Spaces Magazine

French home style too often gets translated to an almost farcical level of Versailles French, with overblown rooms of gilded mirrors, grandiose statuary, and sumptuously upholstered, voluptuously shaped furniture. Or a maybe the take is more Country French, with a gluttony of toile and Provencal patterns. But earthy French style—the people’s style—is much more simplistic than that, and for sophisticated designers and savvy homeowners, it’s what’s hardest to replicate.

Sure, anyone can “buy” French-and opulence. But there’s a certain je ne sais quoi—call it confidence—in putting things together in a casually elegant way. The technique is all about paring down-like wearing a little black dress with a pearl choker, antique watch, and fine-leather flats. Your setting is your canvas-and your personality, the color.
Because I grew up in Natchez, Miss., not far from Paris’ P.S. city, New Orleans, I’m always at home with a sort of “elegance and decadence” style (to coin a phrase from one of my favorite books with the same name.) But these days, perhaps because of all the frenetic activity around me, I’m much more drawn to a crisper, cleaner, sunnier style. Some of my favorite inspirations of what true French means to me are the following images from (mostly European) magazines and insightful blogs, which I keep on my inspiration board. I’ve begun to see a pattern here. Or rather, no pattern. Just clean-lined, soulful design.

	Homes and Gardens Magazine (UK) What I love: The use outdoor furniture indoors. Light walls and flooring. The use of softly hued vintage-style wallpaper for accents walls. Having an armoire filled with linens or bar necessities or serving ware. Brilliant.
Country Homes & Interiors (UK) What I love: White matelasse and fine linens, elegant but understated matching side mirrors, faded but “reborn” furnishings.
	Decorology.blogspot.com (US) What I love: The crystal chandelier juxtaposed with the uber-casual dining ensemble, which would look just at home outside; the tall, orderly candelabras on the cabriole-leg console. The open kitchen. The explosed beams, the fresh-cut hydrangeas, and peonies. Dreamy.
If like me, you are soothed just by looking at settings, move you fingers swiftly across your keyboard to acquire one of my favorite books: The New Eighteenth Century Style: Rediscovering a French Décor (written by Michelle Laland and photographed by Gilles Triard; Abrams, 2006). And if you have a favorite French-style book, or design idea, do let us hear about it.