antique chairs Archives - Letters from EuroLux

Florida Road Trip 2: Antique Louis XVI Dining Chairs

antique French Louis XVI dining chairs from EuroLuxHome.com

I hope you enjoy the next step in our Florida road trip… to deliver a set of Louis XVI antique dining chairs. In my last blog post I wrote about our trip to South Florida — where I grew up — to deliver a vintage Renaissance cabinet. Greg and I often joke that once we decide to take a road trip, it we always end up selling other pieces along the route. In this case, we were already heading to Lakeland, Florida. Twila, an interior designer, reached out to us about a gorgeous set of twelve antique Louis XVI dining chairs she was interested in buying for her client Margaret in Jacksonville.

Margaret immigrated to the United States from Poland, and grew up in a home filled with beautiful European antiques as a child. It has been her dream to have her own French Chateau-inspired home. These French dining chairs made that dream a reality, with an antique luxury not seen in most modern dining chairs! One thing is sure- this dining chairs set is a sight to behold.

As we drove up to the circular cobblestone driveway to Margaret’s house, we certainly were impressed. The classic French architectural styling of the home was impressive. The place was complete with wrought iron railings and a romantic balcony! The formal landscaping just adds to the je ne sais quoi!

Quality Antique Dining Chairs

The set of twelve antique Louis XVI dining room chairs that Margaret and Twila selected are hand-carved in walnut. These pieces are crafted with a rich butterscotch leather upholstery, and date to around the late 19th century. These wood dining chairs demonstrate excellent craftsmanship, and could be perfect in your bistro or as kitchen chairs. These leather dining chairs look amazing with the large circular antique dining table in the dining room, which appears to be made from a quality wood such as antique mahogany or carved walnut. The butterscotch leather looks very pretty with the soft golden yellow walls and draperies. We could even see customers using this antique style dining chairs as a set of side chairs for the living room.

The formal dining room also features a gorgeous Louis XV French Country Sideboard and a large, hand-carved Louis XV French Country mirror that pair perfectly with the antique table and antique chairs. The pretty herringbone parquet flooring and the romantic candelabra sconces and large crystal chandelier add more formal elegance. But the view of the formal garden through the series of large French doors steals the show!

French Dining Done Right

We hope that Margaret enjoys the antique Louis XVI dining chairs in her beautiful home. We think they conjure up the old European mood that she enjoys! Antique furniture like this is a sight to behold, and doesn’t have to be used only in antique dining rooms. We’ve seen quality antique seating used in customers’ 20th century and mid century modern inspired setups.

Aimee owns EuroLuxHome.com with her husband and best friend, Greg. Aimee sources amazing antique furniture, vintage lighting, & high-quality reproduction furniture to help her customers decorate their homes in a unique way. She loves her 9 (you read that right) fuzzy children and is renovating a 1920s bungalow in South Carolina. Find us on Facebook or you can sign up here to receive this blog in your inbox.

Antique French Louis XIII Dining Chairs

by EuroLux Home

We have a lovely treat for you today, with photos of our antique French Louis XIII dining chairs in our customer Stephen’s home!

We found a set of six fabulous antique French Renaissance Louis XIII style dining chairs on one of our recent buying trips in Europe. We guessed (rightly!) that if we bought them then we’d find a customer back in the USA who would love them too. These wood dining chairs would be a perfect fit in your antique dining room. They bring the ability to complement your accent chairs or other antique furniture.

This is just one of the six chairs. You can see the blue damask upholstery is a great way to add a dash of elegant color to a dining room.

The armless chairs are crafted with a walnut wood frame and they date to the late 19th century or early 20th century. They feature a lovely design of gently curved stretchers forming an X shape, accented by a majestic finial in the center of the X. The strong shape beneath the seat is softened by the gentle blue upholstery. The craftsmanship makes this dining chairs set a perfect complement to your country dining or French country dining room. We could even see these beauties in your living room or as kitchen chairs or dining sidechairs.

