Our homes are a great place to express our personality. Nowadays, homemakers describe their style as "eclectic", because they are happy to mix different styles, as well as combining expensive items with more affordable ones. Popular trends in home furnishing include mixing old and new, classic and contemporary. If you are not lucky enough to have any antique furniture, you can easily get hold of beautiful reproduction furniture. Then, combine it with contemporary items. You can also achieve a great eclectic look by combining different styles, such as the ever so popular gold French furniture – rich in gold leaf and silk fabric - together with simple and lovely Venetian furniture. Mirrored furniture is so chic!

Furniture makers have been very responsive to this fashion, so now it’s easier than ever to purchase fine reproductions of vintage furniture, such as Louis, Rococo, Baroque and art-deco styles. Manufacturers are making sure that these reproductions are made following the techniques that French artisans used back in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries techniques handed down over the years from craftsman to craftsman.

Gold French furniture is nowadays usually finished in genuine gold leaf, and artisans make sure to give a distressing look to those areas where most natural wear would have occurred. The result is magnificent: gorgeous antique reproductions that retain the authentic look of the original!

The white painted chateau furniture usually undergoes a multi-stage finishing process that includes hand sanding, filling, sealing, painting and antique ageing.

Rich Rococo pieces, such as beds and chests of drawers are hand-carved, again, following the methods used hundreds of years ago.

Interior designers are also taking their inspiration from vintage styles and adding personal touches. They are able to do that by visiting every antique store and old French Chateau they can find, copying some features from them, and adding modern items to achieve a look that more and more people call "classic with a twist".

As a result, Rococo furniture and chateau style furniture are becoming more fashionable. These are sumptuous and opulent styles, so you can tone down the whole look using neutral colours for the upholstered pieces – a beige velvet chaise longue, cream dining chairs – painting your walls white and using natural rugs, such as cowhides. Let’s be honest, Versailles style is way over the top, but using a few rococo and baroque style items, such as a reproduction chateau de Versailles chandelier or a beautiful gilt mirror will give a glamorous look to your contemporary home.

There is an increased use of mirrored furniture too. The simple and pure Venetian furniture items look great with classic mahogany furniture as well as slick and modern furniture. If you want something more exotic, choose a couple of items from a popular silver embossed range and mix them with white painted chateau furniture.

If you love a style, there is no reason why you couldn't replicate it in your home. You don't need to copy the Louis XV style exactly, but breaking down a lavish look into its basic elements – a mirror, a chandelier and one piece of furniture - and a bit of imagination, anything is possible!