The market explained for French style + shabby chic furniture

The majority of what you find under 'french furniture' and other realted terms in the search engines are companies that in the main buy from wholesalers and one large one in particular called Coachouse. There are even those websites that promote the fact they stock Coachouse. This is why you can see the same product on many sites, you will also find some furniture from France and other manufacturers but these are generally with long waiting times and are generally 4 times or more the cost of our own furniture and we would be happy to see any quality comparison with ours.

Shabby chic and French style furniture has always been popular highlighted ever more so by the recent adoption of this style of furniture in the major high street chains. You can browse almost any lifestyle home magazine every month and find numerous featured homes furnished with this style of furniture as well as featured products.

Styles are influenced from the Louis period styles between 1610 to 1793 with a 183 year period with influences preceding this time line in conjunction with influences from other countries in particular Italy there are a number of styles interpreted by present day manufacturers. This in turn influences the practice of distressing new furniture to give an antique feel and look that you may expect from the Louis time line. This is where the authenticity and methods vary, often traditional methods are replaced by more efficient if less convincing processes, many simply rub off a wet paint layer revealing a different dry finish beneath. Some manufacturers combine spray finishes with hand distressed elements to achieve a happy cost/look balance. Our finishes are 100% hand applied with traditional techniques and tools i.e. cat 'o' nine tail glass scraping etc. 'more info here...'

You will find many pieces from our own range with this period influence there are a few reproduction classic designs how ever the majority are our own and the finishes will always be unique.

This is more rare than you might think, tap into Google French shabby chic furniture trawl the pictures and product across websites and you will see what we mean, the same furniture again and again.

So why is this happening?

The explanation is so simple they all buy from the same wholesaler and choose from what's on offer it highlights the fact we are one of the rare few to be completely different from the rest with designs and finishes that will not be found elsewhere.