Antique Dining Chairs: Comfort and Style

Stephen agrees with us that these Louis XIII chairs are fit for a king. He snapped up the whole set of six! Stephen agrees with us that these Louis XIII chairs are fit for a king. He snapped up the whole set of six! Imagine how lovely one of these upholstered seats will look around your dining table. These high-back dining chairs provide a comfortable back rest perfect for your dining space. These pieces are antique, but provide an almost Mid-Century feeling to your Mid-Century Modern or Farmhouse dining room.

Stephen sent us some photos of the antique chairs in his dining room. You can see how impressive they look! When I saw his emailed photo, I immediately said: “It’s like he picked the paint based on the chairs rather than the other way around!” Isn’t the color match between the walls and the chairs uncanny? Stephen obviously has an excellent eye for color and he chose well. Stephen commented: “Yes!!! The fabric matches the walls perfectly.”

Bringing the Dining Room Together

This is another view of Stephen’s dining room. This room is so beautifully put together. The blue on the walls is a classic color that reminds us of some of the regal salons of Paris. Stephen said he found the other two dining chairs in an antique store in California. He also sleuthed out some terrific buffets for the room online. The chandelier is great too. Often people are nervous about having too large a chandelier over the table and they tend to err on the small side. Stephen went for it with this crystal extravaganza and it is perfect!

All in all, it’s a fabulous room and Stephen has an amazing eye for interior design. Thank you Stephen for sharing these inspiring photos. We are so happy that you loved the antique Louis XIII chairs. We think they look superb in your dining room. We wish Stephen many celebratory evenings with friends gathered around that table!

Antique Dining Chairs at EuroLuxHome.com

Did Stephen’s photos inspire you to do a little shopping? We have all sorts of dining seating available, from ladder back and tufted seats, pieces with armrests and cabriole legs, country style bar stools and beyond, we’ve got the dining room chairs, bistro chairs, and dining chair sets to impress. Each seat cushion is crafted for comfort, with techniques like rush seats and nailhead trim. We can even set you up with a vintage French dining armchair!

You can browse our wide selection of beautiful antique French dining chairs at this link! We’ve got a wide selection of antique dining chairs, in styles including Victorian, Regency, Louis XVI, Queen Anne, Rattan, Art Deco, Arts & Crafts.,and Chippendale style and Regency style. We also have modern dining chairs available, made from quality materials such as carved walnut or antique mahogany. Whether you’re looking for solid wood vintage dining chairs or Louis XV oak dining chairs, we’ve got you covered.

Aimee owns EuroLuxHome.com with her husband and best friend, Greg. Aimee sources amazing antique furniture, vintage lighting, & high-quality reproduction furniture to help her customers decorate their homes in a unique way. She loves her 8 (you read that right) fuzzy children and is renovating a 1920s bungalow in South Carolina. Find us on Facebook or connect with EuroLux on Google+. Or you can sign up here to receive this blog in your inbox.

Religious Treasures: Antique French Prie-Dieu Prayer Chairs

by EuroLux Home

Antique French Prie-Dieu for sale at EuroLuxHome.com

As we approach Easter week, we often have more inquiries about the antique religious treasures in our online store. During this Holy Week, I wanted to shine a special spotlight on antique French prayer chairs, also called a prie-dieu in French.

These exceptional pieces of furniture are not only beautiful in design, but they are created purely for the purpose of prayer and devotion. Prie-dieu literally means “Pray god” and people use it as a knee rest in their prayers and as a support for prayer books.

This superb antique French prie-dieu currently on sale in our online store is a wonderful example. It is finely crafted in cherry wood and upholstered with green velvet and it dates to about 1890. Notice the decorative shell on the back of the chair and the turned spindle posts.

When we find a prie-dieu while on our buying trips in France, we know that these pieces have been treasured for many years, often for much more than a century. It is touching to to imagine how many devout worshippers have paid their religious devotions and dedicated their prayers while supported by these chairs.

Here is another example of a prayer chair, which we found during one of our antiques buying trips. Although prayer chairs were most often for private devotional use at home, some would also be found in churches, like this one that we discovered for sale at a church in Normandy.

The chair dated to 1890. It was a bit sad and sorry for itself, but the carvings in the oak wood were lovely and in good shape.

So we brought it home and had it reupholstered in red velvet, to keep the overall look of the prayer chair as close as possible to the original upholstery. Isn’t it gorgeous? Our customers thought so, and we quickly got a lot of inquiries and it was snapped up.

