I have an old worlde style that tends to be mostly french country..but it is in no way the typical french colors...esp since i now abhor blue having too much in my old house before the fire..i have barely any blue in my new home at all.

My woods are either dark oak or dark fruitwoods..there are curves but not the white or fancy ...i snapped you a couple of quick pictures as all my others are on my laptop which I'm not on..but the didn't turn out too good..it is dark here and lights and t v on and blurs..but you can see that I have no typical french colors..

my dining room and family room and guest room are in fruitwood, and my kitchen master bedroom and living room are in dark oak

there are other pictures of my home floating around on the forums..right now i can think of the living room forum on the organizing or small house site..i can't remember which..i could try to post some others later..

in my main rooms i have shades of browns ..kitchen and bedroom and master bath are in a soft green, family room is toasted nutmeg, gym and guest bath are chamois gold with a cinnamon on gold toile..and the guest bedroom is chianti wine with shades of browns and golds..

nothing typical french..but definately french inspired old world style

There are two different kinds of French Country.

For true French Country farmhouse, think Shabby Chic except shabbier. Really! Broom in the corner, old flooring, old...just about everything.

The other French Country is about the rich who have a second home outside the city.

I like your version. :)

I've seen two types of French Country, and a lot depends on what part of France you're talking about. Provence has all the bright colors of gold/yellow, blue, red, white, green, a lot of the primary colors but mixed differently than we'd normally do. Lot's of white in the kitchen.

The other kind of French Country is considered to be Old World, which is darker, reds and golds, brass...like ronbre's house.

When my house is finished, the LR will be Old World french country, some Victorian, to the brighter Provence french country in the kitchen, with a lot of my own style thrown in, which will proabably end up looking like a crazy quilt!

Ttodd, how great to be so in tune with exactly what you want! I think it's wonderful that you have pinpointed your preferences *prior* to spending a bundle on all the wrong stuff!

Your "must-haves" create a beautiful, charming picture!

Okay, I'm in a fog here. It's probably obvious to others, but I can't figure out what "Ins." in the title stands for.

Help a confused reader, please.

Your ideas sound beautiful. Just do it!!!! :-)

Your style sounds similar to what I am trying to achieve in my house. If I were going to give it a moniker, it would have to be European farmhouse style. I have very definite French Country elements (toile, cabriole legs) but there are things that wound themselves more to an English, German, or Italian aesthetic (particularly how massive the dining room furniture is).

I could post pics but right now much of it definitely falls into the shabby category that Parma described.

Mona, I think "Ins" means Inspiration:)

Thanks, rich. That makes sense.

I googled french country farmhouse images and found many inspiration pics! Hope this is what you are looking for!

Here is a link that might be useful: French Country Farmhouse

Ttodd, you've practically described my house- LOL I didn't really realize that I had a particular look. My house is a work in progress, huge gut/ restore project and we are living in it through all the DIY construction, so I have never posted pics. I have a farmhouse dining room table, and I originally wanted rush seats, I decided to get some temporary chairs that will work while my kids are little. I do have rush seats at my island from Target.com which are holding up surprisingly well. My window treatments are silk but have a linen look to them, and my valances in my kitchen are being made by my MIL with a bosporous toile remnant I was able to find dirt cheap at a local fabric warehouse. My walls are all painted a creamy white, or a taupe color.
All of this was pretty much done by accident, I had no real inspiration, just things I like that are coming together nicely.

But the pics I've seen of your home, are absolutely to die for. You have beautiful taste.

My old house actually was a victorian farmhouse that was kinda frenchish country for sure..but it burned in 2002..it was all done in whites and pastels..there was a lot of lace and a LOT of blue and yellow..

After the fire I couldn't bring myself to use those colors again..it was just too traumatic for me..all i wanted to do was crawl into a quiet cool dark place and hide from the world.

