Adding the French Provincial Decorating Style to Your Home
Home decor compromising of either the French Provincial or the French Country mode has variety, charm and subtle shades of texture and color.
Attention to details is the hallmark of the French Provincial decorating style. The kind of style that can be seen in French provincial towns in the delightful and charming countryside. Inspiration comes when you think small; small buttons, petite beads, vintage photographs preferably in miniature frames, basketry and ribbons.
These are trinkets that you might come across in a unassuming French farmhouse; laid out in an array of resplendent colors that you can imitate in your own home; a far cry from the formal French style of magnificent chandeliers.
Color embellishes everything it touches. The typical French Provincial decorating style does not confine itself to just a single color or a particular color scheme. The choice of muted shades, not pale and washed out, but looking as if they have seen seasons of sunshine and rain are eminently suitable for the provincial style. So does sage blue, cornflower blue - representing the countryside. If you prefer more darker shades, brick red and chocolate browns are good choices.
Since the French Provincial decorating style - the name being associated with rural Provence - represents pastoral France, the furniture are also characteristically rural with rustic structures and rich colors. The floor is typically of solid wood and a sense of comfort is instilled into the room by the addition of soft rugs in quiet shades. Patterns for draperies, pillow covers and slipcovers may be drawn from a wide array of floral or the tranquil French sceneries.
Wall art can change the atmosphere of a room. And French Provincial wall art is no exception. Just imagine for a moment an amazingly impressive picture of a French farmhouse, a scene of a French town featuring the bakery and some café or a French water garden above the mantle. Prints or paintings portraying such scenic beauties of France will not be difficult to purchase. Other wall art articles could include vintage postcards properly framed. Even posters of theatre performances could liven up your family room.
Pictures are not the only articles that bring life to your rooms. Pewter sconces (light fixtures) sporting candles, bouquets of dried flowers attached together with ribbons and hanging lamps with fringed lampshades can also articulate the style you have in mind. It is left to your imagination, your creativity and your love of beauty and the pains you take to search and acquire French Provincial articles that is going to make your home convey an atmosphere of the rural French Provincial countryside.
Wherever possible, showcase objects that are distinctly French - even down to the label. Small touches and subtle details can go a long way. An empty tin of French chocolates containing some French fruits on the dining table can accentuate the French connection. An old French cabinet with old French books in the drawing room will impress your guests.
You can incorporate your own style into that of the French Provincial decorating style, which is broad enough to blend together with. It is your love of beauty, your imagination, your creativity and the pains you take to search and acquire.
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