I may be French, but I've all the time enjoyed decorating in the English Country Style. While it allows for a variety of opinions, from formal to more casual, and can comprise furnishings from a array of separate eras, the total emphasis is firmly on a original look, which is in retention with my personal taste. English style surpasses fashion, creating interiors that stand the test of time.
My first option in English Country Style can merge furniture from Chippendale to Queen Anne, in woods as changeable as mahogany walnut and pine. These dark woods predominate, but it is also potential to paint the wood or otherwise use distressed effects. Chairs and sofas can be plump. Down feathers cushions and pillows should give a well-worn, shabby elegance. Fancy pillows are added in profusion, especially on those seating areas that are without enjoyable upholstery, like window seats, banquettes or open-back chairs. Oriental influences can also be included in the mix, as the English went straight through a mania for Chinoiserie in the 19th Century.
Dining Chairs
Constructive features may comprise exposed beams and an oversize fireplace, in addition to chair rails and dados, and raised panels whether wood halt or glazed strie English homes are notoriously drafty and window treatments are requisite furnishings: panels lined and interlined give a grand look as well as providing meaningful insulation.
If the look is exacting, particularly in a dining room or living room, then damask fabrics or silk fabrics are the ones I would select. If the look is more informal, for a great room, sitting room or bedroom, then abundant flowered linen prints are my favorite choices. The colors should mirror the rolling hills of the English countryside, from the greens of the fields to the yellows and reds of a allowable English garden. When adding patterned wallpaper and well-worn oriental rugs the corollary can be quite intrusive, but this only adds to the cozy, lived in look that results. Walls should be enhanced with portrait paintings or bucolic landscapes, or maybe ancient prints with country themes such as hunting, fishing, birding or the coats of arms of the landed gentry. The English love dogs, gardens, and horses, so you can't go wrong drifting ancient centers in quest of these objects with these themes.
To perform the ornamental melange that is a hallmark of the English country style, it is requisite to produce the bookshelves, display cabinets and counter surfaces with house heirlooms, maybe tea sets in silver, pewter and china, framed photos of your loved ones, correspondence or other tokens with extra significance. Dried or fresh flowers all the time have a place on an English mantel.
Wool or cashmere blankets on a sofa or chaise lounge in a angle supplementary complete the comfortably lived in look. So when you have your friends over for high tea with crumpets and scones, using your Herend china, seeing over your charmingly disheveled parlor, you'll enjoy the full corollary of the English Country style.
English Country Style, The French Way