Have Some Decorum: Have Some Decorum Home

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The Shop is Open!

The shop is open!

Go to the Have Some Decorum Home Shop (2nd icon on the right) that says, “Shop.”

-OR-

just click HERE.

Bon Week-end!

coucou! the august sale starts today...

The shop opens today, Wednesday, August 5, for my August sale!

10 AM Pacific Standard Time!

These past few weeks have been a blast collecting new items. There are 37 new pieces! Today on the blog I will give you a little preview of my favorites.

But first, I have to tell you a little exciting fleamarket story… You all will die!

This past Friday I had a little “incident.” Truth be told, I nearly choked to death. With ALS, your muscles get weak and I guess my throat muscles are getting a little weaker because it’s a tad bit difficult to swallow and if I swallow incorrectly… All hell breaks loose. I have no muscles to cough so blah blah blah. I managed to make it through the evening with the help of a ridiculously expensive machine that we have to keep at the house called a Cough Assist machine which I had to use at least 20 times that night. The good news is that the machine worked and I didn’t die. Surprise, I’m still here. Don’t worry, the story gets better, much better.

So, Saturday rolls around and I am just very nervous about eating, swallowing… And surviving. So, what’s a girl to do? She takes an emergency crazy pill and sleeps the day off because there’s really no other alternative. Sunday morning my caregivers arrived to take me to the fleamarket with my husband and I didn’t know if I really wanted to go. That was a first for me. Was I too scared? What if I coughed/choked? What if I died? What if I had a panic attack? I thought about it for about five minutes and then I realized, “So what? So what if I choke? So what if I have a panic attack? So what if I die? If any of this is going to happen it might as well be at a Parisian fleamarket, right?” Yes, I have these little conversations with myself all the time and I agreed with myself… If anything bad was going to happen it might as well be at my happy place… The fleamarket. So, off we go.

We are halfway through the fleamarket and everything has been easy peasy, thank God. Now, sometimes flea markets are good and sometimes they are not so good. This particular fleamarket on Sunday was fantastic. I was shopping up a storm. At one particular vendor, I spied with my little eyes, a set of the most gorgeous crystal wine glasses. I said to my caregiver, “Oh my God, those are gorgeous… Grab them!” As he was reaching to pick them up, another hand reached to grab them as well! I had my hat on low, as usual, so I could not see who it was grabbing for my glasses! The woman who had my glasses in her hands said to me, “Yes, they are beautiful.” I said to her without looking up, “Do you think they are very old?” She asked the vendor their history and he said that they were 19^th-century Sevres. The woman said to me, “Ahh, they are Sevres. We have the same taste. Very good taste.” At that point, after hearing her voice more, I thought to myself, “I know that voice.” I decided that I would peek up from my hat to see if my suspicions were correct. They were… That voice that was talking to me at the fleamarket about the beautiful 19^th-century Sevres crystal glasses that we shared a love for was no other than… Catherine Deneuve!

I literally almost had a heart attack. And to answer all of your questions, “No, I did not buy the glasses and no, I did not take a picture with her.” I would never take away antique crystal glasses from France’s national treasure and I did not want to draw any attention to her so I did not ask for photo even though I wanted to. She had escaped being recognized thus far at the fleamarket and I was not going to spoil her anonymity. Here she was at a semi-crappy fleamarket in the 14^th arrondissement of Paris on a Sunday morning with her Sunday morning hair and Sunday morning sun dress. It was obvious she did not expect to be recognized. Here’s the best part… As she was holding two of the glasses in each of her hands, she had a lit cigarette dangling from her lips… And was talking with the cigarette in her mouth! I thought to myself, “You are the coolest thing I’ve ever laid eyes on in my entire life.”

So, the moral to the story is: Overcome your fears and just live your life as if nothing was wrong because you never know what’s on the other side of that anxiety. I was scared to go to the fleamarket but I did it and boy am I happy that I did!

Okay, now we need to talk sale! I am so excited for all of you to see the new pieces. Once again, I have searched high and low all over France to curate a special collection for you.

As usual, I have my favorites…

I think it’s quite obvious by now that I have a small obsession with chinoiserie and this month is no exception. In fact, I even have more this time! Chinoiserie boxes, trays, cups and even a very special Chinoiserie match striker! Take a look…

Have you ever felt that you could love an inanimate object? I have and it’s usually either furniture, dishes or paintings. This month I have three extraordinary paintings for you that I actually got goosebumps over! All from the 1920s France, the colors in the impasto are what make my heart swoon. French blues, mustard yellows, mushroom, verdant countryside green, burgundy, pink, Tuscan orange and red. All of the paintings depict a slice of French everyday life. Take a look…

Speaking of painting, I have been searching for quite a while to find antique and vintage painters pallets and finally I found some! Take a look…

My other favorite items of this month’s sale are the French faience platters from Rouen, France from the 1700s! I have been seeing these at flea markets here and there but they are usually so expensive but I finally found some that are reasonably priced… And I have two sets! In my opinion, I would buy both sets and display them on a wall in the kitchen. Take a look…

Ever since I saw that kitchen at L’Hotel Particulier in the south of France with those black tôle trays I have been on a mission to find some. And I did! A huge black tray, a round red tray and a charming green tôle tray with bumblebees! Take a look…

There is lots more including bamboo mirrors, an extraordinary cobalt blue apothecary jar from a Parisian pharmacy, curtain tiebacks, a minimalist match striker, café au lait bowls and more more more!

The shop opens today, Wednesday, August 5, 10 AM Pacific Standard Time!

To shop the shop, click HERE at 10am PST!

