The Armchair Traveller: Add a little French market style to the kitchen

Williams Ceramic Pendant via Wills & Prior / Printable vintage seascape painting via Heirloom Print Shop / Woven blue stripe tea towel and brass towel bar via June Home Supply / Porcelain absinthe dish via Home Smith / Duralex Provence tumbler via Cookery / Savon de Marseille soap via Pretty Clean Shop / Le Parfair Canning Jar via The Gourmet Warehouse / Pot brush via Cookery / French Butter Croissants via Nadege Patisserie / Acacia Cutting board via Rug & Weave / The Cook's Atelier via Indigo / French Market Bag via Wills & Prior / No. 14 Chair via Ton Canada / French kitchen Marble mortar and pestle via Crate & Barrel Canada / Dried Lavender Bouquet via Lemon and Lavender


Do you miss travelling?  I do. Although we didn't have any big trips planned this summer, we were hoping to head east to Prince Edward Island. That will have to wait for next summer. But that doesn't mean I'm not dreaming of our next trip.

Sometimes adding a few special touches to our homes can help transport us somewhere we've been daydreaming about visiting. So, I thought it would be fun to start a new series on the blog that I'm calling The Armchair Traveller - featuring ideas for imbuing a little style from the places we'd like to visit.

I'm starting in the kitchen - a French kitchen to be precise.

The style is a mix of French cafe + a wander through a French market. Maybe the only market you'll be visiting this summer is a local antique market - but you can stash your face mask and hand sanitizer in a pretty market bag so you're ready to scout the stalls for fabulous French inspired finds. Keep an eye out for marble pastry boards, vintage Duralex tumblers, baskets, cafe au lait bowls, as well as old paintings or prints you can frame.

If you prefer to shop online, you can take a virtual shopping trip to France by way of Etsy, which features lots of French-based shops that ship to Canada.  There are lots of great local Instagram shops that sell vintage finds too. Lately, I've spotted lots of great finds including marble, stoneware crocks and bottles, linens, and art. I recently bought some vintage Le Parfait canning jars from Instagram seller @jolie.tte . Another favourite to browse is ( @Shop.Beazley ) or real brick and mortar shops that also sell online like Wills & Prior, Home Smith, Cookery (which is opening another location in my neighbourhood, Bloor West Village), to name a few.

Adding a little French style doesn't have to cost a lot. Duralex Provence Tumblers and Picardie glasses start at around $4 at Cookery and can sometimes be found at antique markets or thrift shops, a block of Savon de Marseille soap set in a vintage dish on your counter looks great and is a French kitchen staple for about $15 at Pretty Clean Shop. Spruce up a room with a bouquet of dried lavender or download some printable landscape art from Etsy shop Heirloom Print Shop for about $8.

Eat and drink French. Pick up some fresh croissants from a local bakery, make yourself a latte and sit back and dream of your next French getaway. Treat yourself to a new cookbook and travel to France  - bake some Madeleines, mix yourself a cocktail - David Lebovitz's Drinking French should inspire, or transport yourself to the village of Beaune, France via mother-daughter duo Marjorie Taylor and Kendall Smith Franchini's beautiful book The Cook's Atelier.

There are lots of great apps and websites that let you explore a place virtually and even visit museums. The Google Arts and Culture Project lets you explore collections at Museums and other cultural spots around the world including the Musee d'Orsay and The Eiffel Tower. Now, if only someone would develop a virtual tour of some of the well-known Marché aux Puces (French antique markets).




No comments

Thanks so much for your comments!