French Country Decor with a Casual Feel!
Bring the charming style of French Country decor to your home. The resulting look is rustic, old-world, and welcoming with its warm and casual feel creating a french country decor you're sure to love.
When you think of the French countryside, you're sure to see lavendar fields with green grass and bright sunshine. Who wouldn't want this bright sunny feel in their home. Think how cozy and warm you would feel. Colors suggestions to use for decorating range from sunny yellow and soft gold, firey red and burnt rust, grass green and dark hunter green, to cobalt blue and soft ocean tones. Black and gray accent the bright colors and define accessory pieces in French Country decor.
Colorful Provencal printed fabrics are set off against light-toned natural seating. The beautiful colors of the French countryside decorate fabrics. Most traditional French fabrics combine well with basic plaids, checks, and stripes in modern homes. Provencal prints combine shades of primary colors with greens and lavendars. Toile is a traditional design for French Country decor fabrics. A white, cream, or yellow background has large motifs in a single contrasting color, such as black, blue, red, or green.
Rusted metal furniture, lighting fixtures, and soft comfy furniture give warm color and wonderful lines. An important element in pieces used for French Country decor is the use of natural materials. Rough stained or painted plaster walls, delicate carved wood details, and chair seats woven of rush or wicker give texture and simplicity to the French country decor look. New or reproduction rustic furniture has the ambiance of curved panels, hand-carved decorations, and raw wood. The focus here is on old and charming. Some victorian pieces work well with French country decor too. Especially if you can integrate some toile design pillows with it.
Decoupage furniture and accessories are a great french country decor accent. Items to decoupage can be picked up at thrift stores and garage sales. Local craft stores also have a great selection of books to give you some ideas or even your local library. Of course, there is always the internet too.
The key is to bring all of the wonderful colors and textures in nature inside the French Country decor home. Generous woven or wire baskets, colorful ceramics and tiles, carved wood pieces, and pottery can be used as accessories. An old pitcher, copper pot, or clear glass vase is a natural to hold flowers and grasses.
By incorporating some or all of the elements mentioned here, you're bound to have a beautiful French Country decor home.
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How To Add French Country
Style To Your Kitchen
You don't have to be a decorator to get a add a bit of French country decor to your kitchen. Little changes like adding stencils to the walls and coordinating your tablecloths and dishware can do wonders to make your kitchen seem like an old French country Inn.
You don't have to go out and buy all new furniture, but for a great French country decor, you should have some antique looking painted pieces. Anything with hand painted stenciling or chippy or aged paint will do. If your cabinets are tired, try repainting them with a worn look as this can be much less costly than buying new ones and will do wonders for the room.
Decorative accessories are vital to pulling your French country style home decor design theme together. You can totally change the appearance of your room by simply replacing the accessories! Concentrate on getting tablecloths, dishware and canisters, in colors and patterns that match your French country look. It's amazing the difference a few alterations can make! You should to add in a variety of wooden bowls in addition to chippy painted items and you can even try some scrolly decorative flea market finds as well as vintage fabrics which you can use as curtains, on the tables or hang from your cabinet and stove handles.
Lighting is key in any kitchen and your French country kitchen is no exception. When considering lighting in a kitchen, you must provide good overhead lighting as well as task lighting. If you are decorating with a French country design style, try installing a painted or crystal chandelier with crystal lamps or scones and be sure to avoid anything that is too modern with straight lines.
How you dress your windows also effects your French country style home decor look. There are multiple window coverings that go with this design, particularly if you match other fabrics or colors in the room, but you should avoid heavy contemporary fabrics. Try using a nice toile print curtain, or sheers with a great distressed paint wooden valance.
Painting your walls can be one of the biggest and least expensive changes in your French country style home decor decorating project. For this look the room colors make a big difference - you should think about using either light yellow or pale blue either in your wall color or your accessories. Try using a light colored paint with crown moldings on the walls, or if you want something different go with stenciling.
After you paint the walls - don't forget to decorate them! Try using country style paintings with a French flair or interesting old kitchen utensils that you can hang on groupings on the wall. Buy interesting old plates and tureen covers at flea markets and yard sales and use fancy hangers or silk ribbon to hang those on the walls for an interesting effect.
Getting a great French country look in your kitchen can be as simple as just buying new decorative accessories or as involved as replacing everything. Either way, working on the details and making sure to match your furniture and decorative accessories will help you pull off a great new French country style home decor look that you can be proud of!
Source: http://www.articlecircle.com/ - Free Articles Directory
About the Author
Lee Dobbins writes for http://www.a-kitchen-decorating-idea.com where you can get more great kitchen decorating ideas.
