A Love Affair with Paint

Introducing our new paint collection -- The Maison Rêve 38 Colours by Farrow & Ball.

Paint is an easy way to refresh any room or worn furniture piece. Farrow & Ball paint is renowned for the ultimate in depth of colour and elegant finish.

Based in London, Farrow & Ball is the only manufacturer which makes all of the paint and wallpaper sold under its name. Their environmentally friendly paint is made with traditional methods using original formulations. They've never wavered from using only the finest raw materials rather than incorporating plastic “filler” like most others in the industry, resulting in 30% more pigment. We also like that they choose not to use less accurate in-store tinting machines, but instead make and check every batch themselves.

While we carry the entire Farrow & Ball palette of 132 colors in 13 finishes, we know its tough picking paint. So we’ve done the work for you. Select from our 38 favorites in The Maison Rêve Colours by Farrow & Ball. Sold in-store and soon online at http://www.maisonreve.com/. Come fall in love with paint!

Behind the Scenes - Creating a Birch Tree

My team loves creating inspiring store windows for our customers. April was about celebrating Earth Day with an 11 foot birch tree. The white simplicity of these trees is very Maison Rêve.

To create a tree trunk, our inspiration started with a trip to the San Francisco Flower Market.

We found two urns with bended tree branches.

And a cluster of birch branches.

All tall enough, just not right. Keep hunting.

Then some larger birch branch logs. They could work if nailed together to make the trunk.

Until we discovered these hollow birch wraps. They come from fallen birch trees that rot in the middle, leaving these discarded exterior shells. A perfect way to recycle natural beauty! Stacking the right sizes inside another made our 11 foot trunk. The hunt was over.

Back at the Maison Rêve workshop it was time to start painting leaves in our new 38 Maison Rêve Colours by Farrow & Ball. We found pictures of birch leaves online that became our visual cutting guide.

Lauren hand-painted each leaf.

380 leaves - a lot of painting!

We then suspended the trunk with fishing line from the ceiling and made a grid of line above it to suspend the leaves. Voila!

Customers have really enjoyed the tree. We are now selling it with part proceeds going to support the environment. If interested email info@maisonreve.com. Great in a child's room as their "giving" tree.

The birch wraps are now a new product at the store. They are great for covering glass vases that hold flowers on a table. Or to wrap a pail of umbrellas, $38 each.

Stay tuned for our behind-the-scenes May window honoring Mother's Day with vintage treasures.

Easter Basket Workshop this Saturday

Join us for our annual Easter Basket making workshop! It’s an adult only workshop - we will be creating the pretty embellishments to make a unique Urban Farmhouse basket for your little chicks. Learn the inspring history behind Easter baskets, how to incorporate hand-made decorations and vintage treasures that create traditions your kiddos will share with their own children one day. Create 3 vintage inspired crafts (e.g. spring pinwheels, egg ornaments….) for your baskets that can also be used after Easter as pretty decorations for your kids room. Bring a basket to add your decorations to (or purchase one at the workshop). Space is limited. Reserve your spot now.

Saturday, March 27, 10am - 11:30am $15 workshop fee includes all embellishment materials.
RSVP to shop@maisonreve.com, 415.383.9700
Maison Reve 108 Throckmorton, Mill Valley, CA 94941

Recycled Green Glass Storage Jars in Better Homes & Gardens

Our recycled glass storage jars with metal tops are featured in the March issue of Better Homes & Gardens magazine (page 62).

Available in 4 sizes -- small with blue metal lid 9.25" H x 6.5" Dia, medium with green metal lid 11.25" H x 8" Dia, large with yellow metal lid 12.5" H x 9" Dia, xlarge with red metal lid 13.75" H x 10.5" Dia

Perfect for collecting and clustering objects such as fruit, tea bags, dog biscuits or flour in the kitchen. Or more unusual items such as wooden paper clips in the office. Cotton balls in the bathroom. Baseballs in a child's bedroom.

Email shop@maisonreve.com or 415.383.9700 to order. We ship across the United States, Hawaii and Canada.

As seen on Martha Stewart!

Our recycled Levis denim aprons may be on Martha's show today! Hand-crafted by a local Mill Valley CA textile designer, Molly de Vries, these aprons are inspired by our favorite Julia Child. She loved the demi apron just like us. Today our friends at remodelista.com will on The Martha Stewart Show and plan to give Martha one of our lovely aprons! We love Martha and get so many creative ideas from her team daily, so this is quite a thrill.

Our Julia aprons come in two sizes: full (with bib fronts) $88 and demi (waist down like Julie loved) $68. The demi styles are available in two lengths - long (shown above) $68 and short (below) $48.

