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Design Perspectives

All Things French
Through its many applications, the combination of rustic and refined is the secret to Provence style.

by Karla Nielson, Allied Member, ASID; WCAA

There is a clever old saying that praises France in this way, “Every man has two countries; his own and France.” In the past year there has been a tendency by some to overlook the significance of France in U.S. history in favor of questioning recent political and military attitudes related to the continuing Middle East crisis. Yet the interior design world as we know it owes much to France, and the friendship between the French and the Americans has been a favorable one for more than 200 years.

Today let us praise France for her role in making life more pleasing by creating interiors that are today as they were throughout history—livable and charming.

STYLE STARTS HERE
From the interior design point of view, France has led the world in style development for much of the Renaissance and the periods following, in particular the Court Rococo, Court Neoclassic and Court Empire periods. These formal periods are seen in great palaces and hotels. They are a rich aesthetic treat, but not necessarily livable. When I show some over-furnished Court French styles to my introductory design class they groan audibly, and some even remark that the richness they see on the screen makes them feel sick.

The royal court styles of the Rococo Louis XV, the Neoclassic Louis XVI and the Napoleonic Empire have been imitated very little beyond the royal palaces because of extreme costliness. Yet these often-decadent styles have served as the catalyst for the creation of a flexible and delightful genre that has been copied the world over. Known as Country French or French Country or Provençe, the simplified court style has evolved and is still evolving. In fact, there are several styles that are French Country.

From the lavish chateaux to charming farmhouses, French Country has charm in each of its style applications. One authentic French Country style inspired by the Rococo and Neoclassic periods includes floors of hard surfaced tile, brick or parquet wood; walls of stucco, floral wallpaper, ticking or other fabric; beamed ceilings or heavy moldings; and remarkable wooden furniture pieces. An entire book could be written on the many kinds of French furniture, a highlight of aesthetic achievement.

One reason why French rooms are so charming is that they possess “bones.” This means the architecture is solidly handsome even if the room were to be unfurnished. The French window alone is a classic (two panes wide, long and narrow), and French fireplaces are decidedly handsome.

The frankness of the materials described above gives the French Country interior a somewhat earthy or masculine appearance. It is the romantic or feminine element of fabric, wallpaper and accessories that seals the charm. The combination of rustic and refined is perhaps the secret to French Country success.

FABRIC IS THE KEY
Color and fabric are very important elements in a Country French Interior. Textiles from Provençe were often brilliant and busy or deep and sturdy. To fill an entire room with one fabric is often preferred—it seems to keep the style pure. One recurring popular fabric is the famous toiles: single-color pictorial design on an off-white plain-weave cotton or linen fabric, originally roller printed in France. Or perhaps it is the classic striped ticking fabric or plaids. Or a room might be drenched in a floral fabric inspired by Chinese or Indian imports. These multicolored fabrics often feature a climbing vine with exotic flowers dripping from branches.

After France passed through the 19th century and its Victorian era, French fabrics were often graced with bouquets and allover floral patterns in addition to the toiles, vines, latticework and tiny patterns and fine stripes from the Neoclassic period, and the bold wide stripes of the Empire period.

French Country style can become as lavish as desired. It fills up the senses with delightful furnishings. One favorite color scheme is the lively blue-and-white combination. It is a classic in that it is fresh and clean while supporting floral or pictorial complexity. The simplicity of a monochromatic scheme allows the design or motif elements to be more complex. This appears to be a bit of a dichotomy, but it holds true.

BACK TO THE FUTURE
Another genre of the French County style is far more simple and less complicated. The reason partially lies in the preponderance of sleek mid-century modern revival interiors where “less is more” is the credo. Also, there presently is a winding down of the aesthetic love affair with Neoclassic on the cycle of style revivals, leaving us with very simple design and tapered legs—Sheraton and Hepplewhite—lightly scaled and fitting for smaller, intimate rooms much more human in scale than the overscaled monster-size houses being constructed all over North America. Thus, if the client does not live in a too-big mansion, this style may be a perfect choice.

Perhaps this new French Country look is also a result of a collective desire to simplify over-scheduled lives. A simpler approach to life seems to make life in the over stimulating information age itself more manageable.

ALIVE COLOR
Color has impact in French Country style. Historically the influence of lavish color came from the importing of “Indiennes”—printed cotton fabrics from India with tree-of-life meandering vines and lavish foliage and full-bloom floral designs. These early fabrics were vibrant and full of color contrast. Indienne patterns influenced the French Country style with indulgence in pattern and color. Today color and value (light and dark) contrast is imperative. Sometimes it is strident, and perhaps a bit startling. For example, a fresh citron green accented with red, a variation of a complementary scheme, lively and very current.

Another bold approach is the use of eye-catching red as accents. These brighter colors give life and vibrancy to a French Country interior. Use accents so that they are grouped, so that they connect to other accents of the same color. Avoid making the eye jump from accent to accent, but find a way for the eye to be led along from one point to another, and so that the effect is a satisfying, almost fluid journey.

SUBTLE COLOR
Another well-loved approach to color is the family of still rich but neutralized hues. These more earthy values are the hallmark of many French Country interiors and, for the long term, they prove more livable because they are less demanding. One definition of livability is the lack of assertiveness, but where attention can be given equally to many elements the eye will find the overall effect satisfying.

Subtle, deep color in French Country interiors may be used lavishly—the pastel rust color on walls, for example. Typically, the colors have warmth and stimulation. In a dining room with rust-colored red-oranges, the appetite as well as the intellect are put into high gear. People often feel warmed, welcomed and indulged in hospitality. Good food, good friends, good feelings might be the result of carefully handled color.

WINDOW TREATMENTS
Sturdiness coupled with privacy are important to window treatments of Provençe. Shutters have been the most revered treatment because they do not wear out, and they withstand the brilliant sun and heat of the south of France. Today we may see blinds in their place, both wood blinds in white, off-white and natural or stained wood colors and metal blinds for their durability and economy.

In the chateaux, fabric has always been a favored treatment in boudoirs or chambers that include private areas and sleeping rooms. Long draperies with valances, often on wooden or metal decorative rods are just the thing. Sometimes the valances are attached right onto the face of the draperies so that when open or closed the decorative rod is still visible and the top treatment is, too.

Pelmets or shaped, non-quilted top treatments are sometimes used to cover the top of the treatments, and swagged treatments in more formal areas are appropriate.

ALWAYS FRENCH
No matter the direction you take your clients’ furnishings, you’ll find that if your choices are French, the result will almost invariably be livable and charming, a great combination of both masculine and feminine elements, rustic and lavish, hard and soft. This contrasts is disarmingly wonderful!