The perfect Country French home.
What we call "Country French" today is based on French Provincial styles (French Provençal). Unlike most other notable French styles (Louis XV, Louis Philippe, etc.), Country French does not originate with a time period but with a lifestyle.
Exposed ceiling beams and a rough, natural stone floor give warmth to this Country French kitchen.
During France's "Golden Age" under the reign of Louis XIV, the areas closest to Paris prospered the most. The lifestyle of Provincial farmers, however, remained largely unchanged. Life was simple and slightly primitive for the peasant farmers of Provence. The furniture trends and styles originating in aristocratic Paris (the hub for style in France, and in all of Europe) took a long time to find their way to the South of France.
Simple, rustic furniture functions as well today as it did hundreds of years ago.
This rustic elm table has a base painted in a soft-colored milk paint.
Farm tables were clean, with simple lines, often made of pine or oak. Milk paint - a natural paint made of milk, lime, oil and pigment - was often used to protect and brighten up the woods. Metals became rusted and heavily patined with use.
A lifetime of wear does not diminish the appeal of this hand painted buffet.
A hand carved Country French chair with a rush seat.
There were, of course, wealthy country dwellers familiar with the styles in Paris. Although they did not have access to the exotic woods and metals used for the aristocracy, these provincial "bourgeois" had pieces crafted to resemble those of the courts. In the provinces of France buffets, enfilades, commodes and armoires were crafted out of walnut or other indigenous woods.
A solid walnut "enfilade" buffet exhibits the classic Louis XV features while maintaining the warmth of the Country French style.
A solid cherry wood Louis XV table with cabriole legs.
More than anything, the look of Country French is spontaneous and lived in. It reflects the warm, agrarian life of rural France where form follows function.
Country French style doesn't stop within your walls...
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