THE PARIS DESIGN SHOW

Every year for the last fifteen years, I have visited the Maison et Objet Show in Paris which is mecca for all Interior Designers. Covering eight halls, each one the size of several football pitches, this is design inspiration overload – a total and utter explosion of your senses.

From the moment I arrive in the foyer, I can feel the excitement mounting. I start with a fantastic strong French coffee and munch my way thought the freshest, most buttery croissant, as I await for the ‘ping-pong’ announcing the show is now open. As I’m handed my pink trade pass and I walk through into the first hall I can feel my heart start to race.

Inspiration! Inspiration! Inspiration!

I go to many trade shows in the UK and they are all beautifully executed, but the French show leaves them all falling by the wayside. Every single stand is designed and finished to the highest standard – no expense is spared – they each contain not only glorious products to explore and purchase, but exquisite flower arrangements adorn the stands and there is always an in-house bar serving food and drinks all day - the French are already on the champagne and its only 10.00am. The salespeople are all immaculately dressed, air kissing every passer-by whether they know them or not – its people watching at its best.

But there is no time to dawdle and ponder, I’m on a mission here and I aim to cover every hall and see every stand in three days – the trainers are on and we are ready to go.

Sadly, just like everything else currently, the show is not open this year, so I have decided to take a moment to look back at all my photographs taken previously and pick out some of my favourite finds, many of which have made them across the channel and into my projects.

I was delighted to find these unique metal table lamps – each one made from old Chateau gates and converted into lamps - a perfect cross between traditional and contemporary. A new home for one of these is now in a barn conversion near St Ives, Cornwall. The owner is an artist with a love of colour, so we enhanced the lamps look with a colourful bespoke shade, which sits perfectly against the burnt orange walls

Last year when I went to the show, I was particularly looking for items for a riverside house in the South Hams, Devon – a large holiday home, which needed furnishing from top to bottom, so I was on the hunt for many, many items. The brief for the house was to be relaxed and informal and mostly classic in styling but with the addition of some unique and unusual pieces. I spotted this super long (2.3m) black painted antique console table on a Belgium stand and I knew instantly where it would fit…

… and here it is, in its final resting place, with the family ancestor’s overseeing it.

Other finds have included these handy little stools, either left as purchased in black ticking or recovered in any number of fabrics.

This rattan chair, looking a little unloved in a corner of a stand, was cheered up with the addition of some big fat cushions and a wool throw and sits happily in a corner of bedroom.

By the end of the show I have taken a million photos, been reunited with old friends and made many new ones too. My brain is racing and my feet are aching, but I literally can’t wait to do it all again next year.