Nº180/Getting The Classic French Style In Your Home

Are you looking to bring classic French style into your home? Well, don't worry. You don't have to speak French to get the look. It's not hard to achieve. Just take a look at the following directions.

French country style is about used, worn, imperfect, but beautifully architectural elements and accessories. It doesn't have to be sleek lines, fine china, or gray, white, and black. It features chunky wooden tables, flowers, brightly patterned couches, curtains, and pillows styled after the look of Provence, which borders the Mediterranean Sea.

If you're looking to grasp the French look, look for things like cracked wood beams, curved panels, hand-carved decorations, and raw-material flooring and walls, like stone or bricks. Uneven plaster walls or raw, distressed wood can also give you the French country atmosphere.

In this style, a spider crack in the paint or slight discoloration just adds character. So don't fret about fixing all those imperfections.

Some architectural features include shutters for your windows, narrow, deeply cut window sills, and striped fabric awnings over windows that help prevent heat from escaping.

But if you just want a little bit of French flair in your house without too much change to your walls and floors, look for rustic furniture, oversized rectangular or round wooden dining room tables with a dull, waxed or natural finish. Dining room chairs have a ladderback style or vertical slats.

If you're looking for chairs or random tables, look for curved or boldly carved designs in the woodwork. Also, large armoires go well with the theme, giving you a place to store dishes, linens, clothes, or whatever you desire.

The next step is to adorn your house with fabrics and accessories. Use toile material, gauzy linen or cotton, in white, cream, or yellow with bright contrasting colors. You can choose themes like monkeys, eighteenth-century courting scenes, and Chinese patterns, which are dominant French designs.

Also look for large, thickly woven baskets, chunky clay or old metal pitchers, iron garden shelving units, and Chinese pottery, all of which fit in with the French theme. That means you can get ceramic plates, tiles, tablecloths, and curtains that have roosters, sunflowers, lavender, or beetles. You can save some money by getting these at flea markets and antique stores.

The final touches are flowers. Fresh flowers are ideal. Lavender, geraniums, and sunflowers are great for giving you the French country style you're looking for.

You can put the flowers in copper pots, window boxes, glass vases, or old pitchers. Use a variety of colors and make the arrangements not too simple or stylized. Another country French look is natural grasses.

It doesn't matter if you want to go all out or just change a few things in your house to achieve the French country look. You can use any of these ideas to get a little of Provence country into your house.