Random Thought Post: French Colonial Style

You will be hearing more about this, so I thought I'd drop a couple lines about it now.

The most disappointing part of putting away all my European floor plans was giving up on the idea of being able to decorate my interior that way.  I truly believe the home should flow.  My French country home in a clearly American standard frame would look odd… so I thought.

Then I did a bit more research into the style that I truly like, born right down in my neck of the woods in Louisiana and discovered a couple terms I had never considered.  French colonial and French provincial.  A mix of these with some American farmhouse standards actually could look modern enough to fit the red brick house with the unusual floor plan.

French Provincial homes are often brick homes (check!) and they have a definite sense of symmetry and balance (look at the picture of our house, it’s pretty darn cookie cutter from the outside).  Steep roofs, hip roofs, balconies, ballustrades, arched openings, and French windows with shutters, all the bedrooms and main living areas on the main floor…. Ok, admittedly the house clearly begins to deviate in areas, but we do have some of it.

If you look at strictly Colonial homes, they are also symmetrical homes build of a variety of materials but more standardly wooden clapboard siding styles, double hung windows with smaller equally sized panes, fireplaces, kitchens and family rooms on the first floor and bedrooms on the second floor.  Interiors with elaborate hallways and cornices were common.

Now while I don’t have my Creole French wrap around porches both upstairs and below with me lacy ironwork and doors that open from the front to the back of the house (for ventilation of course) – I also don’t live in the bayou and am willing to concede a few things (for now).

Now if you take all these three styles and roll them into something else, you’ll end up in an area called French Colonial.  In this design, you have a mix of the symmetry, brick, and rooflines with the colonial windows and intricate interior layouts.  You bring in the colors of the traditional Creole homes, straying from the more sedate neutrals of the Colonial homes and stately rich jewel or fall tones of the French provincial home.  Instead you delve into bright purples, yellows, greens and blues that make a peacock proud.  You channel embellishments in the small ways, including ornate lighting fixtures on the exterior with a bold color choice, but balanced with a strong neutral accent. 

I looked at my new house with new eyes… and began to dream again.  There is only so much I can do to the outside to enhance the feel of the house (silly HOA!) but I can do enough to make my treatment of the inside seamless.

We began by putting strong colors inside with neutral core furniture.  There are plans to paint the kitchen cabinetry and install simple but luxurious drapery.  It will be the accents and details that turn the house from cookie cutter to unique.  It will be time, sweat and the entire family pitching in that will make it a home.

New Carpet too!  Yay!  You have to love their creativity...

For instance, the girls’ room is done and they did it themselves (with Grandma’s help!)  Here’s a quick glimpse pre-curtains, poster and mirror.  I’ll get an updated picture when I do the “house tour” post… eventually.