This design direction got its name in honor of the French region of the same name, located in the south of the country, near the azure coast. Representatives of the wealthy classes began to equip their estates and settle in this area from the 17th century. He attracted them with his nature, harmony and solitude, which was sorely lacking in large cities. Over time, a special style of interior design has appeared.
This direction of decor became extremely popular in Europe in the 19th century. It gives a feeling of simplicity and naturalness of country life, lack of fuss. It is no less popular now with those who want to fill their home with harmony and comfort.
First of all, it combines provincial comfort with a modern level of comfort and luxury. High-quality, new interior items are antique. It evokes rustic country style with a touch of French sophistication.
There are several fundamental signs of interior design in this style:
Having studied various photos Provence style, it becomes clear that you can decorate most of the interior elements in this style with your own hands. It is no more difficult than other areas of design, there is always a place for creativity in it. Let's take a closer look at how to decorate the design of the room in it: what should be the walls, ceiling, furniture and other items.
First of all, you should pay attention to the color scheme. It should remind you of the warm nature of the south of France, its provincial comfort. Only soft and light colors are used. The main range of colors is white, cream, yellow, lavender, light green. The colors of walls and furniture and other interior items should be of the same color scheme.
The design of walls, ceilings and floors in the Provence style has its own rules. The walls are covered with plaster. For full compliance, it should be uneven, with bulges. In exceptional cases, you can use wallpaper that imitates such a surface.
The walls in the rooms can be finished with wooden boards painted in light colors. The kitchen is decorated with stone, brick and mosaics. In accordance with the canons of style, windows should be placed with wooden frames white.
Interior doors should also be light color. The floor in the rooms is covered with wooden boards or tiles. The tree is subjected to artificial aging, and the tiles are used in brown shades.
Do not use laminate, linoleum and carpets. Ceilings are painted White color. With sufficient height, they are decorated with dark wooden beams.
Curtains are made in the same style. Preference is given to simple natural fabrics with small embroidered patterns and flowers.
The choice of furniture in this style requires special attention. It is made from natural wood. modern materials better to avoid. It should be elegant and functional, its color should be combined with the overall color of the room.
Classical furniture elements are all kinds of chests of drawers and sideboards, cabinets with many drawers and carved chairs. The color must be either white or grey. Cushioned furniture should also be muted colors.
Artificial aging of furniture is welcome. This design direction gives great scope for home creativity with furniture. You can paint Provence-style furniture yourself, additionally performing decoupage. To do this, use safe acrylic paints and ready-to-stick drawings. You can change the color of both modern and old furniture.
Quite interesting solutions can be obtained by decoupage of the old Soviet furniture in new interesting colors with the addition of colored ornaments.
Style is created not only by finishing the room itself and large pieces of furniture, but also by small, cute interior items. To decorate it in the Provence style, you can make small crafts with your own hands. There is a huge scope for the creativity of home needlewomen.
It is possible to produce various small interior items with functional purpose or just for decoration. Many items are very easy to make with ordinary tools and without special skills. To match the overall style, you must follow the color scheme.
One of the available ways is to decorate the room with a bouquet of dried flowers. Lavender and dried field herbs are ideal for this. They can be installed in a specially made vase from a clay or glass bottle, decorated with plasticine, fabric and pieces of wood in a common soft color scheme.
Of the functional items, stitched with my own hands various potholders for the kitchen, chair covers, tablecloths for the dining table and soft toys. original idea is the manufacture of Christmas toys in the style of Provence with their own hands. To do this, you can take modern inexpensive plastic Christmas balls and paint them oil paints in bed colors with patterns in the form of flowers.
For decorating a room with your own hands, you can use different ideas. Such items will be appropriate in any room. They are appropriate not only in a room completely decorated in Provence style, but will also look good in modern interiors, reminding of the existence of this style.
Provence style is a relative of the country style popular today, but with a touch of French sophistication. The salient features are:
The Provence style is simply created for handmade works that fit organically into it and complement the interior.
The rural style of the south of France does not tolerate any artificiality: plastic, chrome, film, gloss, polish or chipboard. Only natural fabrics, wood and glass are appropriate here.
IMPORTANT! The key point is the effect of “lived years”, as if the furniture served great-great-grandmothers.
To do this, it is not necessary to order designer cabinets or antique chests of drawers. The effect of aging can be created independently. For this apply:
Exposure to fire on wood. This creates the effect of areas darkened with time.
Mechanical creation of abrasions using sandpaper, scrapers and brushes.
Chemical exposure allows you to age the surface with acids or alkalis.
Furniture in the Provence style can be not only the natural color of wood, but it can also be painted in light colors, painted or decoupage.
IMPORTANT! When creating a bedside table or shelf with your own hands, be attentive to the details, because in this interior they play a key role. Brand new, shiny hinges or handles on an aged cabinet will spoil the whole composition.
