“I am genuinely enthralled, inspired and continuously curious about contemporary families,” says Constance Gennari. The Paris-based former children’s fashion reporter and mother of two also happens to be a design obsessive, and for those of us who share her fixations, The Socialite Family, Gennari’s four-year-old website, has become required weekly browsing.
Instead of bloodlines and bank accounts, personal style and true cool are Gennari’s criteria. Of course, prime real estate also comes into play. As does the juggling life: Gennari defines “socialite” as meaning “people who successfully divide their time between their professional careers, traveling schedules, and families.” To date, so many clans have met her criteria that the site’s greatest hits have been compiled into The Socialite Family book, a room-by-room inspirational “guide déco” intended to help others live with flair. Here’s a spotlight on one of the families, plus a look at the book.
Photography by Constance Gennari—in addition to being TSF’s founder, Gennari takes most of its pictures.
The family moved from Geneva (where Antoine works) to Prudent’s native Burgundy when she was expecting their third child to “change my lifestyle to a simpler format,” she told the Socialite Family, “to create a nest for my children, and a haven for Antoine when he returns home for the weekend.” Prudent’s firm is called Finca. Admiring the woven pendant lights? Find similar options in Design Sleuth: 6 Summery Natural Fiber Pendant Lights.
Asked by TSF for her “no-no in terms of taste,” Prudent responded: “Lack of personality; when your living room looks like a waiting room.” Her hanging light is Constance Guisset’s Vertigo Pendant Lamp. Go to Object Lessons: The Butterfly Chair to read up on the classic and find sourcing.
Prudent is a flea market regular with a fondness for mixing styles and putting objects to unexpected uses. Here, she created display shelves out of stacked vegetable crates.
A favorite shopping haunt that she shared with TSF? “On rare Sundays in the Dijon antiquarian quarter, Brigitte Durieux sells her vintage kids’ treasures, a trove of items the likes of which you can hardly find elsewhere,” she says. “I also love going to barter sales and neighborhood garage sales in Dijon and elsewhere.”
The cotton White Teepee is by Georges and came from Little Michèle & Noëlle.
Prudent’s oldest daughter’s room has Cole & Son Hummingbirds Wallpaper, available for $132.30 per double roll from Wallpaper Direct.
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