The Patina Journal started with a box of old furniture magazines in our family library, kept because nobody could quite decide to throw them away. That box is still the reason this exists.
We write about vintage interiors, furniture and decorative objects, the history behind them, and the decorating styles that keep proving themselves worth returning to: Victorian, French vintage, and Japandi and wabi-sabi. Alongside the writing, we are slowly working through a family archive, magazine pages, photographs, catalogues and documents, and publishing what we find as we understand it.
Where the eye comes from
Before the Journal, there was a shop. My father, Houssine, spent forty years in the antiques trade in Casablanca, in shops of his own, the last of which he opened in 2010.
He was always working on something. I remember him fixing lamps: fitting a bronze base, a shade and new cords, until an old piece became a beautiful lamp again. What I took from that shop, more than anything, is his passion for the work.
The shop is closed now. What the Journal carries forward is his way of looking closely, fixing what can be fixed, and keeping beautiful old things in use.
Once a month, I write a letter about one piece worth knowing: what it is, how to read it, and what I’d check before buying.
No spam. Leave any time.
What we cover
Rooms, furniture and the decisions behind both. We aim for pieces that hold up: practical enough to use, specific enough to be worth reading, and honest about what is opinion and what is established fact.
How we handle the archive
Original material is not always fully documented. When we are certain of a date or a source, we say so. When we are not, we preserve the original wording and mark the uncertainty rather than inventing a tidier story. The archive is a record, not a marketing device. Photographs marked “Photographed at the author’s family shop” come from the family shop, and pieces are described as “-style” unless the date is confirmed.
Get in touch
Questions, corrections, or material from your own archive you think belongs here: get in touch. We read everything.