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Another talented and stylish girlfriend has been kind enough to endure my camera and questionnaire – where would I be without them?!
Marie-Laure lives along our valley in a beautiful house with her husband and four gorgeous children. The house is typical of the valley, shutters, stone walls, a barn. Sweetly she apologised that being at the start of winter, the garden didn’t look more spectacular, I thought it looked great!
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Besides caring for her family she also creates! Marie-Laure is handy with a jig saw and a paintbrush and turns out beautiful items that sell like hot cakes on the net and in private sales around here!
I asked her a few questions …
Thank you for inviting us into your home Marie Laure, a real family home. I know you like to hunt for brocante like me, and you use brocante pieces in your house. What are your favourite items?
Thank you for inviting me over Sharon, Yes, I love discovering things that have their own history, and just need a little attention to give them a second lease of life. I think my two favourite pieces are the ‘meuble de metier’ (the large chest of tradesman drawers), and the Hermes silk scarf that I framed.
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Your workshop is at home, where does your inspiration come from for the pieces you create? And where do you sell your goods?
At the moment I am inspired by natural elements, birds, deer. They are motifs I use a lot. I also specialise in portrait silhouettes which are very popular.
I sell on the net at Decoclico, the shop 123 famille in Paris and Versailles and soon I hope to sell via my new blog.
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How do you manage to find the right balance between work, family your home and your children?
It takes a lot of self discipline, and it’s not always easy, especially at this time of year when I am making things for Christmas. I generally work while the children are at school but sometimes I have to creep into my studio over the weekend too.
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With four children you must do a lot of cooking! Do you enjoy cooking typically French food?
Ooh la! They eat so much, especially the boys who are growing fast! I cook more at the weekend, and a blanquette de veau is a family favourite, but we also eat a lot of italian food, risottos and pasta. I love sitting down together for family meals.
We are lucky to have a good selection of local food shops, even locally made macarons!
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You live in the country in a tiny village, but you dress very stylishly. Where do you like to shop for clothes?
Thank you! Actually I wear jeans and a jumper a lot of the time, but to go out I’ll always make an effort. I hardly ever wear all black, I love to use bright colours, in particular burnt orange. It’s easy to shop in Paris from here, but I also like Rouen, it’s such a pretty city.
Thank you Marie-Laure for letting us be so indiscreet and good luck with your business!
I hope you are enjoying my series, I aim to bring you one more before Christmas,
I’m just waiting for her to put up her tree!!
Thank you for reading, à demain!
26 comments
What a wonderful home! And wonderful things. And I think the garden looks very nice.
Markus
What a cute house & a stylish friend dahhling… particularly liked her use of tureen lids on the wall, just FAB!
Thanks to your wonderful friends! I really enjoy these posts, gives us a lovely little peek into another world.
What a gorgeous house – warm and inviting and great colours. Thank you for sharing – so nice to see inside homes the other side of the world. Francesca
I'm lost in admiration of Marie-Laure's lovely house, and in particular the coffee table/ottoman. I love the idea of a round table with a perfectly shaped cushion – is that a wellknown French style? I have never seen it before and it's beautiful.
Thanks for asking Mise, the table was designed and made by Marie-Laure, I told you she was clever!!
Thank you for sharing Marie-Laure's story. I love her house and garden.
I am enjoying this series of posts about your friends. I am looking forward to the next one.
what a pretty home! Great post!
Gorgeous! I love the fish picture.
I love how Marie-Laure mixes textures and patterns. She has an incredible eye for adding romance in a subtle way. And yes – she is stylish especially knowing that burnt orange is a show stopper.
I love her style! She mixes traditional with "fresh" perfectly. The striped chair is a colorful interpretation of the French grain sack chairs that are so popular now.
This is a lovely series, Sharon. I am a relatively new follower. I am so pleased that I found you and your beautiful blog!
~Lynne
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i just love this series you are featuring! so fun to peek into french homes. your friends are lovely!
thank you so much for sharing,
kathi
You can't even imagine how much I am enjoying this serie!!!
Fra
Great post.
I love the wall of hanging lids!!
Fabulous!
What a wonderful home, I love the stone walls.
I am truly enjoying your friend series Sharon!
I enjoyed meeting your friend.So very nice of her to welcome us all in her home it's beautiful!I would love to taste some real Italian food one of these days~Cheers Kim
Another great glimpse into someone's interesting life. I loved the photo of Marie Laure in her workshop – so thankful that the creative French have stacks of things just like the rest of us. And I love that she wears bright colors. The orange is gorgeous!
Merci, Marie Laure et Sharon.
Love these. Thanks for your efforts.
I am really enjoy meeting your chic french girlfriends. Thank you for these wonderful posts and a peep into your beautiful life. Allegra (from the southern Oregon coast, USA)
I'm drooling! I love this series!!! Her house and style are fabulous! That rock wall is gorgeous, such interesting things on display. Love her!!! Thank you!
This is a great series. Thank you for introducing us to Marie-Laure. I already have a few of her pieces mentally placed in my home in France!
Marie-Laure is an extremely talented and stylish women, as have been all of your French friends in this series. I think it is a case of "birds of a feather flock together"! Bon weekend Sharon.
I love your delightful series and friends. A wonderful way to share la belle France. So enjoyable and interesting…thank you! Love ML's home business! And with four children!
Beautiful home, love the decor, and her silhouettes are beautiful. She is the only person I've ever seen who can wear orange and black and not look dressed for Halloween.
Love this series!
You have some very talented friends. I enjoyed seeing such a lovely French home. Stone walls are so wonderful.
Thanks for sharing.
Karen
You're surrounded by such beautiful, creative women, Sharon! What a joy.
I do appreciate the creative writer, painter, musician friends I have, too. It's inspiring.
I truly enjoy your stylist girlfriend series. Such fun to get a peek into the lives of talented young women. Love the collection of lids.