Trending on Remodelista: 5 Design Ideas to Steal from France for the Holidays

This week the Remodelista headed to France to celebrate all things À La Française. Here are five design ideas they brought back just in time for the holiday entertaining season:

Brass Light Switches

Above: Have you ever noticed how an unattractive light switch can really drag down a good room? On the flip side of the spectrum, meet Meljac of France, makers of, if you ask us, the World’s Most Beautiful Brass Switches, Sockets, and Other Wall Fittings.

See more in Beautiful Basics: The Brass Light Switch and More by Meljac.

Vintage-Style Lamps

Above: A Bianca Lamp with a vintage-style rattan shade is €410.

French designer Sarah Lavoine’s work channels “a cosmopolitan Parisian spirit.” Our favorite offerings? The deep-hued, vintage-style lighting. See more in City of Light: Vintage-Style Lamps from a French Designer.

Champagne Coupes

Above:  A one-of-a-kind vintage set of six Mix-and-Match Champagne Coupes, all crystal, collected throughout France;  €75 at Madame de la Maison.

Thank you, France, for inventing champagne to celebrate all important holidays. As for the first champagne coupes? The glasses arrived at smart parties in the early 1800s, with a wide and shallow design to allow the bubbles to disperse faster.

The coupe has not been improved upon: not by the flute, not by the goblet. Collect mix-and-match champagne coupes from consignment shops (bonus points for the ones with grape vines etched on the glass). See more ideas for setting a festive table at Vintage French Style You Can Rent: Madame de la Maison in Paris.

Grease Stain Remover

Above: With all the butter and vinaigrette that gets sopped up with baguette after a Parisian lunch, there’s bound to be a rogue drip that finds its way onto your pristine white shirt. The French solution? Terre des Sommières (€6.50 at Merci): a powdered clay that absorbs grease from fabric, leather, and suede (for hand washing, and not the washing machine).

See more ideas, see 10 Easy Pieces: Remodelista Editors’ Favorite French Cleaning Tools.

Vipp Kitchen Cabinetry

Above: Champagne-based viticulturist Cédric Bouchard installed a Danish Vipp kitchen when he remodeled a 300-year-old manor house in the French countryside. Photograph (and top photograph in the post) courtesy of Vipp.

“I walk barefoot all day, in and out of the house, so having a kitchen raised on legs spares my feet from bumping into the toe kicks of traditional cabinetry, says Bouchard. See more Vipp in our Kitchen of the Week post.