The prie-dieu was given its name around the early 17th century although the item of furniture was used long before that. You might sometimes have seen a prie-dieu used at a church wedding, where it is provided for the elaborately bedecked bride and her groom to kneel on during the service!

The prayer chairs above are quite ornate in their carvings and design, but here’s another example with a simpler but no less lovely design.

This vintage French prie-dieu is still currently available in our online store at the time of writing, and it is crafted in walnut wood and boasts a rattan seat. It dates to about 1930, which explains the lighter and more streamlined silhouette, reflecting the tastes of the modern era around the Art Deco period.

If you’ve enjoyed our exploration into the prie-dieu, then you might also enjoy reading my blog post about other kinds of Antique Religious Treasures. You can also browse the vintage and antique French prayer chairs in our online store.

Aimee owns EuroLuxHome.com with her husband and best friend, Greg. Aimee sources amazing antique furniture, vintage lighting, & high-quality reproduction furniture to help her customers decorate their homes in a unique way. She loves her 8 (you read that right) fuzzy children and is renovating a 1920s bungalow in South Carolina. Find us on Facebook or connect with EuroLux on Google+. Or you can sign up here to receive this blog in your inbox.

Antique French Renaissance Dining Chairs

by EuroLux Home

We really admired this set of four antique French Renaissance dining chairs when we bought them and had them shipped back from Europe to America. We were delighted when Iris L. in Texas bought the antique French dining chairs and sent us a photo of them in her home.

These are the antique French chairs carved in the Renaissance or Henry II style. The dining chairs date to about 1900 and they are very handsomely designed and carved in solid oak wood. We were impressed by the carvings of two birds nestled in the intricate flower design on the chair back. The pair of lions gazing out from the finials topping the chair posts also add a noble touch. The attractive brass handles on the top of the chairs are typical of antique French Renaissance chairs. In this photo, you can also see the legs with a carved bell or tassel just below the seat. These legs look wonderfully regal!

Antique French Excellence

We are delighted that these beautiful antique French Renaissance dining chairs found such an elegant home. Thanks Iris for giving us a peek into your home! These high quality chairs can be a great fit in your formal dining room, especially when paired with a Renaissance dining table. or as part of a more casual dining room set. These late 19th century/early 20th century dining side chairs truly are a sight to beholds. You could also consider using them as side chairs in your living room! Regardless of your tastes, these chairs provide showroom quality, Renaissance style, and accessibility that makes them a must-have. Add one to your home decor today! We also offer many other excellent home decor options, including Italian Renaissance furniture, arm chairs with upholstery, Mid-Century and Renaissance revival and more!

Aimee owns EuroLuxHome.com with her husband and best friend, Greg. Aimee sources amazing antique furniture, vintage lighting, & high-quality reproduction furniture to help her customers decorate their homes in a unique way. She loves her 8 (you read that right) fuzzy children and is renovating a 1920s bungalow in South Carolina. Find us on Facebook or connect with EuroLux on Google+. Or you can sign up here to receive this blog in your inbox.

Antique Chairs & Aztec Calendar Stone Table

by EuroLux Home

I’ve got a great story for you today, one involving antique French Renaissance chairs, the famous Aztec calendar stone, and singer Axl Rose, of the band Guns N’ Roses!
Yep, it’s hard to see how those all fit together, but read on… I’ll start from the beginning.

I met Bernard M. through our antique furniture store on Etsy. He asked about this set of antique French Renaissance chairs but he needed 8 chairs not 6.

The antique French Renaissance chairs Bernard liked are finely crafted in walnut wood with embossed leather upholstery. The 6 chairs date to 1900, carved with shells and swags. They have a lovely floral nailhead trim. So far, so good, but Bernard wanted 8 chairs not 6, so I suggested combining a similar set of antique Renaissance chairs that also featured embossed leather, spindle carvings, and those sexy curvy stretchers. He said yes!

It turns out that all 12 chairs fit around his massive table that came with his new home in Hawaii. Bernard and Carol were in the process of moving from Switzerland to the Big Island, so we had to time the shipping of the chairs to arrive at approximately the same time as their load of furniture.

