Louis, Louis

I was working with a client today on her Master bedroom and I suggested a reproduction Louis XVI chair to compliment a chaise we were considering for her reading nook.

I was reminded how different Louis XVI chairs, well all Louis chairs, can look depending on how you "dress" them.

Then can be quite formal and stuffy, not at all in a bad way, but with gilded finishes and silk brocades.

Or they can be clean and fresh feeling in a bleached oak finish and a natural textured fabric.

I recommend we do "clients" in a soft aged blue or green painted finish with a neutral textured plain fabric or small geometric. Clean and simple, with an unexpected zip of soft color.

Love them in cow hide and leather. So rustic and masculine.

I think Louis himself would have liked these yellow numbers.

Louis the XVI may be my favorite of all the Louis. I know he was a terror and all, but I do love his grandness and decadence. And that wife of his with her, "let them eat cake" mantra.....

I absolutely love this adorable polka-dot and black combo. Can you see this in a little girl's room?

And I simply adore Philippe Starck's take on XVI with the Louis Ghost chair.

The best part is a very traditional version can sit proudly in a modern setting and I think it is great when the Louis ghost is worked into a very classic home. So unexpected and fresh.

A Louis XVI chair can always be revived, reworked, and made a new. Never discard a Louis! It is a classic.



Cheers,

BBS

all images from Google image, Wisteria.com, Gardenhouse.com, and Philippe Starck