By Lee Dobbins
You don’t have to be a decorator to get a add a bit of French country style home décor to your kitchen. Little changes like adding stencils to the walls and coordinating your tablecloths and dishware can do wonders to make your kitchen seem like an old French country Inn.
You don’t have to go out and buy all new furniture, but for a great French country look, you should have some antique looking painted pieces. Anything with hand painted stenciling or chippy or aged paint will do. If your cabinets are tired, try repainting them with a worn look as this can be much less costly than buying new ones and will do wonders for the room.
Decorative accessories are vital to pulling your French country style home décor design theme together. You can totally change the appearance of your room by simply replacing the accessories! Concentrate on getting tablecloths, dishware and canisters, in colors and patterns that match your French country look. It's amazing the difference a few alterations can make! You should to add in a variety of wooden bowls in addition to chippy painted items and you can even try some scrolly decorative flea market finds as well as vintage fabrics which you can use as curtains, on the tables or hang from your cabinet and stove handles.
Lighting is key in any kitchen and your French country kitchen is no exception. When considering lighting in a kitchen, you must provide good overhead lighting as well as task lighting. If you are decorating with a French country design style, try installing a painted or crystal chandelier with crystal lamps or scones and be sure to avoid anything that is too modern with straight lines.
How you dress your windows also effects your French country style home décor look. There are multiple window coverings that go with this design, particularly if you match other fabrics or colors in the room, but you should avoid heavy contemporary fabrics. Try using a nice toile print curtain, or sheers with a great distressed paint wooden valance.
Painting your walls can be one of the biggest and least expensive changes in your French country style home décor decorating project. For this look the room colors make a big difference - you should think about using either light yellow or pale blue either in your wall color or your accessories. Try using a light colored paint with crown moldings on the walls, or if you want something different go with stenciling.
After you paint the walls - don’t forget to decorate them! Try using country style paintings with a French flair or interesting old kitchen utensils that you can hang on groupings on the wall. Buy interesting old plates and tureen covers at flea markets and yard sales and use fancy hangers or silk ribbon to hang those on the walls for an interesting effect.
Getting a great French country look in your kitchen can be as simple as just buying new decorative accessories or as involved as replacing everything. Either way, working on the details and making sure to match your furniture and decorative accessories will help you pull off a great new French country style home décor look that you can be proud of!
Lee Dobbins writes for A Kitchen Decorating Idea where you can get more great kitchen decorating ideas.