IN LOVE WITH TOILE!

TOILE DE JOUY

YOU EITHER LOVE IT or YOU HATE IT!

PERSONALLY, I LOVE IT!

What is Toile de Jouy?

Toile (pronounced twahl) means "cloth" in French. “Toile de Jouy,” or “toiles de Jouy,” are terms that refer to fabric that was first manufactured at a factory in Jouy-en-Josas, a village located southwest of Paris, near Versailles. Founded in 1760 by German-born Christophe-Philippe Oberkampf, (1738-1815), a textile entrepreneur, the factory site was chosen primarily because of its proximity to the clear running water of the Bièvre River. Oberkampf knew that water is a crucial element in the dyeing process. Only the highest quality goods were used in the production of the factory's printed fabrics made of cotton, one reason for the enterprise’s success.
Quilter's Muse Virtual Museum
by Patricia Cummings

above & below: from "Charles Faudree Interiors"


I know, I know....it takes a lot of nerve to post a picture of my room after posting pictures from Charles Faudree's book. I just thought I needed to show you what toile is supposed to look like before I show you what it looks like at my house. If I could afford to have Mr. Faudree come do my toile, I certainly would. But, since I am a bargain hunter, I have to do what I can with a limited budget and limited decorating experience.

I am not a new "toile lover". I've always loved toile, even before it came back into popularity. Fortunately my dh doesn't object to it (I think he even likes it, but I don't think he would admit that). When I was a little girl, my sister and I shared a blue and white toile bedroom, and I loved looking at the scenes on the fabric and just imagining far-away places and people.

I guess I never outgrew that love, because my master bedroom is black and cream toile. Of course, it's not ALL black and cream toile...that would require going out to buy all new everything and/or having everything reupholstered, and as a bargain hunter, I could never do that! Bargain hunter may just be nice way to say "I'm tight". I have trouble getting rid of anything or changing anything if it's still in good shape (even if it doesn't go with anything else in my house!) In order for me to get rid of something, it has to have a hole in it (and that's only if it can't be turned over where the hole doesn't show!) Oh my, I'm amazed at the things I admit on this blog.

The room we use for our master bedroom was originally a formal living room in this house. I just thought we'd use it more as our master bedroom than we would as a formal living room. I think I was right, because, surprise, surprise, we use it every night.

My window treatments were an accident. I found black and cream toile tablecloths at Tuesday morning for $9.00 each. I bought two of them, thinking I'd have a big black and cream toile dinner party some day. It wasn't until I put one on my table, that I thought it looked sort of strange to have a print that only ran in one direction on a tablecloth (couldn't decide which direction the print should go). (You think maybe that's why they were only $9 each?) So I put them up to think about it another day. I had made black and cream valances for the windows in our bedroom, and I was using draperies that were formerly on these windows when it was a living room. They were just plain cream, and they just weren't doing it for me. One day, I was just standing there, looking at those creme colored draperies, wishing I could afford some new toile draperies. That's when I remembered the tablecloths! I decided to hang the tablecloths with clip-on rings in front of the existing draperies. I just did it like a shower curtain with a liner (every other ring held the tablecloth, and the ones between held the thicker drapery). This gave the tablecloths a liner (so that the toile did not show from the outside) as well as more fullness and body. Of course, I only had 2 tablecloths. I had to rush back to Tues. a.m., but there was only one more tablecloth left. For awhile, I just used one tablecloth on each window (pulled to one side). My friend, Susie, somehow came up with one more tablecloth from a Tues. a.m. on the other side of the State, and I had enough for the two windows. This was supposed to be my temporary solution until I could afford real draperies, but that was six years ago, and I've kind of become accustomed to them now, and since they don't have holes in them or anything, I'm going to keep them awhile longer.

Now this has nothing to do with toile (I know you are shocked that I'm not staying on point--so unlike me to wander off into another subject), but in case you are wondering if it is Mardi Gras at my house, I'm going to tell you about the chandelier. I had pearls (faux and real-I can't tell the difference) that had belonged to my mother, my grandmother and my mother-in-law. One day, I decided to hang them from the chandelier over our bed. It was weeks before my dh noticed them, and when he did, he asked if we were celebrating Mardi Gras. When I explained that they were pearls from our families, he wasn't at all sure he wanted the "family jewels" hanging from the chandelier! However, he hasn't said anything else about them, so that is where they are staying.

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Other toile fabrics from around my house:

This fun toile is in my sun room.

This Asian toile is on the seats of some chairs in my family room.

If you've read my blog before, you may already be tired of seeing this fabric.

In my family room, it is the draperies and it lines the back of my bookshelves.

A chair in my back entry

The shower curtain in my guest bath


The window curtain in my bathroom.

My dh has his own bathroom

(without any toile)

The drawers on my dressing table

And blue and yellow toile in my front entryway.

I guess you get the idea that I LOVE toile. It's everywhere, and I didn't even go upstairs with my camera! There is just something about toile that I find so charming. I have no idea what made me say this, but one time when my husband brought me flowers in a toile bucket, I made the mistake of saying "toile just charms the pants off of me"! Do you think that's why he thinks it's okay to have toile in our master bedroom? (Again, I'm amazed at what I reveal in this blog!)

Now, I need to have my friend, Vanna, come tell me some pretty French words to use here, but I'm afraid she might use the word "merde", which is one of her favorite French words, and although it might be a good description of my decor, I'm not sure I want it used to describe my decor (even if it does sound a lot prettier in French)!!
So, I will just say:

"merci beaucoup"

for visiting my blog.

laurie (bargainhunr)