When Bernard shared the photos of the chairs, I had to find out about the unique table and he told me that the table is a reduced-scale (7ft diameter) reproduction of the Piedra del Sol. (See this Wikipedia entry for the history of the Aztec sun stone or calendar stone, one of the most famous works of Aztec sculpture.)

“We were told it was a gift — a housewarming present, perhaps — from Axl Rose, of the band Guns N’ Roses, to his band manager, the original owner of the house, which would make it about 25 years old,” said Bernard. “Obviously, unlike the original, it’s not stone! It’s not any synthetic stone either: it’s hollow metal, to keep the weight manageable and to render the very deep indentations of the original, painted to make it look like stone. (I am glad they did not attempt to paint it the way the original was thought to have been painted with very bright reds — for blood – plus blues and yellows, etc.)

“The pedestal does not really fit the style (it’s a classic motif of intertwined leafy branches), but it’s inconspicuous and so it’s OK,” continued Bernard. “There is no “original” for a pedestal for a round table from Aztec culture anyway.

“It was one of the two pieces of furniture from the sellers that we asked remain with the house — as the sellers themselves had obviously done when they had bought the house from the original owner,” said Bernard. “It is not a “comfortable” piece: it looks stunning in the space, but, once one looks at the designs on the top, it becomes disturbing.”
I guess that doesn’t bother the cute kitty stretched out on the antique Renaissance chairs!

Bernard added: “The views are fantastic — I am attaching a pure view picture, taken from the window at the kitchen sink (makes washing dishes more pleasant, but slows down the pace 😉 ”

I love the view too — That would be the life! Thanks Bernard for telling us the story of the table. Your home is beautiful and we hope you continue to enjoy the antique French Renaissance chairs. They look terrific around the dining table. I think you’ll agree those are some well-traveled chairs (France to South Carolina to Hawaii) and that is one lucky cat!

Aimee owns EuroLuxHome.com with her husband and best friend, Greg. Aimee sources amazing antique furniture, vintage lighting, & high-quality reproduction furniture to help her customers decorate their homes in a unique way. She loves her 9 (you read that right) fuzzy children and is renovating a 1920s bungalow in South Carolina. Find us on Facebook or connect with EuroLux on Google+. Or you can sign up here to receive this blog in your inbox.

September Home Decor & Antiques Roundup

by EuroLux Home

If you’ve been too busy to read our home decor and antiques blog recently, you missed some great Customer Home Spotlights and other news. Here’s a quick “antiques roundup” of our September posts, linked to the original stories so you can go back to see them for yourself!

A couple of years ago we sold a set of antique Renaissance chairs to La Biblioteca, a tequila bar that offers more than 350 tequilas in Denver, CO. It’s part of the empire of Richard Sandoval Restaurants so we were delighted to see how great our chairs looked in this gorgeous bar and to read the rave reviews of La Biblioteca in the press. See more about the antique French chairs and the restaurant in the full blog post.

Our customers Lenore and John recently purchased a charming old cottage next to a babbling brook and they bought several pieces of antique furniture from us to furnish it. This photo shows a beautifully carved antique French Henry II buffet and a set of vintage French Renaissance dining chairs dating to about 1930. Read the whole Cottage Style with Antique Furniture post to see more about this room, plus the master bedroom where Lenore creatively used a pretty Louis XVI buffet as part of the bedroom suite!

Closer to home we took a trip down memory lane by sharing the historic story of our buildings on Main Street, Newberry, SC.

The plot of the story explains the mystery behind the sign on the wall of our antiques store. It dates back to the 1930s and it’s a tale of rivalry and a good idea gone wrong. This story ends with a bang!

Read about it in the post: Vintage Life: The Mystery Behind the Sign.

We also shared two pieces of good news. Houzz has awarded us a Recommended badge (given to the top-rated pros on Houzz.com) and an Influencer badge, given to pros on Houzz whose “advice and knowledgeable posts are most appreciated by the Houzz community.” We already received a Best of Houzz 2015 award for our customer service. If you want to see me brag (and also wonder about Clint Eastwood’s role in all of this) check out the Houzz Home Decor Honors post.