I guess that is why I had my choices of browns in my main rooms (dining and living/library)..when you move away from my main rooms then you get into brighter colors..as I said..i have bright chamois gold with cinnamon toile in my gym room..i needed that room to reflect the sunshine to wake me up..and exercise equipment isn't really french or country..but the walls and decor are..tee hee.

My guest bathroom is also in the same colors..as it has no windows..but the guest bedroom is very moody again with chianti wine on the walls and ceiling..moody moody moody..but everyone that has slept there loves it..it has a fruitwood sleigh bed and a wall of library shelves..a great place to curl up with a book and read or watch a movie.

Ron's MANS ROOM is also french country but there we have leather and more fruit wood, and a stone fireplace..but the walls are toasted nutmeg..and the curtains are a deep purple rose floral.

the master bedroom and bathroom have yellowed green walls and all the furniture is hand carved oak..very very heavy..it is where I sleep..my husband seldom does (head injury..he lives in the mans room)

it is my sanctuary , I even have a roll top desk in there where i pay the bills and such..all of MY rooms overlook the gardens..which is where i really live when there isn't snow on the ground

all other pictures are on the lap top..don't have it on right now

Beautiful rooms Ronbre. Ttodd,I love some of those very same things. I'd love to see pics of your home.

There is a nice french country magazine (special issue) that has been mentioned here - you can buy it at bookstores, grocery stores, etc. I believe there are two editions.

tina

ttodd did you ever see the kitchen in the movie "The Perfect Murder" with G. Paltro and Michael Douglas?

I would say that kitchen had a true french country farmhouse look. With the exception of all the stainless steel, it screamed old world french.

Did anyone else ever see that movie? If so, am I right about the kitchen?

.....Jane

Ronbre, when you find the time would you show us more pictures of your house? The way you described it sounds right up my alley.

So sorry about the fire you had, did your house burn to the ground? Awful. I can't even imagine what you're still going through.

After a long day of rearranging the LR, hooking up electronics, and being w/o phone/ internet service, I am back!!!!

Parma - that's exactly what I envision. Since I do sweep fairly regularly I want to find a real handmade broom to keep in the corner in the kitchen. I'm sure that DS1 would call it mommy's witches broom! Martha Stewart did a segment on handmade brooms one time and I wish I'd have paid more attention. And old flooring - I think the more aged, worn and dinged up it is the better for me!

Stinky - Gardener (Great name) -I've actually been buying stuff here and there and packing it away for a few yrs. now. The house that we live in is Victorian on the inside but I've known the house we are moving to for a long time and it's more in line w/ our simple comfort level. There's no way that our current bedroom style would work in the other house but I am very happy w/ it and yrs. down the road I'm sure that it too will morph into a French Country Farmhouse style. For now I just want to enjoy the finished product.

Tish - that sounds perfect, European Farmhouse! I will def. have to google that term and see what pops up. I'm thinking that Shabby Chic look too but w/ way less cottage & flower prints and a lot more farm and durability!

Kmcg - thank you very much for the link. Guess what I'll be doing during downtime at work today after all of my work is finished?!

Polly - that sounds so pretty - hopefully you will opst some pics anyways despite living through a reno. A real nice thing about GW here is that we've seen pics of eachother's homes at their worst. One of my favorite threads was one where everybody had to go take a picture of their kitchen in the moment and post it. It was great to see kitchens in their 'disaray state' that were typically posted after having been 'staged' for their GW photo op.! I really want DR chairs w/ rush seats and a farmhouse table but DH is so attached to his grandmother's fancy set that I don't even want to suggest it.

Ronbre - both of your homes sound very lovely. I can see where it would be tough to decorate in the exact same manner after such a horrible event. I'd love to see pics of the man room and your MBR.

