apartment was ready.

And then the inevitable happened. We fell in love with the chairs all over again, but this time decided they had to stay at Les Murets, instead of Paris. We divided them up and spread them around the house, and no matter where we put them, they looked perfect:

Either as a desk chair in the office …

As an occasional chair in a bedroom:

As a pair, flanking a console or in a corner of the living room.

Who knew I needed so many chairs? (I didn’t!) But that left me scrambling to find some similar chairs for Paris, with the knowledge that, having already scoured all the antique markets, I’d have very little choice. In a leap of faith, I decided to order six chairs sight unseen, off of a prominent French website. I crossed my fingers and hoped they would be decent, especially since returning furniture in France is no easy feat.

When the chairs finally arrived, I was surprisingly pleased with the shape and structure and the pretty muted color, called “marron glace,” which means iced chestnut.

But when I grouped them around the kitchen table, and filled in around them with furniture and accessories in my favorite shades of grey, gold, taupe and beige, the room went flat. I knew that a pop of color was missing, but I couldn’t figure out which color. And of course, that is when art (and Sam!) came to the rescue.

The answer jumped out at me right from the canvas of that magical painting: it had to be pink! I went to bed that night dreaming of pink and woke up early to visit every flea market and fabric store I could find, for the right shade of pink. Have you ever tried to buy pink? It is a very tough color! I spent two days desperately scouring the French countryside only to come up with fuchsia, raspberry, melon, cranberry, and just about every fruit color on the planet but no perfect peony pink. I even called a Parisian antique store where I’d remembered seeing a gorgeous swath of antique pink silk fabric draped over a curtain rod in the back room, to ask if it was still available, to which the woman replied, “Of course not! It’s not for sale. It’s an original Louis XVI fabric.” My bad. It’s just that I thought if it was in a store, it might actually be for sale …

And then Sam came to the rescue. Three thousand miles away, she knew exactly what I was looking for, and found it buried in the sale rack of the silk remnants in a fancy Atlanta fabric store. When she sent me the picture of the pink and cream checked silk taffeta, I started jumping up and down. Although she apologized for the quality of the picture, I instantly remembered this fabric from having seen it years ago and wishing at the time that I had a room for it. It was 2 a.m. her time, but I frantically starting texting her: This is it! Buy it! Go get it! Break in! I’ll bail you out of jail!! Please don’t come without it!!

As luck would have it, she returned to the fabric store in the morning (having slept very little, since I’d kept her up with my frantic texting) and wouldn’t you know that out of the thousands of one-of-a-kind remnants in the store, a very pregnant woman was holding that particular swath, probably trying to figure out if it was enough to do her nursery. Sam kept her cool, walked around a little, and when the woman put the fabric down (probably just for a second to go get a measuring tape), Sam grabbed it and ran upstairs to pay for it. She didn’t check her bag on the plane and arrived safely, with fabric, the very next day in Paris. And that’s when our fun really began!

With the help of a thin backed spoon, Sam carefully lined the backs of the chairs in the silk taffeta and we’ve been holding our breaths ever since to make sure that it stays. (If not, there is a very nice upholsterer down the street in Paris, who assures me that for $400 per chair, he will back it properly! Ouch.)

With just a little touch of it, only on the backs of chairs (oh, and with a few peonies thrown in too), the pink has made all the difference in the kitchen, which instantly went from blah to ta dah! Just to add another touch of it in the living room we found a little lumbar pillow for the sofa.

We bought it in Paris but brought it back to Atlanta for the monogram, whose initials will be explained in the next (and final) blog on the Paris apartment.

And then of course the final piece de resistance, is the touch of pink in the geraniums on the window boxes!

This blog is dedicated to Linda, who helped me find the fabulous first painting that set the tone for the pink; to Sam, who knew how to make it all come together, and who climbed mountains and crossed oceans to deliver the perfect pink; and to Meg, whose unerring support through this whole process has been so generous and fun, and who coined the perfect phrase for the pink chairs when she responded to my fit of insecurity and wrote, “… Love em! They’re so sassy!”

Merci mesdames. Ma vie est en rose, thanks to you.

Ta ta,

AH

PS We’ll be issuing the final before-and-after blog on the Paris apartment next week, and with that, a little news of our own. Don’t go away!

Hats off to our Linda!

