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French Country

Sun-soaked and storied

Rooms that feel like terracotta warming in afternoon Mediterranean light.

Southern European warmth. Terracotta, wrought iron, mosaic tile. Tuscan villas, Spanish courtyards, Moroccan riads.

More romantic and collected than Farmhouse; more rustic and relaxed than Traditional.

Jeid Studio

What sits closest

The styles nearest to yours, measured the same way the quiz measured you. A room of yours that does not quite fit this style often fits one of these.

CraftsmanWarm & Rustic
English CountryHeritage & Formal
Old English ManorHeritage & Formal

How pattern works here

  • Pattern lives in the tile and the cloth, and the walls stay plain.
  • Spanish and Moroccan rooms put the pattern into glazed tile on stair risers, fireplaces and backsplashes, and into kilims with bold geometric color.
  • French rooms run on printed cotton: one color toile de Jouy with big pastoral scenes, and Provencal indiennes in lively block printed florals, often in the same room as floral curtains and patterned dishes.
  • Color is warm and sunbaked: terracotta, ochre, Provencal yellow, olive and herb greens, cobalt and soft blue, against lime washed off white.
  • Lime wash and handmade tile add their own soft movement, so the plaster carries texture, not print.
  • If every surface is patterned, it reads Victorian, not French Country.

Surface by surface

What this style asks for on each surface, and what pushes it into a different style entirely.

