31 Days of French-Inspired Style Day 31: Are You a Francophile?

Fran·co·phile (fran’keh fyl’) , n. A person who strongly admires France or French culture.

Now, I don’t know if I’d consider myself a Francophile, but there is something about the timeless beauty of French style that just pulls me in.

For a long time, I just wasn’t sure about what my design style was called. I knew what I liked and what I was drawn to, but I didn’t know it had a name. Until one day a couple of years ago, when I spied a magazine on the rack at Lowe’s. It was called Country French  and I was immediately smitten.

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In most decorating magazines, I normally like about half of the photos. But in Country French, I usually love something about all of the featured rooms.

Here are a couple of books that have also helped me to define my style:

The French Inspired Home by Carolyn Westbrook.

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All of the books by Charles Faudree.

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I’ve also found numerous French design books at my local library.

Another resource is, of course, blogs! There are so many home design blogs out there and many with a French slant. My eyes were opened a couple of years ago to the fabulous world of home blogs and it eventually led me to start French Blue Cottage.

I’m learning as a I go and here are some other tidbits that I’ve figured out:

1. You have to train your decorating “eyes” to notice and really study colors, patterns, textures (anyone else thinking of Clinton and Stacy from What Not to Wear?), room layouts, etc.

2. Become more comfortable with imperfection.

3. Edit down. We tend to accumulate and just keep adding to our homes without taking things out. Some of the most beautiful rooms have places for the eyes to rest and allow us to enjoy the beauty in each item.

4. Sometimes you have to throw out the rule book and just decorate how you like. Everyone has their own interpretation of style and that’s what makes it so interesting and personal!

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And finally, for my last post in this 31 day series, I thought I’d show a few of my most favorite rooms.

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So, maybe I am a Francophile after all. Are you?

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I hope you’ve enjoyed this 31 day series, because I’ve sure enjoyed writing it and learning along the way!

I’ll be turning my attention in the next few weeks to some more tutorials and before/afters. So I hope you’ll follow along by subscribing!

See you soon!