The creative talks about the inspo for her shop’s window displays, her love for vintage and her creative process.
Written by ALLISON STICE
Photography by ADAM KUEHL
A TRIP TO THE PARIS MARKET & BROCANTE feels like a journey in itself, and at no time is the boutique on Broughton Street more transportive than the holidays. With dramatic shop windows and themed trees nestled alongside tablescapes fit for a fête and art and antiques collected from around the world, the brainchild of co-founder and owner Paula Danyluk brims with treasures.
Each holiday, Danyluk outdoes the last, moving past the conventional to surprise and delight. This year’s global theme goes far beyond conventional green and red. Think: A pink ombré dragon intertwined with a 12-foot Christmas tree to evoke Japan, followed by themed areas for Peru, Italy, France and Scotland, where Danyluk recently vacationed. She loves to keep each season fresh — and with displays fully shoppable, there’s no shortage of opportunities to spruce things up.
“We’ve been doing this for 20 years, and I’m pretty sure we have not repeated a window,” Danyluk says.
Here, the creative shares the thrill of the hunt, her love for vintage and how to mix and match to recreate The Paris Market magic at home.
On This Season’s Store Theme
I was inspired by a St. Augustine quote that says, “The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only one page.” This year, we have decorated trees themed for the countries of Japan, Scotland, Italy, France and Peru. I’ve curated items related to those countries, and I have a palette for each one.
We went to Scotland in June for my birthday, so I now know the environment. Thistle is their national flower, they have Highland cows and tartan plaid, and everywhere you went you had to have a drink of Scotch.
We’re going to make each country’s area interactive with someone stationed there offering an educational tutorial for kids. Do you have any relatives from Scotland? Where are your grandma and grandpa from? I want people to see that we’re all immigrants.
I want it to make you think. I’m hoping each tree will bring an element of surprise.
On Treasure Hunting
I love finding vintage items. I’m the kind of person that everyone calls a magpie. I like to find that shiny thing in a pile that looks like nothing. I don’t like to walk into auction houses where it’s all clean and perfect.
Of course, I go to Les Puces de Paris Saint-Ouen, which is so inspirational but often too expensive. Instead, I prefer going into the basement that’s dusty and hunting. I do a lot of research before I go abroad to find little-known places. I did bring some vintage kilts back from Scotland and kimonos from France.
On Her Creative Process
I love the creative aspect of sitting down and coming up with the idea for each year’s theme. Then, I draw it out on paper. This year, I made a 3D model of the book in the shop window to show our stylist, where the pages fold to reveal Christmas trees and bagpipes for Scotland.
I’m especially inspired by vintage paper, with letterpress, gold embossing or hand coloring. I’m creating my own collages from new and vintage papers to sell at the store for Christmas, and there’s this mindlessness of mixing them together that I love.
On Her Hosting Must-Haves
My personal preference is vintage silverware. At the store, we set the table with mix-and-match silver.
I love vintage linen napkins from France. First of all, I think you should never really use a paper napkin if you have people over — unless it’s in the summer for a barbecue. For Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner, you should have amazing napkins and Grandmother’s silver.
One of my very favorite things to do, because I hate napkin rings, is to get jasmine vines and use them to wrap each napkin. Then you add some more to the middle of the table. It’s elegant and falls off nicely, and it’s a conversation piece.
On Her Tablescape Rules of Thumb
I love maximalism; I love mixing and matching; I love layer upon layer, and I think that’s what sets things apart. You can’t just do one thing and then it’s done.
If you’re using a stripe, use a thin stripe and then a bold floral. Don’t have everything in the same scale. You’ll want to do things in odd numbers, three or five. It can be different colors and metals. Mix silver candlesticks with brass candlesticks.
I think people are so afraid to try, and I totally get it. But just go ahead and start trying and keep going. Add another layer. Don’t stop too early. Put on some good music that you like and just have fun with it. There are really no rules. Like everything else, you get better as you do it.
