Home Sweet Maison (ePub)

La vie est faite de petits bonheurs.*

Live as the French do and Make Your Home a Place for Conversation, Tradition, and Pleasure

How do the French create the alluringly beautiful sanctuaries they call home—formal yet comfortable, organized yet casual, filled with decorative objects that are also a practical part of their everyday lives? What may feel effortless is not, of course, and in Home Sweet Maison, Danielle Postel-Vinay shares what she has learned about the French art of making a home. Through a transformative friendship with a Frenchwoman who mentored her in the good life, her marriage to a Parisian man, and years of immersive research while living in France, Postel-Vinay learned the true essence of how the French live la belle vie.

Home Sweet Maison takes a room-by-room approach to show how the French view:

• The Aesthetic: why the objects in your home matter, why minimalism is overrated, and why the French always choose the perfect décor for their salons
• The Practical: how to use mise-en-place, or the French art of organization, in your kitchen, and how to find the right stain-removing potions to create your own French laundry
• The Sensual: the way the French employ scent in their home as a personal signature
• The Philosophical: the idea that every room in a French house has a specific purpose, and that the activity in one room should never bleed into the others

. . . and much more.

Sophisticated, charming, and aspirational, Home Sweet Maison is a unique look at how the French view their most intimate spaces, family life, and themselves. With touches of history and how-to, Postel-Vinay explains the life-changing benefits of introducing French traditions and practices into your home. You may personalize the entrance to your apartment, make your dining room the soul of your home, or create a kitchen space that moves with the efficiency of a four-star restaurant, but more important, Home Sweet Maison shows that anyone, with any kind of living space, can create a sanctuary; a home filled with warmth and self-expression, better suited to living a rich, full, connected life.