Finally, I happily announced that we now sell home decor from two wonderful makers: Aidan Gray and Sarreid.

The unusual and very high quality antique-inspired furniture and home accessories from these two superb companies are a perfect addition to our existing collections.

Find out more and have a preview of some of their stylish pieces in our post on Antique-Inspired Home Decor from Aidan Gray and Sarreid.

Aimee owns EuroLuxHome.com with her husband and best friend, Greg. Aimee sources amazing antique furniture, vintage lighting, & high-quality reproduction furniture to help her customers decorate their homes in a unique way. She loves her 8 (you read that right) fuzzy children and is renovating a 1920s bungalow in South Carolina. Find us on Facebook or connect with EuroLux on Google+. Or you can sign up here to receive this blog in your inbox.

French Antique Chairs in Sandoval Restaurant

by EuroLux Home

A couple of years ago we sold a set of antique Renaissance chairs to Bart D., the director of Business Development for Richard Sandoval Restaurants. He was in charge of opening a new location of La Biblioteca, a tequila bar that offers more than 350 tequilas in Denver, CO.

I’m delighted to hear that La Biblioteca has been a great success, and I’m even more delighted to think that our antique chairs feature as part of the décor in the bar and restaurant!

This is one chair from the set of six antique French Renaissance dining chairs.

They date to 1900 and each sturdy walnut chair boasts the original embossed dark brown leather on the seat and back, accented by a chunky nailhead trim.

The leather is embossed with a decorative design of flowers and ribbons in the Louis XVI style. The rail of entwined ovals carved in the seat back add another strikingly ornamental touch that works well in a contemporary dining room.

Here are the antique French chairs in La Biblioteca restaurant in Denver. It’s near the Millennium Bridge in Denver’s RiverFront Park neighborhood and it’s the brainchild of international restaurateur, television personality and cookbook author, Chef Richard Sandoval. The original La Biblioteca location is in New York City on 3rd Avenue in Manhatten.

Both venues are based on Chef Sandoval’s “Library of Tequila” concept, serving up a menu of Latin-Asian cuisine and a collection of Sandoval’s personal favorite tequila selections including some aged up to 25 years.

I guess in Tequila Land that counts as a mellow old antique, so it’s fitting that diners get to enjoy some mellow antique furniture too!

La Biblioteca has received some wonderful press coverage. For example, Food And Wine magazine included the restaurant in their list of 7 Places to Drink Really Good Tequila.

The magazine added, “Sandoval’s superior menu includes guacamole with smoked trout, and tacos stuffed with skirt steak, Wagyu and chorizo.”

Mmm. Is there any chance that some Denver customers want Greg and me to personally deliver some antique furniture soon? That way we can stop over and try the tastes of La Biblioteca for ourselves. If you are one of our Colorado readers and you’ve been to La Biblioteca, we’d love to hear about it!

Aimee owns EuroLuxHome.com with her husband and best friend, Greg. Aimee sources amazing antique furniture, vintage lighting, & high-quality reproduction furniture to help her customers decorate their homes in a unique way. She loves her 8 (you read that right) fuzzy children and is renovating a 1920s bungalow in South Carolina. Find us on Facebook or connect with EuroLux on Google+. Or you can sign up here to receive this blog in your inbox.

Labor Day Sale 15% Off Antiques and New Home Decor

by EuroLux Home

Get 15% off all new, vintage, and antique furniture and home accents in our End of Summer and Labor Day sale!

We’re celebrating Labor Day weekend with a discount to help you save money and help us clear space for all the new stock that’s arriving for fall! From now through September 9 you can get an amazing deal on fine European antique furniture, as well as on new home decor.

Order a beautiful crafted piece for your home at EuroLuxHome.com and you’ll get 15% off everything (as well as our always-free shipping) when you enter the coupon code at checkout: CELEBRATE

Need some shopping suggestions? Why not use your 15% off code to snap up one of our exceptional antiques at an even lower price?

This fabulous antique French Brittany armoire dating to 1880 is one way to save in style. Lavishly carved in chestnut wood and with a classic oval mirror in the door, the Brittany style armoire features carvings of French country folk including a man and woman relaxing beneath a pair of trees. The matching 1930 French Brittany full-size bed is carved with more joyful scenes of country dancers and horn and bagpipe players.

