My French
Country Dollhouse

The French Country Dollhouse (L'Auberge du Pont du Gard)

 

 What is French Country Decorating?

What is
 French Country Decorating?

“What has come to be known as the French country look is really the style of Provence—the sun-drenched region in the south of France centering on Arles, Avignon, and Aix-en-Provence.”

“The warm, rich, intense colors are the colors of the earth, the flowers, the sky and the sea...The characteristic ochres, russets, silver-greens, cerulean blues, deep roses, alizarin reds, sunflower yellows, and lavenders of the Provençal landscape are among the intrinsic components of the French country look.”

These quotes from the book Pierre Deux's French Country summarize the major facets of French country decorating.

French Country Decorating:

  • Features exteriors of stucco or stone. Most Provençal farmhouses are covered in stucco or stone. Decorators choose a few colors from the interior to use on the exterior trim. My dollhouse exterior looks like stucco that has been painted coral and peach. See Exterior Features page for more on this topic.

  • Favors walls of plaster, stucco, or wood painted in natural colors; printed wallpaper is very seldom used. To simulate the effect of natural materials, I used wallpaper that looked like plaster or stucco (In miniatures structures,it is difficult to paint or stucco interior walls that have been wired for electricity. I used a "board and batten" effect in the living/dining room and in the Terry Noack Memorial Suite.

  • Uses beamed ceilings in heavy, dark woods. In the kitchen and living/dining room of my dollhouse, the ceiling beams show.

French country decorating:

Uses large pieces of furniture made mainly of light woods. Many pieces are decorated with ornate carving. I used large pieces of miniature furniture (many made by Bodo Hennig of Germany) such as armoires and hutches. Whenever possible, I chose carved pieces. I didn't stain them dark, just varnished them to bring out the grain. Here are a few of the pieces I used.
A Bodo Hennig armoire in the Living Room of the French Country Dollhouse A banquette in the Living Room of the French Country Dollhouse A Bodo Hennig armoire in the Avignon Suite
My favorite bed in the Avignon Suite A hutch in the Dining Room holds French Country plates. A banquette in the Avignon Parlor dressed by Sue Sharp.
Features terra cotta or marble floors. These materials are abundant in the area, and they remain cool in hot weather and retain heat in cold weather. Here are some samples of the types of floors I used.
The floor in the Living/Dining Room consists of individually laid marble tiles. Individually laid terra cotta tiles make up the Kitchen floor. The Gathering Room floor is made of individually laid "burled wood" tiles.
The Avignon Parlor's floor is a single sheet of turquoise marble squares. In the Avignon Suite, I used a sheet of small terra cotta tiles on the floor. A sheet of herringbone bricks was used for the floor in the Les-Baux-de-Provence Suite.
Uses tile and pottery accents extensively. The Provençals use the beautiful tile and pottery they create both inside and outside their homes. I created special "ceramic" tiles for the kitchen and used pottery accents wherever possible. See some examples below.
I created the "ceramic" tiles in the kitchen by painting mattboard and cutting it into tiny squares. All of the turquoise pottery in the kitchen was created by Alex Micklejohn. Pottery vases on the living room mantle hold bright flowers.