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Used, worn, imperfect but beautifully architectural elements and accessories are what French country style is about. They don't have to have sleek lines, fine china or grey, white, and black colors. They have chunky wood tables, flowers, brightly patterned couches, curtains and pillows styled after the look of Provence, which borders the Mediterranean Sea.
If you're looking to grasp the French look, you should look for things like cracked wood beams, curved panels, hand-carved decorations and raw material flooring and walls, like stone or bricks. Uneven plaster walls or raw distressed wood can also give you the French Country atmosphere.
In the style having a spider crack in the paint or slight discoloration of the paint just adds character. So don't fret about fixing all those imperfections.
Some architectural features are shutters for your windows, narrow deeply cut window sills, and striped fabric awnings over windows which prevents the heat from escaping.
But if you just want a little bit of French flare to your house without too much change to you're walls and floors. You can look for rustic furniture, oversized rectangle or round wooding dining room tables with a dull waxed or natural finish. Dining room chairs have a ladderback style or vertical slats to it.
If you're looking to get chairs or random tables you should look for curved or boast carved designs in the woodwork. Also, large armoires go well with the theme, giving you a place to store dishes, linens clothes or whatever you desire.
The next step would be to adorn your house with fabrics and accessories. You should use toile material, a gauzy linen or cotton, in white, cream or yellow with bright contrasting colors. You can choose themes like monkeys, eighteenth century courting scenes and Chinese patterns which are dominate French designs.
Also look for large, thickly woven baskets, chunky clay or old metal pitchers, iron garden shelving units, and Chinese pottery all fit in with the French theme. Which means you can get ceramic plates, tiles, tablecloths and curtains that have either roosters, sunflowers, lavender or beetles. You can save some money if you get these at flea markets and antique stores.
The final touches would be flowers. Fresh flowers would be ideal, flowers such as lavender, geraniums and sunflowers are great to give you the French country style you're looking for.
You can put the flowers in copper pots, window boxes, glass vases or old pitchers. You should use a variety of colors and make the arrangements not too simple or stylized. Another country French look is natural grasses.
It doesn't matter if you want to go all out or just change a few things in your house to achieve the French country look. You can use any of these idea to get a little of Provence country into you're house.