The Decorating Styles with French Country

French Country Colors

• To decorate in the French country style, choose either warm colors from southern France or cooler colors representative of northern France. Accent color choices include terra-cotta reds, buttery yellows, musty violets, turquoise, sage green, Mediterranean blue shades, pale blues, smoky grays and soft pinks. Fresh flowers must reflect the same color palette and walls must be earth tones to act as a neutral background.

Walls

• Faux wall treatments are ideal to achieve a textured French country style look. You can purchase kits that result in a stucco look, for example, or faux marble veining, faux leather, plaster, parchment, suede and textured fresco. Consider a toile wallpaper print for a bedroom or wallpaper borders with roosters for your kitchen. Real brick will contribute to an authentic French country style theme; however, you can create a brick look with wallpaper or faux painting techniques.

Furniture

• Furniture suitable for the French country look may be rustic or refined and light or dark in color. You can hand paint furniture items or use faux finishes. Hand painted designs include roosters, flowers and long vines. Decorate old pieces of furniture using stamps and stencils. Furniture pieces could include wrought iron accents, copper inlay, hand forged hardware, multiple-edge moldings or heavy iron latches and hinges.

Accessories

• The right accessories will bring out the charm of French country decor. Consider animals such as roosters, pigs and chickens and farm scenes. Copper pots and pans are ideal in a kitchen along with French style pottery items and calico fabrics. Add terra-cotta pots indoors and out and a weather vane to your rooftop. Other French country style items include toile plates, black wrought iron items, fresh fruit and fruit motifs, sunflowers and fresh lavender.