Tina - right now I have much of the hardwired stuff packed away like my chandeliers and sconces. Most of it I'd pick up at deep discounts when I worked at Bombay. Our storage rm. was laid out so poorly that items would get stuck in the most hidden spots and forgotten about until I'd rip the place apart and find things that had been there for yrs. My 2 favorite chandies were only $59. Currently I visit them in my attic and peek in the boxes and dream. I didn't want to hang them all and then have to turn around and take them down to sell this house and put all of the original stuff back up. If things pan out alright I will take pics of the LR after I have some more stuff done. I def. have to paint again. When DH moved all of the entertainment stuff I forgot that I hadn't painted behind it all. There's a big bright blue patch! I'd also like to pick up a ceiling fan and paint out the ceiling after 9 yrs. here. There are just wires hanging from the ceiling now. Someone here had recently posted a photo of their Baby Turtle walls and Limestone ceiling and it was so gorgeous so I am going to follow suit and do the same.

Ttodd-
A funny little story for you about my 1st dining room set. My uncle inherited my grandmother's antique set and I always loved it. However, he divorced and found himself in some financial trouble and his house was foreclosed on and he lost all of the furniture inside. Years later I ended up buying an almost identical set in an antique store. It went beautifully in my first house, but in my current home, it just didn't fit the look I was going for. DH would not let me replace it b/c we were spending a pretty penny on our reno, I just had to make do with it. One night while we were eating, my 4 year old was leaning on the table and the whole top of the table just broke off. And that was how I got my Farmhouse table-LOL. I kept the hutch and the server though. Sorry to hijack, just wanted to share :) So you never know.
And yes, I will take some pics soon, my dining room chandelier is supposed to come in this week, when it gets hung maybe I'll post a few before and after pics. Right now all the lighting is temporary Lowes clearance lighting.

Polly929,
That did make me laugh. Unfortunately DH repairs furniture for a living so in the end I'd still end up w/ the same table - only about 2yrs later!

LOL Ttodd!! I can identify w/ the 2 yrs later comment- that renovation we are living through has been 2 years long now, b/c he is doing EVERYTHING himself, and will not ask for help OR hire someone. He probably would have insisted on fixing the table if the "honey-do" list weren't 3 pages long! (Or if I didn't score that table for 500 bucks)

Found a pretty French Country romantic style website & Blog.

Pretty pictures.

Here is a link that might be useful: Raised In Cotton

you know, ttoodd, when I first met you here I thought you were more English country than French country. Your interiors & vignettes reminds me of movies like, Pride & Prejudice (Kiera Knightly version), Sense & sensibility. A more modern version would be that house in England the movie the holiday (w/ Cameron diaz)...

Now (perhaps d/t the recent popularity of Gustavian design), I see your design leaning more toward Belgian farmhouse (not so French). IMO the French are more decorative folks, (beauty has its own reason kinda philosophy if you know what I meant), whereas the English & Belgian are more practical & rustic. French designs (even in rustic Provencal pieces) tends to have more flourish, curves, and more feminine.

I wouldn't be bothered with trying to classify your style. Maybe your style is actually rustic revival (i.e. dragging old rustic stuff which pple have declared dead home and trying to revive it LOL) ...Your furniture can be a mixture of different period different style as long as it shares a common thread (things that are beautiful & were well loved/well used).

Check out Velvet & linen blog. I got tons of ideas from her site!

Here is a link that might be useful: velvet & linen blog

OK, I'll admit that I thought ins. meant inside. Having said that, French Country is interpreted many ways in this country. In France you'll see lots of antiques and rooms with very, very tall ceilings and mouldings to fit the look. I think it's hard to accomplish that same look in many American homes.

I just bought this chair/ottoman for DH. It is on a smaller scale and has the nail head trim. I'm going to order the chair in a recliner - looks just like the chair - for another room.

I've pulled off several chairs from their website that would go in our home - new "old" European cottage.

Whittemore Sherrill is a division of Sherrill Furniture. Very well made. Very nice leather.

Here is a link that might be useful: Chair Ottoman by Whittemore Sherrill