In the latest issue of the French Marie Claire Maison, I came across some really beautiful work by Les Filles de Factuer, hanging curtains and screens made up of twined, colorful plastic. I went to look at their website this morning and discovered that it is in fact a French organization whose mission is to help people [...]

Atelier les Quatres is a studio/shop consisting of four young, talented textile designers creating fun and funky prints, designs and illustrations for pillows, napkins, dishtowels as well as T-shirts, baby clothes, canvas bags and one-off ideas like masks and found ceramics. The studio includes Eve-Marie Bousquet, Rachel Pelquin, elsako, and Hélène Georget, and on Saturdays they open their doors [...]

I have strong opinions about many things but when it comes to exploring Paris and its environs, I have no standards at all. Wherever you’re going, whatever you’re doing, I’m pretty much game. So when I had the opportunity to visit a private home designed by Finnish architect Alvar [...]

The small natural beauty boutique Patyka on rue Rambuteau, 3rd arrondisement closed its doors recently, but Patyka products are still available in selected stores around Paris. Their products are impeccably produced in an old fashioned way with the very best ingredients.  You might think French women are still for slathering on the latest Dior or big [...]

A shopping trip to Paris—where to begin? For even the most ardent shopaholic, tackling the epicenter of la mode can evoke panic (where to begin!), panic (but I can’t afford Chanel!) and more panic (my, those saleswomen are chic). But, hey, don’t panic. Here are eight all-about-Paris stores that range from fun to fancy for [...]

Located in La Butte aux Calles, an adorable, remote neighborhood dense with lovely little treasures, La Clarière is a wonderland of hand-printed linens produced in limited series on site. But if you’re looking for precious chichi motifs with elaborate affect you’ve got the wrong address. La Clarière’s linens are clean compositions of color, shape and [...]

Bird on the Wire is a cute little boutique in the 4th, on the river side of rue St. Antoine, which I happened upon the other day. Filled with great gift ideas including notebooks, jewelry, knitted objects, fun Japanese candy and gadgets. I loved the tights from Les Queues de Sardine with handprinted clouds, flowers [...]

If you don’t know about the passages, you must learn. I don’t mean to sound professorial, but I made the same mistake—coming to Paris for an embarrassingly long time before I finally made the discovery. The passages are old-fashioned shopping malls from the late 1700s and early 1800s that provided cover from rain, mud and [...]

One of the hidden secrets of the 6th Arrondissement in Paris is the 1930s art deco swimming pool at 17, rue de Sèvres. I don’t know if you’ll ever get the chance to visit this urban oasis because the spot was recently acquired by one of the last true luxury brands in France, Hermès. This [...]

Furniture and ceramics designers Ivan Pericoli and Benoît Astier de Villatte spent their childhood in the region of Rome–Benoît at the Villa Médicis, and Ivan in the countryside–and met at the Beaux Arts academy in Paris. Both paint portraits, draw and received prestigous prizes. In 1996, without knowing anything about  “les arts de la table” [...]