Here, the art of living is given pride of place. Artists' portraits, contemporary furnishings, decorative items, beauty products and restaurants meet everypossible desire.
<u>Monaco</u> Corrado is an architect, Laetitia an interior designer, and the Bevacqua couple works in tandem. Their references include Adolf Loos, Le Corbusier, F. L. Wright, and they also draw inspiration from their Mediterranean origins and their experience in New York. Their favourite material is wood, they prefer Italian design, and their creations combine functionality and a human touch. They have put their names to the Fortis bank in Monaco, a sailboat anchored in Menton... though they have also exported their talent and expertise, already appreciated in Spain, Italy and elsewhere around the world. Cobe Design, 13 avenue des Papalins (00 377 97 70 64 88 et 06 07 93 37 89).
An attractive set of sliding doors, shown here in teak, without any floor rails, to close off a closet or to be used as a separation. In sales at Passage, 2 rue Lafayette, Cannes (04 93 39 48 53).
The kitchen plays the starring role at Italstil which also offers fixtures and fittings for the entiere house : Italian-made only, produced by craftsmen, delivered and installed in your home. The trend is for contemporary style, as evidenced by "Lux", shown here with a glossy finish. Italstil, 36 rue Auguste-Gal, Nice (04 93 55 27 78).
<u>Cannes</u> An antique-dealer since 1987, Didier Marien is also a trader and an acknowledged expert in French carpets and tapestries. With the gift of foresight, he soon noticed the public's enthusiasm for carpets designed by artists. His gallery in fact proposes some well-known names such as Albert Gleizes, Serge Poliakoff; Auguste Herbin... Didier Marien even designs and produces hos own brand. In addition to these models, he offers a collection in the finest Frenck tradition, including silk carpets, rare and limited editions : "We have mastered the technique to perfection and benefit from ancestral expertise". Which allows Boccara Design to offer discerning customers very large carpets (up to 100 sq. metres) or to make customized models in a very short time (about six months).
Everie Creations was launched in 2007 but the main event this spring was the inauguration of the first boutique proposing decor for special events for private clients. The project's initiator talks about a "fleurothèque to cultivate a taste for beauty and subscribe to flower power." Buying or renting, everything is possible, for the home, a special occasion, a gift. Here, the staging of artificial floral decor assumes its full dimension. Among the firm's references, the Carlton in Cannes, the Fairmont in Monaco... An address well worth discovering. 2793 chemin de Saint-Claude, Antibes (09 53 90 16 20 et 06 11 13 71 98).
Premium Aga is available in black, cream or red, and coordinates with cooking ranges. The brand’s first refrigerator to be entirely made by hand, it has independent temperature control zones. The “nec plus ultra”. 9,900 €. In sales at Cook & Toques, 30 boulevard de Lorraine, Cannes (04 93 68 71 61).
They describe themselves as creators of contemporary paintings and offer fans of the genre solutions on all types of supports including steel, velvet, wood and Plexiglas. They set up their studio and technical department, Lab2 Design, in 2006. The pair, who previously worked in jewellery and design, employ their individual skills to produce a new collection every six months, as in the worlds of fashion and jewellery. In the same spirit, they use their backgrounds, French and Russian, to launch crossbred creations. They generally target a young and urban clientele with a style that is decidedly modern, Pop and hip. www.Lab2Design.com
“Our priority : taking our clients’ aspirations into account and offering them our know-how.” Everything summed up in a nut-shell... or almost. This store in the Var is backed by long experience and works with major brands for light fixtures, carpets and fabrics. No less than 10,000 references for the latter, bearing the labels Canovas, Elitis, Job, Missoni, Rubelli, Sahco, Zimmer Rohde... Designs signed Toulemonde Bochart for carpets, Reflex, Movelight etc. for ceiling lights, appliques and lamps. 420/430 avenue Victor-Hugo, Fréjus (04 94 17 12 52).
Stéphanie Marin presents “Nenuphare”, an abstract landscape full of colours for the living-room. Two cushions, “Pha” and “Re”, and two seats, “Né” and “Nu”, which come in all the hues of the “Divina” range from Kvadrat. From 79 € to 4,180 €. In sales : 04 93 52 89 26 and www.smarin.net
Self-taught and proud of it, Alain Franconeri worked for a time for Canovas fabrics before launching his company, Azur Créations. “I specialize mostly in high-end refurbishments, from Monaco to Saint-Tropez.” His favourite customers ? Foreigners, usually from northern Europe : Swedish, English, Irish, Dutch... He handles everything from A to Z, providing his own personal touch where you would maybe least expect to find it, in the finishes. This meticulous man likes nothing better than camouflaging anything he can ! Azur Créations, 34 rue Lombards, Mougins (06 07 45 39 93).