If you prefer traditional American Victorian furniture, this impressive antique Eastlake bed might be more your style.

This classic American treasure dates to about 1890, crafted in mahogany with elegant floral carvings and a carved crest and floral medallion on the 7-foot-high headboard. It’s a handsome focal point for your master bedroom or guest bedroom.

The rich patina on the antique mahogany wood will look grand in your Victorian home decor.

Your formal dining room will receive many admiring comments from guests enjoying this handsome set of 6 antique French Hunting chairs.

The antique French Renaissance dining chairs were crafted around 1880 in the Hunting style, and the aged oak wood looks very rich against the neutral tone of the cane/rattan seating.

Carved barley twists always look great in a dining room, while a pair of leaf carvings on the crest rails along with other carved foliage, floral blocks and grape details add to the rustic appeal.

To light your way into fall, why not enjoy the warm glow of this enchanting new Dale Tiffany lamp? The Dale Tiffany Reves table lamp with stylized dragonflies flying around the shade is hand-crafted with traditional Tiffany glass techniques – the colorful art glass is accented with sparkling glass jewels.
Maybe you will plan ahead for holiday entertaining by ordering these elegant new Jonathan Charles nesting tables. The two round nesting tables are available in distressed gold, bronze, or silver finishes over a wrought iron frame. The gilded finish is paired with hand-painted gold borders and set off by églomisé or gilded glass top in a stunning pattern. The tables fit together snugly until you need extra drinks tables for guests, then this pair pulls apart for maximum pzazz!

However you choose to use your 15% discount, we hope you enjoy browsing our our complete EuroLuxHome.com inventory. Then take 15% off everything in your shopping basket when you enter the coupon code: CELEBRATE

The offer is valid through Wednesday September 9, 2015. Happy Labor day weekend and happy antiques and home decor shopping!

Aimee owns EuroLuxHome.com with her husband and best friend, Greg. Aimee sources amazing antique furniture, vintage lighting, & high-quality reproduction furniture to help her customers decorate their homes in a unique way. She loves her 8 (you read that right) fuzzy children and is renovating a 1920s bungalow in South Carolina. Find us on Facebook or connect with EuroLux on Google+. Or you can sign up here to receive this blog in your inbox.

Customer Appreciation Sale 15% Off Everything

by EuroLux Home

Get 15% off all new, vintage, and antique furniture and home accents in our Customer Appreciation Sale! I recently mentioned that EuroLux Home won a Best of Houzz 2015 Award. The award was for our Customer Service so we are sharing the love with all our customers for Valentine’s Day. Our special discount is valid now through February 16, 2015.

Order something you love for your home at EuroLuxHome.com and you’ll get 15% off everything (as well as our always-free shipping) when you enter the coupon code at checkout: HappyFebruary

That seductive deal is enough to make anyone swoon! Here are some ideas for your Valentine’s gift for your home.

This Louis XV Rococo antique bed arrived recently from France, and it is rich in romance! Dating to 1900, the full-size French antique bed is intricately carved in walnut wood with a sensuous shell cartouche on the headboard. Floral carvings complete the pretty picture.

Red is the color of romance and the gorgeous red upholstery on these French antique dining chairs is sure to look alluring in your dining room! The set of six antique Renaissance Hunting style dining chairs dates to 1880 and the oak chairs are hand-carved with grapes, foliage and barley twists. The antique chairs recently arrived from France so they bought the language of love with them.

What a sweetheart! Fans of French Country furniture will sigh with passion when they see this delightful oak antique French armoire in the Normandy style, dating to 1890. A carved vase of flourishing flowers catches the eye at once, but look closer on the mirrored doors and you’ll also be charmed by the sweet birds pecking at grapes or berries. We have an equally pretty Normandy antique bed to match.

Combining the romantic appeal of the Old World with high-quality Made in the USA crafting, this fabulous stag sconce is part of a new line we just started to carry. The new sconces and chandeliers are based on antique Black Forest designs and cast in resin with terrific details. They look like carved wood and have a nice weight to them. They’d pair beautifully with your Hunting Style décor!

