Hyderabadghar/decorate/Bring in the colors of Provence

Enjoying a great surge in popularity, the French country style of decorating is one of the warmest and most welcoming. Not for the faint of heart, the rich, vivid colors evoke the warm tones of the Provencal countryside—golden yellows, vivid indigos and pure blues, deep reds and russets, and bright, creamy greens.

Part of the fun of French country decorating is that you can use all of these colors at the same time, combining them so they complement each other without competing.

Pair a busy red paisley fabric or wallpaper with an ivory and red rustic check for seat cushions. A green rooster print fabric teams well with a small-patterned cotton print featuring gold and green miniature paisleys or leaves.

A daring but effective combination is grass green and hot pink, as seen in Pierre Deux's popular toile with pastoral country scene. You would do well with a black or rusted wrought-iron chandelier in a shapely dome style or in the shape of an animal like a cow or hen. A traditional brass chandelier—not formal—also adds the right touch. Look for shades covered in a French cotton toile or print, with gimp at the top and bottom, at specialty shops.

As for area rugs, a simple country braided rug in three or four colors lends the right note; a hooked rug with geometric or floral design would be colorful and effective. Consider a large round rug in a square room, particularly if the dining room table is round or square.

Walls

Photo courtesy of Mid Gordon.

Walls can sport a timbered design, lime washed or plastered between beams, to capture the exterior construction of a Provence farmhouse, upon which the French country style is based. The same look can be created without construction; simply fresco and paint to capture the effect of beams and paneling. Plain walls without wood strips also are typical; they were usually thick. That feel can be achieved through whitewashing, plastering, or color washing in tones natural to the local stone and clay, from buff mustard to dusty red.

Decorative details can be added gingerly to break up the monotony. Create cheer by stenciling with a blue fleur-de-lis pattern in a kitchen. A bold blue-and-white striped wallpaper can capture cosmopolitan elegance in a living room.

Paint an interior door baby blue. Brick or flagstone walls also are common, especially in the kitchen or on fireplace walls.

Floors

As in the treatment of walls, materials from the countryside were used for flooring. Flagstone and brick were typically found in homes of northern France while clay tiles were common in southern France. Today, unglazed quarry tile in colors from pinkish red to honey to deep brown achieves that look, especially attractive in kitchens. Also consider flagstone, slate, marble, brick, terrazzo, or ceramic tiles in a definitive French pattern of black-and-white or red-and-white checks.

For a rustic feel that is also sophisticated, lay down wooden parquet rubbed with white paint. Wall-to-wall carpets are not part of the look though if desired should be plain in color. A natural matting is another option. Oriental, Indian or Turkish rugs atop polished wooden floors or parquet is a more suitable option to affect the casual elegance that distinguishes the French country style.

Lighting

Photo courtesy of French Country Living.

With all the natural light streaming through the large, wide trademark multi-paned French doors and windows, light fittings take a back seat to other design elements. Nevertheless, iron or brass lanterns or candelabras, adhered to walls or on tables, can exude country charm.

Table lamps are typically unobtrusive; columns are usually wood, brass, clear glass, or a blue-and white Chinese ginger jars with plain shades, either pleated or shaped like coolie hats. For a bit of panache, consider hanging a chandelier in the living room, with delicate glass droplets for a fancy feel or curving wrought iron for simple elegance.

Colors

The colors of French country style are influenced by the region of Provence. Due to the use of local stone and clay for walls and floors, the foundation colors are neutral—dove gray, stone, white, taupe, dust, mustard. But the colors for everything else—from pots to curtains to slipcovers to stenciled patterns—are lusty and vibrant like those found in the surrounding landscape.

Provence is Vincent Van Gogh country where lavender, burnt orange, bitter yellows, cobalt blues, and sunflower yellows jump out from the sky, flowers, and fruits.

While many or most of these colors are celebrated in the kitchen and living room, the style offers a rest from the excitement in other rooms. Bedrooms can be adorned in linens, curtains, and accessories that are simply white or pastels.

Fabrics

Cotton and lace are the definitive fabrics of French country style. Two notable uses: hand-made white laced curtains (sometimes made of hankies) over a multi-paned window and stark white bedroom linens bordered by lace, be they pillow cases or drapes framing a box-bed. Other fabrics used are chintz and damask for upholstery and draperies. Floral, checkered, and toile de Jouy patterns affect casual comfort.

A more striking look is created with hand-blocked cotton showcasing the tradition of world-famous 17th century Indian designs reworked by local weavers onto Provencal colors; patterns of fruit, flowers, and simple geometric patterns are printed on backgrounds of buff, mustard yellow, cherry red, and deep russet.

The trademark Provencal fabrics are commonly used on sofa throw pillows and draperies in living rooms and bedrooms. For more formality, Aubusson tapestries can cover throw pillows and be used for upholstering dining room chairs.

Accessories

Photo courtesy of French Country Living

Function and finesse. That's the effect of accessories in French country style. What would a kitchen be without copper pots, hanging from racks and celebrating the French's famous culinary skills? Other quintessential accessories are also associated with the kitchen and the people's love of food and drink: wire fruit baskets, wine racks made of painted wood or wire rails, baskets for plants and bread, baker's racks for china often with Chinese motifs.

Here and in other rooms as well, dried flowers are a standard item, hanging inverted from ceiling racks or upright in vases and jugs. They can also be arranged in topiaries, either free-standing in pots or covering an entire fireplace mantel. Or, they can be artistically displayed along with a collection of perfume bottles in a tableaux atop a skirted round table.

If you want to balance out the country feel with a dash of sophistication, scatter about some blue-and-white Chinoiserie pottery, Limoge boxes, country antiques like a jump seat from an old motor car, or opulent antiques like a gilt-framed mirror.

Furniture

Decorative or simple—but always handcrafted, or at least a handcrafted look from a current point of view. That's what defines French country furniture.

In the 18th and 19th centuries, French craftsmen and artists were drawn to Provence to trade ideas from across the Mediterranean at its ports, a rural equivalent of a Parisian court. The result: furniture made with skill and imagination. Buffets, chairs, and boxes were carved with sheaves of corn, knots of myrtle leaves, and scrolls of music. A common piece then and now is the armoire, a general-purpose cupboard for food and clothes made of local walnut.

Simple lines characterized other pieces like box-framed beds, rush-seated benches, and bentwood chairs. The tradition of simple furniture has been carried over into today's French country style. Quintessential kitchen pieces include a deep buffet-like pétrin, a chest designed for kneading and rising of dough; a wood panetiére to store baguettes, long walnut dining table covered with red-and-yellow wax cloth and surrounded by mismatched chairs, slat-style garden chairs, or high-back rush-seated chairs; pine or walnut buffets with drawers or bottom shelves; and possibly recessed furniture like built-in buffets or banquette, a bench with upholstered seat.

Classic living room pieces are a Louis XV walnut armchair with hand-carved slats and woven rush seats, an Empire fauteuil (upholstered armchair with open sides), and Louis XV bergére—a deep armchair with cane or upholstered back and arms and a cushion on the seat). A definitive piece for either sitting room or bedroom is a domed Louis XV armoire with paneled double doors and intricate carvings with burnished cherry exterior.

Bring in the Colors of Provence