A farmer in a blue cap and jacket and tan pants walks away from us through a wheat field on a sunny day in Provençe. He walks away from a crumbling brick wall and some red flowers toward an ochre farmhouse with blue door and windows. A bright aqua sky above has pink ad white clouds. The farmhouse is surrounded by olive trees and mounded haystacks.

What's Your Style?

French Country Interior Design

February 6, 2023April 13, 2023 by Laura Grey No Comments

French country has long been a popular interpretation of French interior design style. Though related to the English cottage and American farmhouse styles, its exteriors may be more rustic. However, its interiors are often more sophisticated and spare than those in English-speaking countries. French country interior design is less casual and soft-edged than the related “shabby chic” style. French country mixes Parisian polish with the more relaxed life found in rural France. The cool colors of Paris—chalk-white painted shutters, grey stone walls—often mix with the warmer hues of sunnier climes, indoors and out.

A pillow made of a vividly colored and intricate imaginary floral pattern similar to traditional Indian woodblock patterns found on 19th century shawls. The parimary colors are vivid provençal true blues (cornflower or Wedgwood medium blue, and a darker royal blue), golden yellow, and green for the foliage, with red and pink and white highlights. The patterns are outlined in brown. — *Southern France’s traditional Provençal fabric patterns often use the bright colors of the sun and sky, and are based in Indian and Persian patterns of the 17th century | Laura Grey*

French design styles are many and varied. French country interior design is the most popular of French-inspired styles today. However, formal Parisian style has had a long and important legacy, and made a great impact on the more relaxed French country style. Here I’ll discuss elements of French country style. For more about Parisian style and the history of French interior design, you might enjoy my article Parisian Interior Design.

Many Varieties to Choose From

French country homes come in many forms. You might enjoy the contrasts of a grey stone cottage with brilliant bougainvillea arching over a bright blue front door. A simple but bold home covered in ochre plaster with faded green shutters might be your favorite. Or perhaps the Renaissance-era feel of Normandy’s half-timbered white plaster homes with dark wood detailing and steep roofs is more your style.

A statue of Joan of Arc in her armor stands at right against a wall, and straight ahead, beyond the statue, is a half-timbered (Tudor-style) building with a dark roof and chimney and dark timbers arrayed against a peach-colored plasster background. The building has a steep roof pitch and the center of the building is peaked ilke a chalet. — *Yanna Rodrigues for Pexels*

A close-up of a rustic cottage facade in a marigold-yellow-painted plaster with faded emerald green shutters and front door. A single step up to the front door is covered in terracotta tiles. A bright emerald green painted metal bench sits under the window. The window behind the shutters and the window in the door show white lace curtains hanging inside. — *Yanna Rodrigues for Pexels*

Once inside a French country house, you’re likely to find wide-planked oak floors, a rustic farmhouse table, and exposed wooden roof beams. Interior walls might be stone, whitewashed brick, paneled wood (painted or stained to show its grain), or plaster. Pattern is more popular in the traditional French country home than in a Parisian one. You might find traditional toile de Jouy patterns on bedding or wallpaper. Bold provençal patterns incorporating foulards, paisleys, and flowers might decorate table linens. But alongside patterns you’e likely to find simple rustic textiles. Unbleached linen may hang from floor-to-ceiling curtains or on Roman window shades. It’s also common to find linen on chairs or cushions. A length of it may even be draped over the door of an armoire.

Treasures Are Meant to Be Used

History is important in a French country home. Old silver tea sets (or just a creamer or sugar bowl here or there) bring light and reflections. An antique white stoneware tureen hints at a grand past and adds character. Antique architectural prints and architectural remnants add elegance and gravitas. Bits of old buildings, such as metal or wooden decorative elements, may adorn tables or bookcases.

A French country home feels like a gathering of well-loved items collected, used, and enjoyed over time. But as fine as some items may be, they’re not displayed just to be admired—they’re meant to be touched and put into service. While this style is chic, it’s also hands-on, and unfussy.

The Thrill of Unexpected Combinations

A detail of a distressed French provincial bedside table or small desk in creamy white with delicate gilded details, slightly worn off. The table has slender, curvy legs and two shallow drawers; the top one has a key sticking out of it. Atop the white table are two cream-colored book bindings with the foredges facing us so we can't see their titles. The edge of a tall mirror that rests on the floor can be seen blurred off to the right. A glimpse of the fhe floor shows that it's dark wood. — A delicate antique French provincial table, lightly distressed by time, has darkened brass pulls and worn gilded highlights. Slender curving legs bring an elegant touch, and its neutral tones let it blend with modern neutral decor styles | Polina Kovaleva for Pexels

In a French country home, linen-upholstered chairs might sit alongside a silk chaise. An elegant but worn table may be topped with a woven runner arrayed with both rustic pottery and Grand-mère’s china and sterling. A simple white enameled pitcher holds a profusion of peonies on a sterling tray. The juxtaposition of casualness and born-to-the-manor elegance brings both ease and elevated style.

