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French Home |
French Decor |
The allure of the French countryside is in our longing for le temps perdu, for a time when life was simpler. We yearn for a life less complicated in a world that takes up our time and energy in meaningless tasks, jobs that we despise, and a life that increasingly estranges us from our own existence. Far from bustling urban centers, the bristling fields and woodlands of southern France embrace our imagination, leading us down cobbled antique roads to quaint rusticated homes. Aged and crumbling, these homes, these patched and precious signs of life have remained intact and continuously in use for centuries.
The French country style is an organic blend of the formal and the homespun, and a vision of perfection in the imperfect. Perhaps plastered and then filled in with stucco, likely worn, painted and re-painted with each successive generation, walls and ceilings are charmingly uneven planes. Furniture, those ever-practical legacies of necessity, but also of hope and aspiration, is a combination of the simple and the subtly ornate. Characterized by gorgeous curves and handcrafted of wood as old as the hills, a chair or cabinet might be a hundred times nicked, burnished to a dozen different shades, and yet remains more beautiful than the day it was made.
Provencal living speaks to us in the details, captivating us with its robust simplicity and sense of comfort it inspires. Whether decorated with fabrics in shades of cream, buff, and beige or in blue, yellow, and red, the ambience is set for tranquility and peaceful enjoyment. Through the toile-curtained window, the sun casts shimmering bands across matlassé bed covers. The breakfast table has been laid with lace and faience from the cupboard. Wafting aromas of freshly brewed coffee, toasted and buttered bread, and ripe oranges awaken the appetite and the senses. The day awaits beyond a floral doormat.
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French kitchen |
A hint of Gothic with perhaps a humble allusion to the château. This might be a fair description of the French home, since the French style encompasses everything from the modest farm dwelling to the not-so-small mansion. Distinctively French are the hipped roofs, sweeping rooflines, and flared eaves. A tall second story and a formal appearance are also characteristic.
18th century Paris saw the building of tall stately manors with dual column entranceways and iron crested rooftops, noted for their boxy trapezoid shape. The mansard roof, as it was called, had a grand majestic appearance but also allowed for a more open attic space. The Parisian apartment - though these days built to considerably more modest specifications - remains synonymous with domesticated French style.
By comparison, farmhouses in Normandy and the Loire valley might be sided with stone, stucco, or brick, and with decorative wood timbering set vertically, horizontally or diagonally in the masonry. Southern provincial homes tend to share some of the formal characteristics of the North, but are also typically simple brick and stucco constructions. Interestingly, it is even possible to find a French provincial home with the narrowly arched windows and doorways, and sharp pointed gables of a small Gothic cathedral.
French country home |
>>Provencal decor |
