French Country Kitchens

"French country kitchens are more about the cook than about the look. But you can have it all - here are a few simple tricks to get the look right, too."


If you’re looking for information about the design of French country kitchens, such as

• what the cupboards could look like
• what flooring would be best
• what surface materials to choose from and
• how to tackle the overall design of a French country style kitchen …

• Glazed Earthenware
• Wood, Wicker & Straw
• Fabrics
• Cabinetry
• Color Schemes, and
• Wall Treatment & Decorating Ideas.

… Ground Rules for a
French Country Style Kitchen

• Choose humble materials and simple shapes.
• Fill your kitchen with things that you will use, and avoid items that will just sit around looking pretty (unless you really love them).
• A bit of patina is fine; it comes with the territory.

Glazed Earthenware

• for food preparation
• to store ingredients that aren’t kept in the fridge (like onions, garlic, some fruit and veg)
• for serving the food
• to eat from (if that’s a bit too rustic for your taste – and it can be tough on shiny cutlery - use simple, heavy porcelain instead).

Fabrics

Wood, Wicker & Straw

• Wooden chopping boards in different shapes and sizes.
• A straw bag for market day.
  (This one's from Saint-Rémy-de-Provence. Everyone there has a bag like this - or will be happy to sell you one ;-)
• A wooden bowl or two (olive wood looks great).
• A wicker basket, to hold fruit or vegetables.
• You could also use a wicker basket with a flat bottom to tuck away some water glasses filled with fresh kitchen herbs.
• If convenient and practical, use a few more wood/wicker/straw containers to stash things away in - cooking utensils, napkins & the like.
• Chairs with straw seats are quite typical of Southern France, and a bit of a ‘must’ for Provence-style kitchens.

Doctor the Cabinets!

• Paint them.
• If they’re really plain, add simple ornament (e.g., stick on some molding, or cut out small ornamental 'windows') before painting them.
• Change the handles (use simple knobs made of wood, metal, or porcelain).
• Add some metal fittings (the lozenge shape is a typical ornament in Provence).
• Get a new countertop. I know this sounds a bit drastic, but a tiled, or stone, worktop is a large chunk of color and texture and can make a striking difference to the look & feel of your kitchen.

Kitchen Color Ideas

• Real wood - it can be untreated, waxed, oiled, bleached, or varnished.
• Yellow: butter, straw, sunflower, or pale yellow – all these make good wall colors.
• Green: from deep fir greens through olive (and even lime) to the faintest grayish hint of green – all these work well in French country kitchens, especially as paint on the cupboards.
• Earth colors - terracotta, umber, coppery reds. They’re particularly great for the flooring, but also for worktops and even for splashbacks.
• Blues can look good for slightly distressed, antiqued surfaces. Use them for cupboards and maybe the curtains underneath the worktop, but not on the walls.
• Ivory, cream and whites in antique, slightly grayed hues, or a light écru – these are less ‘country’ than the other colors, but they do work. You could use a very light, chalky white paint to ‘whitewash’ the walls and any masonry in the room (if you have brick-built storage, for example).

Wall Treatments and
Decorating Ideas

• Colorwash the walls with a few layers in very subtle, mellow colors – that will make them look more ‘alive’ and less flat.
• Hang some of your pots and pans from hooks (or a rack) on the walls (near the hob if possible).
• Stack earthenware crockery and/or cookware on a rustic-looking wooden shelf above the worktop.
• Use slightly irregular, glazed (or stone) tiles for your splashback.
• And if your floor is up to it, you could put wrought-iron garden chairs around the kitchen table. (If you have wood or vinyl flooring, these chairs will be to heavy - but you could use lighter, wooden garden furniture instead).