"housewares" shopping

Here is our idiosyncrasy; we like to go to the stores that everyday people go to in a given city. Like the little hardware stores, kitchen stores. We especially like dishes and linens. Nothing especially fancy, just different from the pottery barn, department store cr*pola you%26#39;d find in the US. Are there any especially great places for this kind of thing? or even sections of the city?

Also where is the %26#39;textile%26#39; area? Especially vintage fabric or upholstery...

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Upholstery fabric is around the Marche St Pierre at the foot of the Sacre Coeur. Vintage fabric is at the St Ouen flea market, particularly in the Marche Vernaison.

For dishware and kitchen stuff it is fun looking at some of the larger weekend markets throughout the city. I found some great dishes at the Sat. market on the Ave. Breteuil and there is always a huge selection at the Sunday market on Richard Lenoire (also a great place to stock up for a post market picnic at the Place des Vosges.)

For professional kitchen equipment, , including copper pots that will stop your heart try E Dehillerin 18-20 rue Coquilliere in the first arron.

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Try the BHV-Bazaar de l%26#39;hotel de ville. Lots of everyday kitchen dishes and stuff and also a big hardware dept.

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you can go to lafayette maison, it%26#39;s beautiful and they have very nice things, lots of unique or designer things for the kitchen, rooms, living rooms. it%26#39;s huge, and i like it a lot (but some things can be very expensive because they are designer or unique things).

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For fabric shopping, perhps one of the very best places to begin might be MARCHE-SAINT-PIERRE--2 rue Nodier, 75018, Metro: Anvers-- http://www.marche-saint-pierre.fr/ up in Montmartre and several other smaller shops in this same immediate neighborhood. The Fabric department at SAMARITAINE is also quite good. For general sewing items, accessories (buttons, trims, ribbons, etc) and %26#39;stuff%26#39;, its hard to beat LA DROGUERIE--9-11 rue du Jour (just up the street from Eglise Saint Eustache), 75001, Metro:Chatelet %26amp; Les Halles-- http://www.ladroguerie.com/ (this place is an %26#39;Alladin%26#39;s Cave%26#39;)

One not for fabric shopping in Paris is that if you jhave something in particular in mind, you should make sure you jot down the measurements of it before leaving home and make a note of how to convert inches into centimeters/milimeters. It might also be a good idea to pick up an inexpensive, cloth %26#39;tailor%26#39;s tape%26#39; to take along with you--one with inch increments on one side and centimeters on the other. They%26#39;re readily available at most fabric and sewing shops, inexpensive and easy to carry in pocket or purse.

There is also an area down the the 6th--Saint Germain des Pres, centered around the rue de Furstenberg well known for better upolstery and drapery fabrics.

For interesting housewares and accessories, there are the big CONFORAMA-- 2 rue du Pont Neuf (just at the Right Bank end of Pont Neuf across from La Samaritaine) 75001, Metro: Pont Neuf-- www.conforama.fr/ConfoOnline/accueil.co ---and the HABITAT store--8 rue du Pont Neuf (at rue de Rivoli), 75001, Metro: Pont Neuf-- http://www.habitat.net/

And though only available in French language, the MARIE CLAIRE MAISON site may point you toward something of special/particular interest-- marieclairemaison.com/app/…MCMWeb.woa

Just up the block and farhter along the rue Montmartre (to your left) will be several kitchen/cooking supply stores among the best known are%26quot;

A. SIMON--48 rue Montmartre (at rue Etienne Marcel)-- http://simon-a.com/hten/

and the absolute %26#39;mecca%26#39; for chefs and cooks, E. DEHILLERIN%26#39;s--18-20 rue Coquilliere, 75001, Metro: Les Halles-- http://www.e-dehillerin.fr/--just a block west of Eglise Saint Eustache

For flea markets, you can use this source as a rough guide-- discoverfrance.net/France/Paris/Shopping/Par…

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Oh Darn,

Thanks to your idiosyncrasy I don%26#39;t think I%26#39;m going to sleep until I make it to Delhillrin for that copper confiture pot I%26#39;ve been wanting since last jam season........

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I know! geez, I didn%26#39;t even have copper pots on my radar until then. You all have given incredible resources that I wouldn%26#39;t have been able to wade through any other way. I can%26#39;t wait!

Just to give you an idea of how ingrained the idiosyncrasy is; we bought a set of paintbrushes at a hardware store in Mexico city about ,oh 7 years ago. They ARE beautiful. (Wood handles that are hand-painted a lovely coral color with a black and cream stripe and glossy black bristles) The thing is they are so beautiful and irreplaceable that they hang enshrined above the tool bench in my husbands shop. Hopefully, we will find more everyday items to treat with reverence in Paris...

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%26gt;%26gt;%26gt;Thanks to your idiosyncrasy I don%26#39;t think I%26#39;m going to sleep until I make it to Delhillrin for that copper confiture pot%26lt;%26lt;%26lt;

Ever been inside the Dehilerin store(s)? While you can certainly spend as much on copper pots and pans as you might for a mid-sized Mercedes; you will also find an absolute %26#39;..Alladin%26#39;s Cave..%26#39; of all manner of cooking/kitchen/housewares items that are really quite reasonably/modestly priced...and very often quite difficult to find anywhere else. There are most certainly %26#39;..price-is-no-object%26#39; items in their inventory..but there are also %26#39;..why-hasn%26#39;t-anyone-thought-of-that-before%26#39; every-day practical items. This place is incredible !!!

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How could I have recommended it if I had never been? My problem is not the budget for the items, it is the storage space (or lack there of) in my tiny Parisian kitchen.

Step in to any hardware store and check out the paint brushes here...They are round, rather than flat (I am talking about the big ones for painting walls, not art brushes) and may make a nice addition to your collection.

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Last time I was in Paris I discovered BHV and loved it. It looks rather plain and unattractive on the outside, but I could have stayed for hours looking at door knobs, drawer pulls, hinges, and my husband loved the basement hardware department while I browsed the art supplies section and purchased two of the best brushes for my painting that I have ever seen or used! The bedding and linens section has some great designer items I%26#39;ve never seen where I live, and the kitchen and china section was wonderful too. They have quite a nice little cafeteria as well. Be prepared to spend some time here!