La Maison: French shelter magazines

Maison Française Jul/Aug 2011. Photos by Bruno Comtesse

Art & Décoration, Oct 2012. Photo by Christophe Rouffio

This is the first post in a new series called La Maison, posts that I hope will tickle and inspire your palette for a French-inspired home. Through my French family and travels within France, I've been greatly influenced by the way the French decorate and live in their homes, and this space is to share with you observations, ideas and resources I've picked up along the way. Some of the most striking things I've noticed and love is how history (through personal artifacts and mementos) and nature (taking outside elements indoors) play a healthy role within the French home; how they upcycle and display old and worn materials; their creative and simple ways of using textiles and color; and their natural way of layering textures. It all makes for a warm inviting living space.

So today's resource are some of my favorite French shelter magazines, the ones I  read like good novels with worn and dogeared pages. Particularly inspiring are the Côté Maison and Maison & Déco publications (below). Regardless of the season or year, their content is swooning material that continues to inspire long after issue dates have passed...

The nice thing is if you can't get your hands on a print edition, many French shelter magazines are now  viewable online. Plus they include sections from their newsstand counterparts, sharing scrumptious recipes, regional trends and profiles. Here are my favorites:

• Côté Maison - which includes Maison Francaise, Côté Sud (South Coast), Côté Ouest (West Coast), Côté Est (East Coast) and Côté Paris
• Maison & Déco - which includes Art & Décoration