Thursday, October 16, 2008

An antiquarian's home in Florence










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Patrice Gruffaz's apartment in Paris








Well-known french designer Patrice Gruffaz, originator and proprietor of Lieux, a Paris shop selling fanciful furnishings, lives with his family in an apartment that reflects his passion for vibrant hues, his wit as a designer.
Ten years ago Gruffaz and Philippe Renaud, sharing a vision of contemporary design, founded Lieux, producing surprising, unpretentious furniture collections full of humor. Spiral lamps topped with brightly colored shades baptized Lampe Affolée [collapsing lamp], candlesticks decorated with small bronze rabbits, l and rough wood chairs with wings of chicken feathers, plates squirming with trompe l'oeil snakes, and crystal goblets with bases containing plump red hearts burst forth from the workshops of the Patrice-Philippe partnership. Without Renaud today, Lieux continues to produce witty things that it sells along with the work of other designers in the long and narrow shop on the Boulevard Henri IV, just a stone's throw from the Place de la Bastille.