French country style uses elegant items casually. Antique chests are worn around the edges. Delicate needlepoint pillows sit on next to cushions covered in striped ticking fabric. Wood beams are exposed, but the armoires below them have intricate carving. A weathered pew makes a good bench in the hallway under light from a rustic lantern or a brass chandelier.

To get this look, you might mix a cluster of silvery or tarnished objects on the tops of your kitchen cabinets, armoire, or bookcase. This draws the eye upward, which makes a room look grander. It also makes space for everyday items in the cabinets themselves. Why not store silver or pewter candlesticks, lanterns, scales, even galvanized steel watering cans up there? Place items at different heights and offset them so that some are in front and some are behind. The variety of sizes and positions adds energy to the display. Elements of the same size in a straight line can look static and formal, like soldiers standing at attention.

Don’t fear contrasting styles, colors, or patterns. The surprising combination of high and low design gives French country interior design its energy and élan.

Provençal Style

This especially well-loved subtype of French country style comes from the sunny south of France rather than the cool north. Instead of the sunbleached, whitewashed, neutral colors found in cottage or coastal style, Provençal homes traditionally feature warmer colors from nature. Imagine yellow sunflowers and golden fields of wheat. Purple and green grapes in the vineyards. Aubergine eggplants and olives, the blues and purples of lavender buds, the bright greens of fresh herbs. These colors bring warmth and comfort, and remind us of rural life.

A bunch of fresh herbs sit on a tin-topped wooden counter next to large and small copper pots, with a number of other copper pots hanging behind. — *A classic Mediterranean kitchen combines the richness of well-used copper pots and lush herbs with a battered tin-topped wooden countertop | Ramiro Mendes for Unsplash*

Provençe borders the Mediterranean Sea, and the intense sun and golden light of the region are reflected in Provençal homes. Gilded highlights reflect on furnishings and clusters of copper pots hanging in the kitchen. Shining or weathered brass, or even a piece of furniture decorated with sparkling ormolu brings drama. Mirrors framed by carved and weathered wood, either plain or gilded, reflect the light. Your farmhouse table might be surrounded by mismatched wooden chairs, perhaps with rush or cane seats for texture. If they’re shabby and varied in color, you might paint them all the same color so they look cohesive. White enameled tables, plates, or ovens might have a few chips around the edges—such signs of life are forgiven. Plentiful fresh flowers in hobnail glass pitchers or old silver vases brighten rooms and bring the outdoors inside.

Provençal textiles

A closeup of the backrest of an upholstered Bergere-style chair with a distressed wooden frame and a denim-blue pastoral toile de Jouy print in navy. The print shows children dancing as a piper plays in a forest. A woman kneels to pet a deer. Ruins from a stone building trees, and a dog sitting on a stump surround the central image of the piper and children. — A traditional toile de Jouy pattern. Toiles like this one were popular in 18th century France and have appeared in home textiles ever since. They often feature elegant ladies and gentlemen in pastoral settings. | Velvetbrighton via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0)

Provençe’s famous botanical printed fabrics were originally inspired by 17th century Indian and Persian fabric designs. They are often intricate with realistic or fanciful botanical elements. Sometimes they contain paisleys, and are printed on cotton with wood blocks. This gives them a rustic feel. (April Cornell block-printed textiles are printed in India using similar techniques.) You might find a mixture of patterns in bold and surprising yet complementary colors in the same room.

Toile de Jouy patterns became popular in the 18th century and still appear on bed linens, wallpapers, and clothing. These pastoral patterns usually feature scenes from country life. These include shepherds, ladies in swings, children playing, or lovers courting, all surrounded by scenes of forests, mills, or ruins.

Do you prefer simpler patterns or solids? Choose cotton coverlets with a single solid or subtly patterned fabric instead of a boldly printed quilts for your bedding. Traditionally, coverlets would be quilted with decorative stitching patterns, but not done in a patchwork pattern. Simple white duvets are also classically French, as are white matelassé coverlets and shams.

Combining Parisian Style & Country Ease

We look dow on a white tabletop, a clear glass embossed with delicate patterns sitting in the middle. The glass holds a cloudy cocktail with a pale apricot color, topped with a sprig of thyme and a small red and green blossom. More thyme sprigs are scattered around the table. A small wooden bowl at left holds a crisp palmier French cookie , and the top of a cut crystal wine glass lying on the table is seen at right, the rest of the glass cropped away. — French country living brings the exquisitely delicate together with down-to-earth rusticity. Enjoy a cocktail from etched crystal, garden-fresh thyme atop it; serve sublime palmiers in a rustic wooden bowl. Magnifique! | Olena Bohovyk for Pexel

A mixture of Parisian cool with country casual style can create a room that’s easy to live in. Using formal elements in casual and unexpected ways lightens the mood. If you visit New Orleans, you’ll find their vintage and antique stores are among the best U.S. sources of French furnishings. Seattle’s two Watson Kennedy shops feature marvelous French decor and French home goods displayed alluringly. But you can also find delights in shops closer to home, on your travels to Francophone countries, or online. They needn’t be expensive—if they’re a little worn, that patina will make them look more at home.