For self-manufacturing shelves to us need:
First of all, you need to decide on the size and shape of the product. For the first time, it is better to choose a simple rectangular shelf that will organically fit into the Provence style.
IMPORTANT! Do not overload the shelf with details. If you used decoupage inserts, then leave the rest of the background plain.
After practicing on a small shelf, you can move on to creating more complex interior items. Let's try to create a rack in the French style.
When we change the interior, we often buy new furniture. However, some styles in the interior, such as shabby chic or provence, require aged furniture. If you want to decorate the interior in this style, you can get an old grandmother's chest of drawers or chairs from the attic and update them with paint. You can read more about this in the article - How to paint furniture white at home.
If there is nothing really old in the house, and you cannot afford to buy expensive antiques, then you can learn the art of aging. Aging techniques can give different character to interior items and make them stylish and unique. We will advise you on how to age furniture with your own hands in different ways.
There are several methods for aging a tree:
Due to the ease of application, we will focus on two: whitening and patination at home. Both methods make it easy to achieve interesting effects. We can process not only chairs, tables, chests of drawers and wardrobes in this way, but also doors, window frames and cornices. Experts advise that soft colors should be chosen for aging wood:
Aging furniture will make it look elegant, and the surface will become more durable. If you put an aged stylized lamp or an old telephone set on such a chest of drawers, then such an ensemble will be very harmonious, the objects will emphasize each other's color and enhance the effect of aging.
In the shop building materials you will need to buy:
Apply a top coat of polish and you're done!
An interesting effect of wood aging can be achieved with the "reverse" application of patina: the patina can be left on the entire surface and rubbed only in certain places. 
The effect of old bleached furniture in the Provence style can be achieved by light sanding or using a special paste.
Sanding with sandpaper will make the paintwork look darker and show through the white paint. This will allow the chest of drawers or chair to look old and repeatedly painted. In this way, you can age interior items from solid wood: oak, pine, birch, beech.
If we use whitening pastes, characteristic white lines will appear on the wooden surface. Paste bleaching is suitable for porous woods such as oak and ash.
How to age furniture using this method - step by step:
Thus, quite simple and inexpensive means from old and unnecessary furniture you can make unique and stylish elements decor that will suit some interior stylizations. In the process of transforming old family heirlooms, you will get a lot of pleasure from creativity, and the resulting updated furniture will delight you for a long time and remind you of your grandparents, who once also rejoiced in their acquisition.
Today, most people prefer the Provence style in the decor of their apartments and houses. After all, all that is needed for this is to slightly modify the furniture, age something, paint something. Textile decor will also be relevant. If you love romance and simplicity, you will probably be wondering how to paint furniture in the Provence style.
Provence style originates from the French hinterland. This name he received in honor of the southeastern region of France. At the beginning of the 18th century, many representatives of Bohemia tried to hide from the bustle of the city and acquired country houses. The interior of the premises looked very simple, but at the same time romantic. Such an atmosphere made it possible to get away from the daily hustle and bustle, to dissolve in the picturesque nature of these places.
Consider all the subtleties of turning ordinary interior items into exclusive designer items. For example, let's create a chest of drawers in the Provence style. To do this, you will need the following tools:
We paint a chest of drawers in several stages:
Advice! Place a vase of wild flowers or a small bedside lamp with a textile shade on the chest of drawers. Such little things will be the final accent in the design of the room in the Provence style.
If you want to fill your home with new colors, try painting furniture in the Provence style. This will require only a partial restoration of the old grandmother's locker. This is a rather painstaking robot, during which you will have to show patience and diligence.
Many craftsmen working in the Provence style prefer to paint furniture using stencils or decoupage. This painting technique allows you to speed up the process of work, since only small details will need to be completed. Creating an exclusive wardrobe in the Provence style with your own hands is not as difficult as it might seem at first glance. But you will be proud to demonstrate your creation to family and friends.
To paint furniture, you should use acrylic paints. They are more suitable for outdoor woodworking and have a waterproof quality. In order for the drawing to be applied without streaks, brushes should be selected from synthetic fibers. Also, in the process of work, they will not stick together.
With the help of painting furniture with your own hands, you can decorate a table, chair, doors of cabinets and cabinets. All work consists of several stages:
1. First treat the surface with a primer. Next, the main paint is applied in two layers. This will avoid streaks on the wooden surface. 
2. When drawing a pattern on the surface, use stencils. With their help, the pattern can be repeated several times over the entire surface. To make the resulting image match the Provence style, blow the paint with a hairdryer. This will give it a slight blur.
3. To keep the picture as long as possible, open it with varnish. Once the first layer is dry, repeat the procedure.
4. If you apply a thin layer of gold paint to the drawing, you will get the impression that there is aged furniture in the room.
Important! If grated wooden furniture wax, it will give the impression that it has burned out in the sun.
On the video: alteration of the Provence style door.
