The beginning of the adventure: a Romantic Chic-style home…
The adventure began with an email I received through the “contacts” page on my website. A journalist from the new French magazine “Esprit Deco” asked if I could recommend interesting homes suitable for interior design photoshoots for their beautiful and captivating magazine, specializing in interiors, especially in the Shabby Chic, Romantic Chic, Country Chic, Gustavian style, and more.
The idea seemed interesting, so I immediately thought of discussing it with one of my clients, Tiziana Bellini, known as “Tess,” a restorer and interior decorator. I had visited her home a few months earlier, a delightful Romantic Chic-style home located in a small village near Padua, Italy, situated in the outbuilding of a prestigious Venetian villa.
Tess had recently finished the house’s renovation and personally curated all the decoration and furnishings. She contacted me because we had met at a fair years before, and she remembered me when she embarked on this challenging renovation. She was sure that I could source the “right” vintage fabrics and items to provide the finishing touch to her delightful new Romantic Chic residence.
For several months, we had been collaborating, and from the beginning, we became fast friends, realizing that we had very similar tastes and great harmony between us.
Just arrived
Tess’s home is a very personal take on the Romantic Chic style. I was particularly struck by the somewhat fairytale atmosphere she created. As you enter, under a beautiful ancient portico, you are welcomed by a large living space where the kitchen harmoniously blends with the dining area. The kitchen is meticulous, with a wall adorned in antique pink marmorino paint adorned with delicate tone-on-tone roses. The copper range hood finished with a lovely lace border is stunning. The antique stone sink, reclaimed from a Venetian villa, is marvelous. In the center, there’s a large, rough wooden worktable.
Tess was searching for suitable fabrics to make curtains beneath the worktable. She wanted something different from the usual fabrics available in stores. What could be better than my antique French fabrics? They are absolutely unique, with their beautiful and inimitable time-worn patina. They can add a fantastic final touch to create a slightly enchanted, fairytale-like atmosphere, where time appears suspended, and everything is bathed in a dusty and soft light—absolutely suitable for the Romantic Chic style!
I found a French fabric for her, signed Romanex Boussac, from the 1930s-1940s, with large roses in raspberry pink on a white background. It was perfect for the curtains beneath the worktable.
Romantic chic table with rustic chairs.
In the same room, a lovely day bed designed by Tess with a romantic canopy on top serves as a sofa. We enhanced it with precious vintage French lace curtains from the 1800s. We created a beautiful drapery on the iron semicircle of the canopy. On the day bed, we placed an antique French boutis with delicate rose and stripe patterns and various elegant boudoir-style pillows, made from antique French fabrics. We decided to set an elaborate tea table, including decorative gesso cakes made by a friend of Tess, making it look like Alice’s Wonderland!
In the kitchen, we arranged old, slightly chipped, but absolutely romantic enamel kitchenware, including coffee pots, spice jars, utensil holders, pans, and more. These “cafè au lait bols,” or French cafe au lait bowls, created that exquisitely French atmosphere where sophistication marries the utmost relaxation in genuine “joie de vivre.”
Under the two windows, we created two garlands with antique Victorian romantic postcards on different chains.
In the bedroom, a stunning antique spiral staircase, reclaimed wood and iron, leads to a small and secluded bedroom on a mezzanine. Another passion of Tess is antique French enamel kitchenware, such as grandmother’s old enamel objects like coffee pots, spice jars, utensil holders, pans, etc. I am a great seeker of these items, and I helped her find some pieces to enhance her collection.
I believed that Tess’s home would be a perfect setting for a photo shoot in the Romantic Chic style. I contacted her to suggest the idea, and she was enthusiastic about it. Tess sent some photos of the house to the magazine’s editorial staff. They found it interesting and decided to go ahead with the shoot.
I made myself available to be present for this event and offered to bring a lot of materials to create an even richer and more unique set, all in the spirit of the Romantic Chic style.
I left early in the morning to arrive at Tess’s home around 9 am, as the photographers were expected at 2 pm. We had the entire morning to create our Romantic Chic scene.
Playing with the Romantic Chic Set…
It was a lot of fun but also quite challenging. We were deeply focused and worked together to create many charming corners filled with treasures and fascinating details. We enriched the canopy above the day bed with a precious antique French lace curtain from the 1800s, creating an atmosphere that was a bit enchanted, fairytale-like, and timeless. We also added many beautiful Boudoir-style pillows and antique French fabric cushions. On the large central table, we set an important tablescape, using an antique embroidered tulle tablecloth with ribbonwork and a tulle skirt to hide the table legs, creating a lovely draped effect. The table looked like a delicate and airy cloud—truly Romantic Chic. We arranged an elaborate tea setting with decorative gesso cakes made by a friend of Tess, making it look like a scene from Alice in Wonderland.
On the large wooden cabinet in front of the table, we placed many precious items, old Victorian miniature books, vintage decorative tins, antique perfume bottles, embroidered Edwardian purses, and more. We created a breathtaking display in the Romantic Chic style.
Wooden cabinet with old Victorian books.
It was a lot of fun but also quite challenging. We were deeply focused and worked together to create many charming corners filled with treasures and fascinating details.
French cafe au lait bowls
It was a lot of fun but also quite challenging. We were deeply focused and worked together to create many charming corners filled with treasures and fascinating details.
We enriched the canopy above the day bed with a precious antique French lace curtain from the 1800s, creating an atmosphere that was a bit enchanted, fairytale-like, and timeless. We also added many beautiful Boudoir-style pillows and antique French fabric cushions. On the large central table, we set an important tablescape, using an antique embroidered tulle tablecloth with ribbonwork and a tulle skirt to hide the table legs, creating a lovely draped effect. The table looked like a delicate and airy cloud—truly Romantic Chic. We arranged an elaborate tea setting with decorative gesso cakes made by a friend of Tess, making it look like a scene from Alice in Wonderland.
On the large wooden cabinet in front of the table, we placed many precious items, old Victorian miniature books, vintage decorative tins, antique perfume bottles, embroidered Edwardian purses, and more. We created a breathtaking display in the Romantic Chic style.
A four-poster bed with a vintage Edwardian-era Durham quilt.
In the bedroom, we placed a beautiful Edwardian-era English Durham quilt with a pattern of rose baskets on a pistachio green background on the canopy bed. We added many beautiful cushions and a wonderful collection of vanities, including antique tin talcum powder boxes with lovely early 1900s floral labels, embroidered Edwardian purses, an antique parasol, and more.
The work was intense and highly rewarding throughout the morning. We just managed to finish the set-up in time for the arrival of the photographers at around 2:30 pm. They were enthusiastic about the arrangement and started working immediately. The weather was dreary, gray, and rainy, and incredibly, they began photographing everything in the dark without using artificial light. They explained that photos with too much light were unusable, but those taken in the dark could be processed very well during the editing phase.
It was evident that the photographers appreciated our work since they made no modifications to the Romantic Chic scene we had created. They paid great attention to capturing all the delightful corners throughout the house. The work continued relentlessly until 7 pm. At the end, we were all exhausted, and Tess and I were ecstatic and happy as children.
After several days, the magazine sent Tess an interview to complete for an article about her home, along with drafts of the already formatted photos. It was fantastic to see the results of our work and the beauty of Tess’s Romantic Chic-style house.
