Decorating In The French Country Style
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Often thought of as one of the most romantic decorating styles, French Country has long been a mainstay of decorating magazines and news features for years. The rustic old world spirit has a feel of warmth and comfort that many decorators turn to when their clients want them to make their houses a home.
Your home would be a prime candidate for French Country style, otherwise known as French Provincial, if it shares at least some of the architectural features of a country home. As the decorating style tends to accent natural features and materials, this style would be perfect for homes that have plaster walls, beamed ceiling, delicate carved wood accents and smooth wood or stone floors.
The furniture for this style has the allure of curved panels, with hand carved decorations and often incorporates raw wood. It is heavy, stout carved legs on the chairs and sofas, tables made of oak and cherry with intricate designs carved around the edges or on the legs, and huge armoires made of oak and maple, with many drawers and pigeonholes to hold pretty much anything one could think of.
The wood and stone floors are decorated with beautiful wool braided rugs and cotton rugs in tones of faded pastels with intricate designs woven into them. By the doors, simple wool rugs are the norm, woven tightly to withstand wear and tear for years to come. The pastel theme continues into the window dressings, light and airy curtains all around. The pastels in French Country style are often contrasted with simple checks and plaids done up in the colors of the countryside: robust greens, browns, blues, and orange.
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The centerpiece of any French Country style design would be a preferably stone fireplace, but brick and mortar would do as well. This would be accented with brushed and rubbed metals: brass, copper, silver and bronze.
Surrounded by roughened plaster in pale white, the fireplace is the centerpiece of the wall it fronts. The same can be said for any accent that fronts or hangs upon the walls, dark frames surrounding exquisite art pieces just pop out when hung upon the pale walls in this decorating style.
French decor has some very rustic themes, usually representing animals and other sights you might see in the countryside. Ceramic and metals objects line the shelves, counters and tables in this decor, painted with either a crème or eggshell tones, and featuring either a single piece of country life or a faded farm scene. Common themes include: roosters, olives, sunflowers, grapes, bunches of lavender, and beetles.
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The finishing touch for this type of decorating style would include strategically placed baskets, toile and flowers. The baskets are tightly woven with natural grasses, usually found holding fresh picked flowers from the garden, especially geraniums, and the very popular lavender. Pottery pitchers and large bowls are featured upon accent tables covered in toile decorated in scenes from the 18th century, embroidered in delicate, pale blue like the patterns found on fine china.
