I LOVE furniture, LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it. Have you ever seen a room from the 80s and thought- ughhh that’s so 80s? That’s exactly what I love about furniture. I love how a piece of furniture captures the essence of it’s time period. It’s like a time capsule, a piece of history, telling the story of its time.

People always ask me what is my own personal favorite furniture style and I never want to sound biased as I really do appreciate all different styles. However, if I had narrow it down, my own personal favorite is French furniture, specifically, Rococo and Neoclassic inspired pieces. I try to sneak a bit of it into as many projects as I can! I love modern interpretations of these styles and am always looking for new fabrics and designs to incorporate with these classically designed pieces.

Here are a few of my own custom designed pieces, and the stories behind them…

Canape (Cana-pay)
A canape is a carved wood frame French sofa, with an upholstered seat and back that became stylish during the Rococo and Neoclassic period under Louis XV and Louis XVI. These are still gorgeous pieces that are popular today. I just finished designing this custom canapé for a house we did the interior design for—a French inspired custom home in Houston.

Designing furniture is one our favorite services. We designed this piece from the “cabriole legs” up! We labored over every floral carving detail. The structure of a canape lets you utilize multiple fabrics on one piece due to the wood frame. We were able to use this incredibly gorgeous Lee Jofa fabric on the back of the canape.

Custom Canape by Amitha Verma Designs

Fabrics are often the foundation of any project we do. We found this beautiful, beautiful embroidered fabric that I knew had to be used in this client’s home. We considered using the fabric on the entire canape and I thought, “what if someone’s engagement ring gets caught on the threads of the embroidery?” So we decided to use the fabric on the backside of the canape. We were able to mix in a variety of other beautiful designer, but practical Lee Jofa and Donghia fabrics on the inside of the canape as well.

Lee Jofa Embroidered Fabric

Detail of Lee Jofa Embroidered Fabric

by Amitha Verma Designs

These are custom French chairs we designed. On the left is a bergere and on the right is a fauteuil just being unloaded!

Fauteuil (Fo-too)
A fauteuil is a carved French side chair, with open sides. They might be upholstered or have caning. These also have carved wood frames. These chairs emerged during the Rococo period and became very popular with many different interpretations.

Bergere (Bur-jair)
A bergere is another type of French side chair. The difference between the two—the bergere is closed all the way around. A bergere has an upholstered seat and back, and will often have an additional seat cushion. This is a classic, classic Louis XVI chair, probably one of the most famous pieces of French furniture. You’ve probably seen many different variations and interpretations of this chair.

If you are an avid antique shopper you will find that the chairs are referred to by their classifications of bergere & fauteuil.

More to come with additional photos of our projects…

Fabric and custom furniture available through interior designers. In Houston, please contact Amitha Verma Interior Designs.