Country French

{ July 15, 2009 @ 2:40 pm } · { Decorating }

I have always loved decorating and redecorating my home. My husband, being the saint that he is, is very supportive of my obsession with interior design. He mumbles and grumbles at what this or that might cost but in the end, he is the first to say how great the finished project looks. He always says that we have a beautiful home to enjoy because of my efforts. What a good guy, eh?

I just love the look of Country French but not the overdone highly carved furniture that sometimes goes with that kind of decor. Recently I saw a bedspread …very Country French..and decided that it was exactly what I’d been looking for to update the Master Bedroom. The room is painted a pale yellow which, in my estimation, is a pretty neutral backdrop for many color combos. So I ordered the spread which is a warm red, black and cream floral with a black & white gingham lining and matching shams and two Euro pillow shams and the bed skirt  in the black & white gingham. I was not at all sure I would like the idea that the gingham had white and not cream in it but I put my trust in the photo which I saw in the magazine. When it came, I was still not sure until I started thinking about what I would put up as window treatments on the big bay window in the room. I hit on the idea of pulling out some  white lace roman panels that I used to have hanging in my office. Voila!  It was just the thing needed to compliment the gingham and soft enough to go with the floral print too! I still wanted to put up a valance to frame the window treatment but the magazine did not offer a valance in the gingham so I ordered a twin bed skirt and used it to make the valance  (and a neckroll pillow) myself! I didn’t like the neckroll pillow on the bed so I added a little tapestry Scottie Dog Pillow I had to the mix and Maggie took over the neckroll pillow which I had put as a throw pillow on the chair. After these photos were taken, I found a 4 X 6 (only $19,99 in The Christmas Tree Shoppe!) black shag rug that fits perfectly to the left of the bed, completing the cozy Country French look. I also found some neat,  black framed art work at T J Max that seemed to go perfectly with the look.  As you can see, our furniture is mission style so I think this just proves that you can pull off the mood you want with the right planning and accessories! We won’t mention the distracting “drive in movie” sized flat screen tv…grrr…

Details make a room

I have a few of those frames with the soft cushioned “lining” in which you can insert objects that you’d like to display. The frames can be painted but I’ve kept all of mine black because I like the way it accentuates the assemblage of items within the “box”. For my Country French bedroom, I placed some vintage seed packets that haverich red colored pictures of the flowers and veggies. The seeds are actually still in these packets which are marked 5 cents! A nice rustic touch on the dresser.