Design Freres Shelving

Design Frères is an eclectic furniture line designed by Eric Thévenot, owner of Blend Interiors, an exceptional California-based dealer of vintage and contemporary furniture and decor. 

Known for synthesizing divergent styles and peppering worldly spaces he creates with works stemming from varying origins and periods, Thévenot is a consummate decorator, and the chairs, tables, case pieces and other furnishings that comprise his Design Frères collection are sophisticated additions to any interior.

Originally from France, Thévenot opened Blend Interiors in Los Angeles in 2005. While the company offers a range of furniture and decorative objects from all over the world — most of which are sourced from its founder’s purchasing trips in Paris — Blend Interiors also offers art advising services and interior design consulting. And the exclusive furnishings he is creating and manufacturing for the Design Fréres collection are part of this endeavor to provide clients with a provocative fusion of design. 

"I believe in mixing periods: Saarinen chairs in a French chateau, Louis XVI armoires in a futuristic pad," Thévenot has said. “I like pulling things out of different time periods and re-creating them for today’s lifestyle.”

Building on Blend Interior’s success, Design Frères was established in 2010 and is a growing venture. 

Given the broad-ranging tastes and concepts at the core of Blend Interiors, it is appropriate that the Design Frères line is so diverse and interesting — the collection features Art Deco-style end tables topped with travertine and stylish counter stools with handwoven rush seats and slender frames of powder-coated steel. Elsewhere, Thévenot’s white oak shelving systems feature chic space elements and draw on the legendary mid-century modernist storage solutions designed by the likes of Charlotte Perriand and Jean Prouvé, with each piece pairing nicely with the vintage European treasures that Thévenot is prone to acquire on his next trip to Paris.

On 1stDibs, find Design Frères tables, seating and lighting.

The late 19th and early 20th centuries saw sweeping social change and major scientific advances — both of which contributed to a new aesthetic: modernism. Rejecting the rigidity of Victorian artistic conventions, modernists sought a new means of expression. References to the natural world and ornate classical embellishments gave way to the sleek simplicity of the Machine Age. Architect Philip Johnson characterized the hallmarks of modernism as “machine-like simplicity, smoothness or surface [and] avoidance of ornament.”

Early practitioners of modernist design include the De Stijl (“The Style”) group, founded in the Netherlands in 1917, and the Bauhaus School, founded two years later in Germany.

Followers of both groups produced sleek, spare designs — many of which became icons of daily life in the 20th century. The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics. While Bauhaus principals Marcel Breuer and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe created furniture from mass-produced, chrome-plated steel, American visionaries like Charles and Ray Eames worked in materials as novel as molded plywood and fiberglass. Today, Breuer’s Wassily chair, Mies van der Rohe’s Barcelona chair — crafted with his romantic partner, designer Lilly Reich — and the Eames lounge chair are emblems of progressive design and vintage originals are prized cornerstones of collections.

It’s difficult to overstate the influence that modernism continues to wield over designers and architects — and equally difficult to overstate how revolutionary it was when it first appeared a century ago. But because modernist furniture designs are so simple, they can blend in seamlessly with just about any type of décor. Don’t overlook them.

From valuable historical memorabilia to rare architectural models to priceless family photos, there’s no shortage of collectibles and curiosities worthy of adorning your home. Why not take the time to find the ideal antique, new or vintage shelves for your treasured trinkets?

For every space and object, there’s sure to be a wall-mounted or sturdy floor solution that matches your shelving needs on 1stDibs. And while shelves should technically stick out from your wall, they shouldn’t from the rest of your decor.

Because you can find shelves made with a wide variety of materials today, everything from teak to brass, your shelving can seamlessly support your existing color scheme and design style. An arrangement of shelves from floor to ceiling can turn your wall into a proud storage space for displaying artwork, decorative objects and books. Options abound with regard to shelving for the latter, as furniture designers know that literature creates an inviting atmosphere in any room, and one of the simplest ways to integrate books into an interior design is with the right shelves or bookcase.

Elegant shelving is a must for a happy home office or library, but a sharp shelving system can freshen up virtually any room in your home. Proudly display your vintage dinner plates and other tableware with open shelving in the kitchen or tuck away linens in big baskets on shelves in your bathroom if you’re navigating life without a proper linen closet.

On 1stDibs, find a wide range of shelves that includes everything from mid-century modern floating shelves to decorative Chinese shelves dating from the 18th century to contemporary statement-making structures that are as provocative as they are convenient.