How to Get French Style with La Redoute

A couple of months ago the French company La Redoute asked me if I would style a couple of rooms for them around the essence of French style. Now there are many books about why French women don’t get fat (they do) and how to dress like a Frenchwoman, eat like a Frenchwoman and cope when your husband has an affair like a Frenchwoman, but there is much less information on where that Frenchwoman lives and what her house looks like.

Now I don’t claim to know everything on this subject but a) I lived in Paris for three years half a lifetime ago and b) I wrote a couple of features on Parisian style for The Financial Times. So I know a bit. In the main (and yes we have, by the very nature of this piece to be somewhat stereotypical) the Haussmanian buildings in the French capital have high ceilings, ornate mouldings with panelling and parquet floors. They are so expensive that there is often little money left over for decoration so pieces tend to be simple and striking and often with black and white accents, said Debra Ollivier, author of What French Women Know, to me when I interviewed her for that piece.

The apartment, which will almost always have lots of books, is regarded as the frame for what goes inside and what goes inside will be a mix of old and new. Classic and contemporary. And, as ever, it’s the finishing touches that make it look so French.

So just as the Frenchwoman will throw a scarf over her trench coat and add a dash of red lipstick and some classic shoes, so her home will be simple and elegant but with a few interesting and individual touches. And so I tried to do that with these four looks. Yes there were going to be two but in the end we did four. And there is a link to a competition where you can win £500 to spend at La Redoute if you read to the end. OK skip to the end…. but come back up here when you’ve entered all right?

There is a huge amount on offer at La Redoute – not to mention a sale with 40 per cent off at the moment – so there’s a lot to look through. I decided to tell the story of our Frenchwoman in her dressing room in the morning before she heads to work (see above and check out that desk) then goes to a cafe, perhaps for a cup of coffee, before heading home to bed.

The style of her flat is indeed simple and mainly classic with a few touches thrown in. Her bedroom is opulent and unexpected but it’s a private space, so not everyone gets to see that part. Everything you see, apart from the plants and the scarf round the neck of the trenchcoat, is available from Le Redoute but they sell fast when there is a sale on although they do restock.

I can’t link to all of it here but the bedding is called Belladone, the desk is Gaston, the black geometric side table is Alban and the rattan chair is Malu.

If you want to enter the competition then go to La Redoute facebook page where you need to like and comment on why you should win. Seemples. Good luck. I’m not judging it by the way – just, hopefully, inspiring.

All photographs by Megan Taylor