Olive-oil, presented like a perfume in a superb bottle with a shiny silver cap, lightly stamped with a delicate black label. With this spray, Valérie Reboul proposes her latest creation, La Salonenque du Château d’Estoublon. From 15 €. In sales at Galeries Lafayette, 6 avenue Jean-Médecin, Nice (04 92 17 36 36).
“A flower should not be perceived as such but through a composition in which the leaves, stem and container all play their part.” For artistic florist Jean-Paul Savet, it is obvious. And his gallery provides proof. Here, as in his compositions, everything is perfectly balanced and harmonious. “With no limits !” he adds. Gone, therefore, classic bouquets, stacks of plants and arranged marriages. He gives free rein to his inspiration, sometimes totally unbridled, but no matter. The result is conclusive and the place, a mixture of flamboyant baroque tables and highly contemporary furniture, oxidized floor and droplet chandeliers, natural, artificial and stabilized flowers, offering visitors a glimpse of the infinite possibilities of this practitioner of the floral art. Jean-Paul Savet, 5 rue Hancy (04 93 88 55 37).
Cosi is a duo : Marie-Jo Cammera, decorator and fresco painter, and Saveria Garcia, self-taught decorator. They offer their know-how and recognized brands. For fabrics (Osborne & Little, Sahco Hesslein), wall coverings (Dedar, Elitis), lighting (Kosta, Itallamp), furniture (by catalogue) and decorative objects, solely based on their own personal preferences. 9 bis rue Emmanuel-Philibert, Nice (04 93 55 46 86).
“Zinc is one of those poor materials now considered as really chic.” Thierry Emond bends it to his will, using it to make lighting fixtures, like this armoured painting. Lighting becomes a sideline, the object’s function being above all decorative. 06 23 07 84 21 et et-deco.com
The bathroom is probably the part of our homes that has changed the most over the past decade. High-tech is part of it, in the guise of spas, whirlpools..., faucets combine efficiency and design, fixtures and fittings compete for originality. The traditional bathtub has made way for models that may be round, square, recessed into the floor, fitted with massage jets. The shower is indeed a shower of rain, and the idea of cleanliness has been transformed into the concept of well-being and relaxation. Even tiles have changed, now designed to enhance the rest of the room. Le Muse, a leading expert in the field, distributes the finest brands, from Bisazza to Porcelanosa for tiling, via Toscoquattro, Devon & Devon, Dornbracht, Duravit, Vitra and Jacuzzi for bathroom fixtures, hydromassage stalls etc... Le Muse, corso Mazzini 277 (00 39 01 84 50 74 03).
“Nua” is made with the help of traditional Vietnamese know-how. Bamboo-wrapped on the outside, its interior is lacquered and comes in three different sizes, three different hues (white, moss-green and night). A bubble designed by Marie Macon and Anne-Laure Lesquoy to store your little treasures. www.rededition.com
The Martine Micallef brand is celebrating its first year of existence. Perfume designers Martine and Geoffrey Newman capture their precious fragrances in “in-house” bottles, painted by Martine herself and decorated with Swarovski crystals. 2 rue d’Antibes, Cannes (04 97 06 05 44).
Specialists say that his work is reminiscent of Ernest Pignon-Ernest. Philippe Gourdon, contemporary artist, replaces canvas with marble and works on it like a sculptor, though he uses a paint-brush to delineate faces, bodies and poses. Originally an art director for various magazines, he then became a composer-performer of music for films and television. After a stint in the studios devoted to nude drawings on the Place des Vosges in Paris (where he learnt the basics of academic drawing), he began to create, exhibit and decided to settle on the Côte d’Azur, in Cannes to be precise. “I paint what I love, the game of love. I try to be freer in my drawing, more fluid, less academic, to let the emotion come across.” He also investigated the possibility of creating (artistic) furniture… Such as a marble table, partly painted. He has to go to Carrara to find the perfect piece of marble, then tackle the work itself. A unique piece, of course. Which will quite probably open up the way for others. Philippe Gourdon has no shortage of ideas or enthusiasm. 436 rue Saint-Sauveur (06 11 10 26 34).
Lafano and Altus are two Italian manufacturers of top-notch partitions and wall cladding for the first, false ceilings made of glass tiling and wall cladding for the second. Thanks to their innovative concepts, you can dress up a rather unsightly ceiling, physically separate spaces without masking the volumes or interrupting perspectives. Design solutions for both homes, commercial and business premises. In sales at Espace et Transparence, 2 avenue des Tignes, Le Cannet (04 93 06 00 47).
The outdoor leather used for Duvivier’s “Coach”sofa allows it to spend the entire winter outside and still fend off the effects of bad weather. The programme consists of five elements, fireside and corner armchairs, pouff and low tables, for simple or more complex compositions. Duvivier, 10 rue Gubernatis, Nice (04 93 85 99 58).
