The ABCs of French Country Style Lighting

Antiqued metal finishes, curlicues and crystals, quaint floral accents and decorative glass are all aspects of French country lighting. When selecting the fixtures that will set the tone for your room, keep s few keywords in mind:

• Antiqued

• Baroque

• Colorful

• Distressed

• Earthy

• Elegant

• Ornate

• Rustic

• Utile

• Whitewashed

The contrasts at play among these words illustrate the witty nuances of the French country style. Without those small ironies, your decor would be closer to plain old American Gothic.

French Country Strategies

The ceiling is the ideal place to start transitioning any room. A pendant fixture or chandelier provides a focal point that draws together all the various elements of French country design. Begin at the top, and work your way outward and downward from there.

An antiqued chandelier with a fleur-de-lis profile lends lovely French elegance and rustic charm, but be sure to balance it elsewhere with a few simply styled furnishings that reflect earthy utility. If your room starts to look more like Louis X1V than elegant peasant, you’ll know it’s time to rethink a few of your selections.

Your home should be well-lit and inviting, but you also want to attain rustic ambiance within a modern, multi-use environment. One effective strategy for accomplishing this difficult task is to blend fixtures within a design family that match both aesthetic and practical considerations.

Divide and Conquer

Separate your living room into several natural zones. Then, explore the French country collections from such top manufacturers as Elk Lighting, Quorum International and Schonbek. A rustic chandelier or an ornate pendant makes a wonderful centerpiece fixture. Next, choose coordinating mini-pendants to illuminate individual stations such as a reading nook or an intimate grouping of armchairs.

You may wish to add in some recessed lights to illuminate found objects reflecting your design scheme. In addition, some distressed candle-style sconces around the perimeter of the room are ideal for suggesting the warm, firelit ambiance of a charming, whitewashed cottage somewhere in Provence.

Get Creative with 1800Lighting.com

French country-style fixtures from 1800Lighting.com give your personal spaces a dazzling new perspective that reflects wonderfully on your rustic yet elegant aesthetic. With the benefit of contemporary choices in fixtures and updated technology, your French country style lighting sets the stage for a comfortable, cozy yet elegant look throughout your home.