I hope you like everything. XOXO

beep! beep! the shop is open!

I am one of “those” people. Those fleamarket people. It’s like a little band of gypsies. Rising early, traveling to sometimes slightly seedy destinations, usually a field, sometimes still dark outside, wearing a uniform of jeans, T-shirt, warm sweater, usually a scarf, coffee in hand, extra bags, rolling cart, extra newspapers for wrapping… It’s not exactly glamorous… Oh but yet, it is.

Have you ever actually felt happiness? I have and it’s usually at a fleamarket/brocante. It’s a very euphoric feeling to be the first one at a fleamarket… The thrill of the hunt is intoxicating. For the past month I have been going to every fleamarket and brocante that I can find. My new favorite website is Vide-Greniers.org. The Vide-Greniers website gives you a list of every fleamarket/brocante/vide-greniers in all of Europe. You just type in your location and a list pops up. There is also a list of icons to tell you what types of flea markets there are… I only go to brocantes or marche aux puces. There is something called vide-greniers which basically translates to “empty your attic “ which basically translates to “shit that you drag out of your house that you don’t want any more onto the street to sell.” I don’t do these.

After a month of hunting, bargaining, negotiating, and searching from Normandy, Provence, the French Alps and Paris… I have a new collection for all of you on the shop!

I love all of the pieces equally but there are a couple that really stand out as my favorites.

First, a charming vintage French baguette slicer. This is the perfect piece to leave out on your countertop “for looks.” The good news is that it’s actually usable and if it doesn’t scream “Français” I don’t know what does.

My second favorite piece in the shop is a pair of 18^th-century, yes, 18^th-century chinoiserie wall shelves. I almost had a fleamarket heart attack when I saw these. There was a lady in front of me slightly blocking my way to get ahold of these wall shelves and I might have told one of my caregivers to push her out of the way so I could get my greedy little paws on them. And I did. And now they can be yours. If these were for sale on 1stdibs.com, they would be in the thousands of dollars, trust me. Never have I ever seen anything as sincere as these.

I don’t know if I’ve ever mentioned to all of you that I have a slight obsession with obscure serving pieces. Sometimes, during my day, I will research antique serving pieces on the Internet. I love to know what a particular fork or spoon is used for, historically. Oysters server, bacon fork, bonbon server, marrow scoop, tomato server… Pieces like these actually thrill me. Imagine my delight when I came across a plump little Frenchwoman in the French Alps who had the most beautiful collection of obscure serving pieces. They were all so beautiful that my heart actually started racing. A macaroon server? Yes, please! A Chantilly cream server? Yes, please!

I have a little love affair with French paintings… Not fancy ones… Just unostentatious ones (except if you offered me a Delacroix, I certainly wouldn’t refuse it.) Today I have two modest yet utterly charming paintings for you…

A couple of old favorites? Yep, I found the partner to the chinoiserie breakfast tray! What are the chances of that? I also found another Provençal bull’s head. This one is from the 1970s and it’s wicker!

I have a great collection of vintage French enamelware also. The salt cellars make my heart swoon. These are highly collectible items and I had to run over like 10 people in my wheelchair to get these. It’s okay, I won.

Ever since I started design stalking my favorite decorator, Dan Marty, I fell in love with antique bamboo furniture. Dan Marty always had the best collection. From bamboo armoires to bamboo headboards, I love it all. It feels English, French and Chinese all at the same time. It belongs in a beach cottage as easily as it does in a Parisian apartment. Today I have two different mirrors for you!

There is nothing better on a cold early morning than wrapping your hands around a piping hot bowl of café au lait warming you body and soul. The first set I have for you is porcelain with a gold decorative rim and a secret surprise on the bottom… A peacock! The second café au lait bowl is enamelware with a charming bird. I think this bowl would be great as a key/coin dish or even a planter.

All this and lots, lots more!

All right, now that I have wet your whistle… Shop away! The store is open! Click HERE!

*Something you don’t know about me? My mother has been an endless source of comedy for our family… Forever. My family kind of has a sick sense of humor and we like to laugh at tragedy… Like my ALS and my mother’s dyslexia. I mean, there’s nothing we can do about it so we might as well laugh, right? The best part about my mother’s dyslexia is that she mixes everything up into pure hysteria. As you know, Gracie has been with my mother, her grandmother, for the past few days in California. Gracie has been chronicling my mother’s faux pas’ and giving me updates so I can share it all with you. Don’t worry, my mother knows that I am sharing the comedy… She doesn’t care because she is the one laughing the hardest.

Here we go…

First of all, my mother has been calling Gracie the dog’s name.

Then, my mother explained to Gracie that she cannot pronounce the word “Sephora” or the word “oxygen” no matter how hard she tries.

Next up, my mother said the following sentence to Gracie… “Leonardo da Vinci bought a house in Palm Springs.” We are assuming she meant Leonardo DiCaprio but who knows.

Lastly, for today, Gracie told me that my mother goes to the gym every day to do her 100 miles on the treadmill and she listens to an audiobook… That audiobook is the Bible.

How hard are all of you laughing? I’m laughing at it as I write it! There are so many of these that I could write a book. Wait till I tell you about the first time my mother traveled to Europe.

A toute!

Beep Beep! New Items in the Shop Today!

This new collection in the shop definitely has a Summer in France vibe.

Reminiscent of an epoque of long, lazy summer afternoons of picnics, pools, sunflowers, beaches… Always with a refreshing apéritif in hand, of course.

Not forgetting French histoire, there are three charming vases in the shop steeped in history! My friend Jane introduced me to this type of folk art called trench art. Thoughtful, historical and très française.