Flooring
  • Ground floors call for terracotta: reclaimed tile where the budget allows, or new tile laid square or in herringbone.
  • Terracotta is not for perfectionists.
  • Shapes can be uneven, so it needs an experienced installer, and many floors take a silicone impregnator against grease.
  • Kitchens can go to honed slate instead.
  • Bedrooms and living rooms can take European oak in wide plank, 3 inches and up, with a reactive stain that works on the wood tannins for an aged look.
  • Older Spanish houses used brick, flagstone and fired tile set right on the ground.
  • Avoid: gray wash plank, glossy porcelain, large format concrete look tile, wall to wall carpet.
Tile
  • Backsplashes call for zellige: handmade in Morocco from Fez area clay, hand glazed, set tight with almost no grout by an expert.
  • Spanish rooms take hand painted Moroccan or glazed tile on stair risers, fireplace surrounds and wall insets.
  • Provence baths can take glazed squares in Provencal yellow or orange from a maker like Terres Cuites de Raujolles.
  • Patterned cement tile from a maker like Carocim suits entries and halls; it needs sealing and is meant to wear to a patina.
  • Avoid: glossy white subway, glass mosaic, perfect machine made squares, wood look tile.
Cabinets
  • Kitchens read as furniture more than built ins.
  • Spanish rooms take cypress doors with applied geometric mouldings, or simple white perimeter cabinets with a dark stained oak island on turned legs.
  • Solid oak with open storage and pans on S hooks is the farmhouse option.
  • A painted Shaker run in a soft gray or green, painted by hand, is the quiet French option.
  • Wood can carry a colored linseed oil stain so the grain shows.
  • Glass fronts or an arched top on a hutch can fit too.
  • Avoid: high gloss slab, handleless fronts, gray stained oak, matched factory finishes.
Cabinet hardware
  • Spanish rooms take forged iron in matte black or iron look hardware.
  • Cast bronze pulls with a living patina can bridge Spanish and French rooms.
  • The patina darkens where hands touch and is not under the maker's warranty.
  • Brass knobs and cup style pulls suit painted French cabinets, such as the Armac Martin Latchford knob and Cotswold pull.
  • Open storage takes a rail with brass S hooks.
  • Avoid: thin stainless bars, push to open, chrome, acrylic.
Plumbing fittings
  • Kitchens call for a white fireclay farmhouse sink under a bridge faucet or a lever faucet in brass.
  • The Perrin & Rowe Georgian Era bridge comes in unlacquered brass and English Bronze.
  • Baths can take a carved marble pedestal sink or a long double trough sink.
  • Bronze sinks and faucets are a buyable option from cast bronze makers.
  • Avoid: pull down spray faucets in stainless, vessel sinks, matte black square spouts, wall mount minimalist sets.
Lighting
  • Light comes from many small sources.
  • Spanish rooms can take a forged iron chandelier.
  • Copper lanterns, hand riveted and gas or electric, go at doors, loggias and courtyards.
  • Cast bronze sconces and pendants with a living finish fit too.
  • Antiqued brass sconces go over open shelves.
  • Avoid: recessed can grids as the only light, crystal chandeliers, LED strips, sleek track.
Fireplaces
  • Spanish rooms take a plastered fireplace with a splayed arch, lined in reclaimed firebrick, or a simple opening framed in glazed tile.
  • The French mantel is limestone or scagliola limestone.
  • The Provence mantel is a heavy shelf on two plain pilasters.
  • The Aixoise is Louis XV, about 1750, with a raised brow on the lintel and concave carved legs.
  • Avoid: linear gas boxes, stacked stone veneer, floating wood shelf mantels, black glass surrounds.
Windows
  • Spanish houses set wood casements deep in the wall, often in pairs, with wood or wrought iron grilles.
  • Arched French doors with lunette transoms open the living room to the courtyard.
  • Leaded and colored glass fits stairs and breakfast nooks.
  • Provence houses face south and use interior wood shutters; steel casements also appear in restored kitchens.
  • Avoid: vinyl sliders, big single picture windows flush with the wall, roller shades alone.
Stone
  • Limestone is the counter and backsplash stone of the French kitchen, honed.
  • Limestone and travertine can etch from vinegar, citrus, wine and bleach, and many need more sealer than granite; they do well on backsplashes.
  • Marble islands, Carrara or a red marble such as Rojo Alicante, suit Provence kitchens.
  • Travertine can be filled or unfilled and suits floors, walls and vanities more than a busy kitchen counter.
  • Spanish kitchens can take a thick reclaimed stone counter.
  • Avoid: white quartz, polished black granite, waterfall islands, thin mitred edges.
Interior doors
  • Entry doors are heavy carved wood, oak or mahogany, recessed in a thick wall.
  • Living rooms take several pairs of arched French doors.
  • Interior doors can be pecky cypress or plain stained wood.
  • Hardware is forged iron in matte black, or aged brass on French doors.
  • Avoid: hollow core flush doors, barn doors on rails, chrome levers, glass pivot doors.
Stairs
  • The Spanish stair is the show: colorful glazed tile on each riser, wrought iron pickets and rail, and stone columns where there is room.
  • Upper galleries and loggias take a turned wood handrail.
  • Provence stairs can be restored terrazzo or stone.
  • Avoid: cable rail, glass panels, open risers, carpeted treads.
Paint
  • Lime wash with a natural pigment, brushed on, gives the soft movement of an old wall.
  • Spanish exteriors take warm earth bodies like Totally Tan SW 6115 or Stucco SW 7569 with clay red accents.
  • French walls call for pale, warm colors: off whites, soft yellows, pinks and warm neutrals such as Benjamin Moore Atrium White OC-145, Clay Beige OC-11, Wind's Breath OC-24 and White Dove OC-17.
  • Farrow & Ball French Gray No. 18 is a green gray drawn from 19th century French decoration.
  • Pair it with Slipper Satin.
  • Avoid: cool gray, stark bright white, high gloss walls, one dark accent wall.
Ceilings
  • Ceilings show their structure.
  • French rooms call for exposed beams; Spanish and Southwest rooms call for round vigas on carved corbels with smaller poles laid between, sometimes in herringbone.
  • Spanish Revival living rooms can take coffered wood or cypress paneling, entries can be groin vaulted, and kitchens can show brick vaulting between beams.
  • A painted ceiling in light blue can echo the textiles.
  • Avoid: smooth drywall with crown, popcorn, recessed tray lighting, faux beams in foam.
Wall details
  • Walls are thick and soft.
  • Spanish rooms call for smooth troweled stucco with large blank walls, broken by colorful glazed tile insets.
  • Old adobe walls took mud plaster, lime plaster or whitewash, some with ochre or pink pigment polished into the last coat.
  • French rooms call for lime plaster, unpainted or lime washed with natural pigment, and local stone left visible in places.
  • Avoid: shiplap, board and batten, wainscot panels, wallpaper accent walls.
Furniture
  • Rooms are collected, not bought as a set.
  • The dining room calls for a long farmhouse table with rattan chairs.
  • Living rooms take mismatched easy chairs and time worn pieces that improve with age.
  • Bedrooms take a metal canopy bed dressed in antique linens.
  • Provencal faience and copper pans count as part of the furnishing.
  • Avoid: matched suites, lacquered modern, low slab sofas, high shine finishes.
Textiles
  • Linen is the base: natural flax beige or washed white, on beds, tables and upholstery.
  • Printed cotton carries the pattern: toile de Jouy, a one color pastoral print with a large repeat, and Provencal indiennes, block printed in lively color.
  • Floral curtains and bedding fit French bedrooms.
  • Tapestry can fit as an accent.
  • Avoid: shiny polyester, heavy damask drapery, high sheen silk, bold modern graphics.
Rugs
  • Living rooms take an Anatolian kilim, a wool tapestry weave in bold geometric color.
  • Moroccan Atlas pile rugs fit Spanish and riad leaning rooms.
  • A hand knotted Turkish or Persian pile carpet works in living rooms too.
  • Kitchens and dining rooms take a low flatweave.
  • Avoid: shag, solid gray broadloom, printed synthetic rugs, jute alone in formal rooms.