Linda taking a little break from the hard work at the Paris flea market

The Atlanta Journal Constitution used to run an article every Sunday entitled, “Why I Love My Job.” Our employees have kiddingly said, -- usually in jest on a particularly grueling, schleppy kind of day, when paintings show up unwired, and Styrofoam peanuts coat every surface of the gallery -- that they wanted to write their own stories. There are other days, when we’ve gotten some great new paintings, and had extraordinary Aha moments hanging for a show, and a client has been particularly enthusiastic or we’ve earned ourselves one more buying trip to France, that the appreciation is more sincere.

Linda with Monsieur and Madame Nepo

Well we’d like to turn the tables a little and write our own mini series: About why we love our employees.

Today we’re picking on our sweet and gracious Linda Mohan, who has been with us almost from the beginning, and who continues to delight us daily with how much she brings to the gallery. She’ll be mortified, of course. But as small business owners, we realize more than ever how important the people are to the work we do. So maybe this isn’t just about Linda but about what makes any employee, especially in a small business environment, invaluable and appreciated and the secret to success.

The keeper of the loot!

With apologies for causing her embarrassment and singling her out in this first expose, here are the top ten reasons why we love working with our wonderful Madame, Linda Mohan:

10. Because she’s always prompt and dependable. Like a ray of sunshine, she comes bouncing in to the gallery on Monday mornings, coffee in one hand (always in an old fashioned French coffee bowl and without a top to it – how does she do it?), and waving a fabulous article that she read over the weekend, in the other.

9. Because she has such style. Yes, appearances do matter! And how fun it is to see what chic and creative outfit our Madame will turn up in every day. She is a true original who always looks beautiful and always with a little edgy, fun panache to every outfit.

8. Because she has a great work ethic. Our Madame exemplifies hard work. She doesn’t balk at the bad stuff (and there’s plenty of it). And she seems to swoon over the good stuff. If we let her, we think sometimes she would stay in the gallery until midnight – or at least until she gets it all done. By the way, will our ever-so-slightly over-indulged and over protected children inherit this same work ethic when they hit the work force? We certainly hope so.

Our favorite Schlepperella!

7. Because she loves to travel. Indeed, as an ex-flight attendant, and one who has never lost the bug for traveling, this one is up for anything anytime, even when it means lugging 50 extra pounds of paintings and sconces back from a buying trip in France. No surprise that one of her many terms of endearment is “schlepperella.”

6. Because she’s always upbeat. We have an unwritten rule at the gallery that we will only work with people we like and people who have a positive energy. Linda’s positive energy is positively contagious.

With artist Pascal Bouterin

5. Because she’s wonderful with clients, artists, and us, even when we don’t deserve it. Luckily, Miss Linda has never met a stranger and she always makes everyone feel comfortable and at ease. Again, a note to our children – yes, education comes first, but people skills and connecting with others are the keys to success in most professions.

With artist Georges Nasri

4. Because she’s always furthering her knowledge and always curious to know more. We appreciate that she is studying art history in the evenings and reading books about art. And we love that she is curious and passionate about a lot of different interests, like travel, learning French and knowing where to find the best macaroons in whatever city she happens to visit.

3. Because she takes initiative. As small business owners, we know that feeling of hating to ask someone to do something because it’s almost easier just to do it ourselves. Well, with Linda, we don’t have to ask her to do it, because she’s already thought of it, planned it, and committed to it. Aaaah ….

With artist Ewa Rzeznik in Paris

2. Because she has a great eye. There’s nothing more fun than going on a buying trip with Linda, who will quietly rustle through a bin of paintings and manage to gently point out several that we may have overlooked (but she knows are quite fabulous). Her eye goes much further than art too, since she has a great eye for fashion, for interior design and for gifts! In fact, we kiddingly call her the VP or Corporate Gifts because nobody can find the diamond in the rough like Linda or the perfect quelque chose to bring back to somebody back home.

With artist Andree Thobaty

And the number 1 reason we love working with Linda is ...

1. Because she loves what she does, and it shows. Just as they always say you should ask for the job when you are interviewing for it, you should appreciate it when you’re in it. There is nothing better than to work with people who are enthusiastic, and as employers, there is nothing that we appreciate more than happy employees. It’s contagious, it benefits everyone and it makes us all happier to work together. Merci, Linda!

Linda, who has never met a stranger, with a new friend in Provence!

Ta ta,

HH

PS: Gallerina, M'selle and Sam: We love you too ... and watch out, your turn will come!