French Table Color Ideas

Almost Wood

• Many French tables are stained rather than painted, revealing the wood's natural beauty. If you are refinishing a French table, repaint the table rather than remove old layers of paint and prepare the wood for stain. You can keep the wood tone feeling in mind by using a natural color palette for your table. Try a beige color similar to the tone of raw wood for the table's top, and use a chocolate brown or mahogany tone for the legs. Ivory on the tabletop also looks good with these darker leg colors, and you can use a dry brush with a tiny amount of paint to streak the tabletop with the leg colors to create a faint impression of wood grain. Use sage green place mats and settings for a classic look, red or blue for a country kitchen style or an array of browns for a modern look.

Brick and Stone

• Take your cue from the materials found in old country French kitchens rather than traditional table colors. Paint the base and legs of your table a deep brick red, and sponge small amounts of black on top to create an old brick look. Paint the top a medium gray, and sponge light and dark gray on top to simulate stone texture. Add a hint of moss green to both the top and legs to tie the whole thing together, which works particularly well if you plan to keep a live plant or cut flowers on the table.

Bright and Clean

• Give the table a fresh, new look by painting the entire table with a very light cream-colored paint anywhere in the just off-white to ivory to rich cream range. Find a stencil pattern you like -- either a natural plant stencil to evoke the country theme or a fleur de lis to harken back to the classic French monarchy. Choose a stencil with delicate lines rather than bold strokes, and sponge it onto the table with a medium grayish-blue paint. Accent this paint scheme with deep red place settings to incorporate classic French country colors.