Finally, this stunning new Chelsea House hand-painted vase or urn is bound to bring spring into your home. You can almost smell the fragrance of the riot of flowers hand-painted across the 18-inch-high porcelain vase.

The Covent Garden urn is named after the historic Covent Garden flower market in London. Covent Garden is where Professor Henry Higgins first spotted Eliza Doolittle selling her flowers in the play Pygmalion and the Audrey Hepburn movie My Fair Lady. That truly was a romantic story worthy of Valentine’s Day!

However you choose to use your 15% discount, we hope you love the piece you buy.

For more inspiration browse our complete EuroLuxHome.com inventory. Then take 15% off everything in your shopping basket when you enter the coupon code: HappyFebruary

The offer is valid through February 16, 2015. Happy Valentine’s Day and happy shopping!

Aimee owns EuroLuxHome.com with her husband and best friend, Greg. Aimee sources amazing antique furniture, vintage lighting, & high-quality reproduction furniture to help her customers decorate their homes in a unique way. She loves her 8 (you read that right) fuzzy children and is renovating a 1920s bungalow in South Carolina. Find us on Facebook or connect with EuroLux on Google+. Or you can sign up here to receive this blog in your inbox.

Renaissance Knight Buffet, Mural & Window

by EuroLux Home

Renaissance Buffet with Lladro figure in our client's home. EuroLuxAntiques.com

Last year I wrote about Bob H. in Prairie Grove, Illinois, who bought a set of ten antique Renaissance chairs from us. We had a wonderful photo tour of his amazing French Renaissance chateau style home, inspired by European castles.

Bob enjoys medieval and Renaissance armor and he also bought a marble-top French Renaissance buffet, carved with a knight on horseback. Bob was so inspired by the knight on horseback carving that he had artists create a mural based on the carving, and then a stained glass window too. Let’s start at the beginning!

This is the antique Renaissance buffet Bob chose. Bob has been a pharmacist for 30 years, so he decorated the walnut wood buffet with a vintage Lladro Spanish porcelain figure of a pharmacist and antique mortars and pestles.

This close-up of the upper part of the buffet shows the Renaissance knight on the center door, riding his horse before the old castle.

This is the image that inspired Bob to have a mural painted by an artist, for an alcove in an upstairs hallway.

The mural came out looking like this…

It’s so fantastic and such a great likeness to the carving! But Bob still wasn’t done. The Renaissance knight was called upon again to serve his lord and master, Sir Bob. This time, the knight would ride across a stained glass window. To keep you in suspense just a little longer, here’s the commissioned artist at work on the window.

What an incredible job she did. You can see the result in the photo below, as we unveil Bob’s Renaissance knight stained glass window to the world. (You can almost hear the heraldic blare of Renaissance court trumpets, can’t you?)

The stained glass window is beautiful and the colors so bright and pure. What a jewel! It’s big too, at six feet tall and 2 feet wide. The window is installed in the foyer above Bob’s front door entry.

The suit of armor in the foyer is a nice early 20th century reproduction, but the rapier sword with the suit is an original from the 17th century. There are so many gorgeous details in this space, let’s take a look from some other angles.

This is the view from the top of the stairs, with that chunky iron chandelier making the perfect accent to the window.

On the left wall of the foyer, a large tapestry or wall hanging adds another authentic touch to the medieval Renaissance style. I mentioned ten leather-upholstered antique Renaissance chairs dating to 1900 that Bob also bought from us. Here they are in his splendid kitchen paired with a custom table that Bob had made by Amish craftsmen to match the chairs.

Bob is one of our visionary clients who has a great knack for creative décor and we so appreciate him keeping us posted of the knight’s latest journey. What’s next, Sir Bob? A stone-carved knight fountain, perhaps? We can’t wait to hear!

Aimee owns EuroLuxHome.com with her husband and best friend, Greg. Aimee sources amazing antique furniture, vintage lighting, & high-quality reproduction furniture to help her customers decorate their homes in a unique way. She loves her 8 (you read that right) fuzzy children and is renovating a 1920s bungalow in South Carolina. Find us on Facebook or connect with EuroLux on Google+. Or never miss a post if you sign up here to receive this blog in your inbox.