Where to start

Real paint colors and products, so you have something specific to take to a paint counter or a showroom.

Wall paint
Benjamin Moore Atrium White OC-145Understated French neutral
Benjamin Moore Clay Beige OC-11Warm neutral, natural materials
Benjamin Moore Wind's Breath OC-24Warm neutral, with White Dove OC-17
Farrow & Ball French Gray No. 18Green gray, Slipper Satin trim
Farrow & Ball Strong WhiteKitchen walls and ceiling, French farmhouse
Sherwin-Williams Totally Tan SW 6115Spanish exterior body, Oyster Bar SW 7565 trim
Flooring
Reclaimed Terracotta TilePatina, uneven, experienced installer
Terracotta HerringboneNew handmade tile
Slate, HonedKitchen floor
Slab stone
Limestone, HonedCounters and backsplash, can etch, seal
Carrara MarbleIsland top
Rojo Alicante MarbleRed marble pastry counter
Tile
Zellige, Handmade MoroccanBacksplash, tight joints, expert install
Terres Cuites de Raujolles Glazed SquareProvencal yellow, bath walls
Carocim Cement TilePatterned floors, sealed
Hardware finish
Matte Black Forged IronPulls, latches, gates, Spanish rooms
Unlacquered BrassFaucets and knobs, ages in place
Silicon Bronze, Living PatinaWarm copper undertone, darkens with touch
Lighting
Bevolo French Quarter LanternHand riveted copper, gas or electric bracket
Jim Lawrence Club Wall LightAntiqued brass sconce

The architecture underneath

A lot of what makes a room read as this style is in the architecture, before any furniture comes in.

Clay Tile RoofBarrel or S tile on Spanish houses, terracotta on the mas
Thick Plaster or Stucco WallsLime plaster or smooth troweled stucco, large blank walls
Arched and Recessed OpeningsArched doors and windows set deep in the wall
Exposed Beams or VigasBeams left natural, vigas on carved corbels
Courtyard or Walled PatioEnclosed by stucco or stone, rooms open onto it
Wrought Iron Rails and GrillesBalconies, stair pickets, window grilles
Local Stone, South FacingProvence mas of local stone, sheltered from the north wind
Wood Casements with Interior ShuttersPaired casements, folding wood shutters inside

What to know about the materials

A few materials this style uses need more care than they look like they will. Worth knowing before you choose them.

MarbleMarble can etch. Lemon, wine and tomato can leave dull marks, and sealing does not stop that. A stone pro can polish the marks out, and a honed finish hides them better. Plenty of people like how it ages. If you would not, we will steer you somewhere else.
TravertineTravertine is a poor fit for a busy kitchen counter. Acids like lemon or wine can leave dull marks, and many kinds soak up oil and wine. It does well as a backsplash, on floors, on walls and outside.

If you are working on a house and want to see what this style would look like in it, set up a time with Jeid Studio and we can go through it with your answers in front of us.

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