A trip to Nyon near Geneva

On a retrun trip to Geneva, I took the train one stop to Nyon to meet a friend - we had plans to visit a Wallpaper Exhibition, housed in the Musee National Suisse - the beautiful Chateau de Prangins.

 

Chateau de Prangins

 

View from Chateau de Prangins

  In 1972, when Chateau de Prangins was handed over to the Swiss Confederation for restoration and transformation into the home of the Swiss National Museum. Its interior revealed 30 out of 40 rooms decorated with wallpaper. On recommendation, at least 100 motifs dating from the mid-eighteenth century right up to the 1930's were preserved - and some of these we saw today.



View from Chateau de Prangins

Wallpaper had its origins in England, documented from the end of the 17th century and around 1750 it arrived on the continent where it became hugely popular.  After originally copying English papers, French producers rapidly surpassed them, and at one stage came to dominate from the 1770's onwards.

The first use to which printed paper was put was to line boxes, chests, fire screens or the insides of furniture.



Vintage wallpaper



Vintage trunk lined with 1930's wallpaper

 

These techniques have become popular again recently, just as wallpapering walls themselves drift in and out of fashion and the idea for papering furniture 'interiors' has inspired me to finish off some of my vintage pieces in this way.

Trunks that I am restoring - some already lined and also small pieces of furniture such as tallboys, bedside cabinets, shelves etc will soon be making there way onto the website.

I will be busy on my return home bringing my newly acquired vintage pieces back to life, with the added technique of using a little bit of history and nostalgia to give each piece its own unique charm.



La Clemence Cafe Geneva

 

Talkingpointsinteriors.co.uk

A recent trip to Geneva

My blogger has moved to Geneva so a visit was in order to see how she had settled in. Also a fantastic excuse to have a look at Geneva, the Old Town and little side streets – and best of all to hop on the Tram for a day trip to Carouge.

Carouge

Carouge

Carouge is a small artisan suburb of Geneva -To this day, the city of Carouge has retained its Mediterranean-like atmosphere. Its bustling streets and many shaded squares invite one to stroll.

Trendy boutiques, antiques and curios dealers, restaurants and bistros ensure a warm and congenial ambience.

The pretty streets, with the houses painted in a hue of beautiful shades have given me fantastic inspiration for some forthcoming interior design and furniture painting projects.

A local upholsterer, busy in his shop window working on some beautiful pieces of antique French furniture.

As I wondered along some of the quaint streets, I had a chance to look inside a couple of antique/vintage furniture shops - one full of French mirrors and another crammed with vintage pieces – more inspiration and I also purchased a French Stockman Mannequin – becoming increasingly difficult to source, as well as a French Leather Vintage Club Chair and a lovely Vintage Trunk/Pirates Chest and more

Stockman mannequin

Vintage trunk/pirates chest

Vintage Pirates Chest/Vintage Toy Box/Vintage Trunk

New stock will be on the website very shortly!

After a busy day – off to the French Village of Chatel to relax for a couple of days before returning home to the UK to start on my new assignments/projects.

I will be returning to Geneva  after Xmas to undertake an Interior Design Project
For more information on Interior Design and Home Staging Services - please contact Talking Points Interiors 01444 441475 or 07929 4208415

Take your pick - vintage trunks

As we've mentioned before we have an addiction to vintage trunks at Talking Points Interiors so need I say we were pretty excited this week to have sourced a varied collection of vintage trunks and cases to restore.

With the new school term looming we think renovated and painted trunks will be popular for any little ones that are heading away for school. Some of the trunks will also make great storage for children's bedrooms, coffee tables and even bedside tables (see the small leather cube cases). So take a look below at some of our selection (ranging from the new in, un-restored to the restored but awaiting a home to choose how they will be best used). Take your pick and contact us to order or enquire about your chosen case(es) and restoration requirements.

Our latest delivery of vintage trunks and cases

Leather vintage trunks and cases make fabulous bedside tables!

Addiction to vintage trunks!

Here at talking points interiors we admit to having an addiction to vintage trunks; so much so that we have been painting them in an array of colours. Our latest inspiration is the use of vintage trunks as tables...from coffee tables to bedside tables.

After a client in London had purchased a canvas trunk with Bentwood trim painted in Farrow and Ball "off black" in "dead flat" seen on our website they requested to use our bespoke services to transform it in to a piece that would create a great 'talking point' for their flat. We set to work creating a coffee table using a rounded sheet of perspex. We are so pleased with it that we are currently developing a line of similar pieces including a trunk painted in Designers Guild "Peony" which will look fabulous in a little girls bedroom!! Enquiries to info@talkingpointsinteriors.co.uk