The Art of Decoupage
Decoupage (or decoupage) is the art of decorating an object by gluing colored paper cut outs onto it. Or the paper in combination with special paint effects such as gold leaf, etc. Cutouts from magazines or from any type of printed papers can cover any item, such as a small box or piece of furniture. Each layer is sealed with varnishes (often multiple coats) until the "stuck on" appearance disappears and the result looks like painting or inlay work. The traditional technique used 30-40 layers of varnish, which were then sanded to a polished finish. This was known in 18th century England as The Art of Japanning after its presumed origins. There are many variations on the traditional technique with glue made for this purpose that requires fewer layers (often 5 or 6, depending on the amount of paper involved). Cutouts are also applied under glass or raised to give a three dimensional appearance. Currently decoupage is a popular handicraft.
Originally Venetian cabinet-makers and lacquerers used a form of decoupage to create 'fake lacquer work' to provide cheaper alternatives to the 17th century fashion for Chinese lacquered furniture. This was known as lacca contrafatta, 'counterfeit lacquer'. Soon they began to use cutout copies of fashionable and popular artworks to decorate the furniture and objects d'art they created. This became known as 'poor man's art'. By the 18th century these creations were not confined just to Italy but had spread throughout Europe. They were no longer only the occupation of artisans but had taken on the role of a lady's hobby, most notably in the court of King Louis XV. Instead of gluing paper onto furniture, it was used to decorate smaller objects such as hatboxes and toiletries. By the 19th century in England decoupage was popular with the upper and burgeoning middle classes. This century provides the most commonly known examples of historical decoupage, the sentimental paper additions to hatboxes, gift boxes and girl's personal items of all kinds. Decoupage was also popularly used at this time to create personalized Valentine's Cards.
Since decoupage was considered to be a "poor man's art," it isn't surprising that common household materials can be used to create exquisite effects. The list of supplies is short. Some things to decoupage include furniture, photo albums, shelving, frames, and mirrors. Pictures to decoupage with can come from sources such as newspapers, magazines, catalogs, books, printed clip art, wrapping paper, greeting cards, fabric, and tissue paper. Standard white glue works best diluted with a little water. Specialty glues can be found in most crafting stores. Popsicle sticks work well as a smoother. A brayer is a specialized tool like a miniature rolling pin designed to help remove wrinkles, remove excess glue and smooth pictures. Many things around the house can be used as glue spreaders like cotton swabs, paintbrushes, sponges, and rags. Glue, polyurethane, spray acrylic or other lacquers can be used as a sealer.
Decoupage always makes me think of Victorian or French country decor! It's so much fun picking all the things to decoupage on a piece.
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Resources
If you love French Country decor, you'll want to look through these books to get many more ideas.
1) The Paris Apartment
Author Claudia Strasser shows how to achieve a "Romantic Decor on a Flea-Market Budget." See Paris apartment-style room makeovers and get advice on redoing your own spaces in the French style without breaking the bank.
2) Bringing It Home France
Read "The Ultimate Guide to Creating the Feeling of France in Your Home" by Cheryl MacLachlen. It can either be thumbed through for the beautiful photos or used as a resource book on how to bring French style into your own home.
3) Antique and Flea Markets of London and Paris
This insider's guide to shopping the best in London and Paris offers tips, maps, advice and lots of practical details. The photographs and indexes by item will help you locate specialty pieces.
4) Inside Paris
Don't bother with the walking shoes, guide book, or umbrella. You can see some of the classic interiors of Paris from your comfy chair. It's a great resource for decorating Parisian.
5) Paris Interiors = Interieurs Parisiens
Snuggle up in a chair and take a tour of numerous Parisian interiors. See celebrity homes and luxurious chateaux.
6) Elle Decor: The Grand Book of French Style
View the design work of several contemporary French interior designers in this book. Some of the chapters include decorating in the styles of Provence, Chalet, Country, French Style Abroad, Colonial, Atlantic, Eclectic, and Eccentric.
7) Country Houses of France
Visit "22 idyllic dwellings situated in some of the most beautiful regions in France." View illustrations and details about achieving various wall finishes and acquiring furnishings, and fabrics.
8) Really Rural
If you love to meander along quiet country lanes and into quaint villages of the countryside, this book is for you. It's not so much a decorating book as it is a fascinating look at rural French living.
9) French by Design
Author Betty Lou Phillips focuses on interpreting French decorating elements and how to introduce them into the interiors of American homes. In the many photographs, you're bound to find ideas that will adapt well to your home.
10) The Paris Shopping Companion
This "Personal Guide to Shopping in Paris for Every Pocketbook" is a wonderful companion for the Paris shopper. Buy for the latest edition, then jet off to France to shop for anything and everything Parisian.
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