Go ahead and use crystal, silver, and china tidbits, but in a less-than-precious way. Mix and match old china and antique flatware from the flea market or picked up at local online auctions. Cluster unmatched crystal and glass candlesticks holding white tapers of different lengths together. These will dress up a dining or coffee table or a bedroom dresser. Set out mom’s wedding crystal glasses next to your 1950s juice glasses. Dot your home with worn mercury glass vases or candleholders, or glass cloches or bell jars for extra sparkle. Serve after-dinner coffee in unmatched china teacups and saucers bought from a tag sale. Go on—let the Town Mouse and the Country Mouse have a bit of fun together.

Mixing high & low style

Here’s a fun idea that gives a nod to the French talent for mixing lofty and down-to-earth style. To add laid-back contrast to a formal dining table, bring a bit of your garden into the dining room. I don’t mean silver vases full of hothouse flowers. I mean putting pots of soil right at the center of your table.

Lay the table with a colorful Provençal tablecloth. For a more neutral look, unroll a length of unbleached linen lengthwise on your table as a runner. In the center, place a big, rustic wooden tray. Leaving the tray empty for now, top the runner with an assortment of rustic pottery bowls. Add a few crystal relish dishes and silver vegetable trays you picked up at the thrift shop. Now finish the center tray off by adding three to five Provençal herb plants in terracotta pots. Oregano, rosemary, thyme, marjoram, basil, and lavender would all work well.

Your beautiful table will be a great conversation piece, and the natural fragrance of the herbs will complement your meals.

A white room with a tall pair of white French doors at the back flanked by creamy linen curtains sets the stage for a rustic unfinished wide-wood-plank dining table. Atop the table is a large wrinkled length of unbleached linen spread out as a wide and lumpy runner. Arrayed above the runner are four aged brass candlesticks with white tapers, an assortment of white and clear bowls, and a number of branches with leaves, possibly from olive trees. Six large matte grey plates are placed around the table, each covered with a white napkin and silverware tied up with string and a sprig of herbs. Midcentury modern chairs flank the table, and a simple flat white pendant hangs over it. The floor is bare, pale wood. — *Toa Heftiba for Unsplash*

The current U.S. penchant for all-neutral rooms differs from French country tradition. Incorporating color and mixing old and new elements in their homes has been more common in France. However, the influence of traditional French country style is evident in each of the above dining scenarios. They all mix rustic materials with modernist elements in decidedly contemporary settings.

Don’t Forget the Garden

Three small children inspect the pears on a pear tree flattened against a brick garden wall. The trunk is immediately next to the wall, and all branches have been trained into a candelabra shape against the wall. Any branches that grow outward have been moved or trimmed away. — Planting trees or shrubs espalier-style against a wall or trellis brings color and softness to plain walls and leaves more room in your garden to walk around | Eden, Janine & Jim via Wikimnedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)

Gardens are hugely important to the French. Formal topiaries or knot gardens are stunning, bien sûr, but a simple, cozy cottage garden goes perfectly with a French country home. Plants lots of herbs in pots, or tuck them all around your garden to fill in bare spaces. They’re easy to grow from small starter plants, smell great, and will grow outside or in a sunny kitchen window. Mint, which is popular in French cuisine, grows quickly and easily. It spreads easily, filling in bare spots, and it comes in many varieties. Variegated mints and chocolate and pineapple-scented mints are some of my favorites. Straight from your garden, fresh mint makes a great addition to cocktails and grain salads. It also decorates plates and serving platters prettily. I also pop springs in bud vases and vintage bottles.

If your local climate allows, you can add urns with small citrus trees or myrtles for a French touch. These also look great grown indoors in a warm and sunny room. Train fruit trees or shrubs espalier-style so they line garden walls. Add garden obelisks for visual interest and to add structure. Your climbing clematis, sweet pea, and honeysuckle plants will love them. Ceramic or stone birdbaths, galvanized metal buckets and planters, mossy old terracotta pots and terracotta tiles on patios or walls all impart French country style.

Nothing’s More French Than Joie-de-Vivre

Country style in the U.S. and Canada is often about setting a completely relaxed and neutral mood. But French country interior design, like all French design styles, embraces contrasts. Look also for the similarities in dissimilar things, and put them together in a whole new way. French style of any sort is about having the courage of your convictions and not apologizing for your idiosyncratic style. Fully embracing the joy of living—joie de vivre—is quintessentially French. So go on. Be a little bold.

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Farmhouse in Provence by Vincent van Gogh (Public Domain PD-US)

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