All styles available in navy blue, white or orange stitching. Our favorite is the organge stitch --inspired by our Maison Reve orange logo. We originally made them for our in-store team to wear until customers kept asking to buy them!

Call or email to get your own Julie inspired recycled denim apron 415.383.9700, shop@maisonreve.com. We ship across the country. Fingers crossed we make Martha....

An Urban Farmhouse Wedding

We love weddings at Maison Reve! Our owner Yasmine and now husband David's wedding on a foggy cliff in Mendocino, California was signature Urban Farmhouse style. From the sea glass bottle with their wedding vows that David threw out to sea. To orchard ladders to form the arbor where they spoke thier vows. To french baguette trays with votive candles lined down tables.

Bowls filled with sea glass chips. Vintage champagne buckets and weathered pitchers for fresh cut blooms.

To their favorite gift from a flea marketer friend in London -- large D & Y antique letters that now inspires them everyday over thier mantle headboard. If you are getting married, call us! Our expert wedding Inspirer, Ashley, will help if you want to rent our vintage treasures for your wedding or create the perfect wedding registry. 415.383.9700

Warm Sunday Soup

Want a great farmhouse soup this weekend? Try this delicious vegetable soup with pistou. Lovely for the whole family or your next casual dinner party.

Soupe Au Pistou
2 quarts boiling water
1 fresh bouquet garni: parsley, thyme, celery and bay leaf, tied together
8 oz pumpkin, marrow, squash, or sweet potato, seeded, peeled, and cubed
6 ½ oz fresh coco beans or equivalent
2 carrots, sliced
2 onions, sliced
6 ½ oz small potatoes, quartered
6 ½ oz green beans, such as haricot or runner beans, cut into 4-inch pieces
2 medium zucchini, sliced
A handful of broken spaghetti, vermicelli, or short macaroni
2 tomatoes, blanched, peeled, and cubed
Crusty bread, to serve

Pistou
1 teaspoon coarse salt
Freshly ground black pepper
6 young garlic cloves, chopped
A handful of fresh basil leaves and basil buds, torn
2 oz Parmesan or pecorino cheese, grated
1 oz tome de chèvre (hard goat cheese), grated
2/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

Serves 4-6

Pour the boiling water into a large soup pan. Add the bouquet garni, pumpkin, coco beans, carrots, onions, and potatoes, and return to a boil. Reduce the heat to a moderate simmer, then cover and cook for 20 minutes. Add the green beans, zucchini, pasta, and tomatoes. Continue cooking for 10 minutes, until the vegetables and pasta are soft. Meanwhile, make the pistou. Put the salt, pepper, garlic, and basil into a mortar and pound to a paste with a pestle. Add some of the cheese and a splash of the olive oil, and pound until a stiff paste forms. Continue adding the remaining cheese and oil, pounding each addition. The final paste should be thick and rich. (note: pistou can also be made in a small food processor). Clean the pestle and place it back in the sauce in the mortar at the center of the table: a dramatic presentation. Ladle the soup into big, individual bowls and let everyone stir in their own pistou as they eat. Serve with crusty bread and woody Chardonnay. Bon Appétit!

Our Most Popular Gift this Year!

Our Holland flower vases are our most popular gift this season! Versital, unique and perfectly priced at $25 small, $36 large. Customers keep saying they make the "perfect" gift.

Fill with flowers for the Hostess.

Herbs for the Chef. Small size pictured above.Paint brushes for the Artiste. Or colored art pencils for the Kiddies. Large size pictured above.

Glasses are all attached and slide up the metal handle as a set for easy cleaning! Buy your vases soon...limited quantities as they are imported from Holland shop@maisonreve.com, 415.383.9700

For the Entertainer: Noël Napkins

Hunting for the special gift? Here's one from my Holiday Reve List:

For the Entertainer: a set of Noël flax napkins from Libeco-Lagae in Belgium. Comes in red or white embroidery on natural flax linen. I love their classic look and quality. $22/napkin. Purchase in-store, 415.383.9700 or info@maisonreve.com. Remember we gift wrap and ship. Check back daily for more of my favorite gift giving ideas! Yasmine

Vintage Holiday Workshop

Mark your calendars!

This Sunday, December 13, 11-12 noon for our Annual Vintage Holiday Workshop at Maison Rêve! Our Chief Inspirer and owner, Yasmine, will get you in the spirit with endless creative ideas - including her personal favorites - for bringing that special vintage touch to our holiday season.

From Vintage Decorating with red stripe grain seed sacks....

To Vintage Entertaining tips to create a very merry table for your guests....

To Vintage Gift Giving with personalized gifts that have meaning and inspiration without overstretching your wallet. Workshop is free but seating is limited. RSVP early info@maisonreve.com 415.383.9700. photo credits Country Living magazine.