Often, after the completion of the repair, we purchase new furniture. What if you "breathe" new life in old interior items? How to paint Provence-style furniture so that it creates comfort and at the same time emphasizes the “refined taste” of the owners?
Restoration of wooden products at home can be done using patination. This will require:
Let's bring step by step instructions Restoring an old chair:
Using this technology, you can restore a Provence-style shelving unit, smooth out knocked-down corners of a cabinet or chest of drawers, and remove scratches on a cabinet. To gain the necessary skills for painting furniture in the Provence style, first practice on old items that you don’t mind throwing away.
To date, hand-made Provence furniture is very popular. After all, the manufacturing process will save the family budget, bring a lot of pleasure during work. And in the end you will get an exclusive shelf or bookcase in Provence style.
If you are a novice designer, we suggest making a small whatnot with your own hands. It is useful both in the apartment and in country house. Outwardly, the bookcase resembles a cabinet without walls and doors. The material for manufacturing can be metal, plastic, wood, MDF, chipboard.
The shape of the product will depend on your imagination and the main interior. It can be angular, rectangular, oval, square. Materials can be combined. For example, the racks can be forged metal, and the shelves are wooden or plastic.
In order for the bookcase to match the style of the French province, it is necessary to age its surface. This effect can be achieved if the furniture is painted in the Provence style - patination.
This design can be put in the bedroom, it will replace the bedside table, it will be an excellent solution for storing books and toys in the children's room. If the bookcase is made for the kitchen, kitchen utensils and several flower pots will compactly fit on its shelves. In the living room, such an interior item will also find its application. Newspapers and magazines can be stored here, as well as colored boxes with needlework materials.
Creating a Provence style is constant experimentation, a flight of fancy, a combination of several materials, the use of rare things. You can create Provence furniture with your own hands and change it appearance, complementing with small decorative elements. The main thing is that all the interior items in the overall ensemble create comfort and coziness in any room.
Provence is one of the favorite design trends that have become widespread for interior design. It got its name from the province of the same name in southeastern France, combining the simplicity of rural life, the colors of the landscapes of the Mediterranean coast, as if faded in the sun, and the lightness of the French character. At the mention of Provence, the imagination draws the colors of meadow grasses under the rays of the bright sun, an abundance of spices and the aroma of coffee. To organize the interior in the Provence style, designers try to use these features, which help to combine such a different spirit of the French provinces into a single whole as much as possible.
Due to the huge popularity that interior design in the Provence style has gained over the past few years, inviting professionals will not come cheap. However, knowing characteristics of this direction, you can create a romantic atmosphere in your home filled with warmth and light with your own hands.
Provence as a design originates from the distant XV-XVII centuries. Already since those times, significant contradictions were noticeable on the territory of France, its northern and southern regions, but the unifying component remained lightness, the desire for elegance of outlines, airiness, the advantage of warm and delicate shades.
All this was reflected first in art - music, poetry, painting, and then in everyday life. Provence is deservedly called the French country. By the middle of the 19th century, it was finally formed, having absorbed the breath of the southern province, embodied in the paintings of famous artists - Van Gogh, Matisse, Paul Cezanne, Pablo Picasso.
Provence decor
As already mentioned, the features of the Provencal interior are pastel colors, graceful, natural outlines of objects. However, given that Provence has absorbed the features of the rural life of the inhabitants of the south, professionals recommend using the following elements in the design:
a touch of antiquity on furniture;
uneven, rough plaster;
mandatory presence of natural materials;
made from forged metal details;
discreet, as if sun-scorched textiles;
rough wooden beams under the ceiling, or their imitation;
floral motifs on fabrics, floral prints, flowerpots with field bouquets.
In other words, to create an interior in the Provencal style, you do not need to fill your home with luxurious, artsy pieces of furniture or decor. Simplicity and elegance, closeness to nature prevail here. Provence is characterized by the presence of wicker furniture, forged metal candlesticks on the mantelpiece, the use of wild stone or burnt brick for the kitchen and corridors.
For interior decoration, warm tones of yellow, blue, olive, purple, orange color. Combinations of deliberate rudeness and simultaneous airiness are easiest to achieve in spacious buildings. Here you can, guided by the knowledge gained and your own imagination, create with your own hands a small island of Mediterranean life.
Interior decor in Provence style
Provence style design decoration idea
Modern decoration in Provence style
If you want to make an interior design in the Provence style, you should paint the walls in discreet pastel colors. For plaster, you can use textured mixtures. With them, even a non-professional will be able to decorate his house in the style of Provence. Appropriate in this style is masonry made of rough brick or savage, showing through in places through the plastered surface of the wall.
In addition to plastering, walls can be painted. Regardless of the purpose of the room, delicate shades of white, milky, beige, terracotta, lavender or sea wave, ocher or sunflowers should prevail. The walls, painted in pastel colors, convey the atmosphere of real Provence, with its aromas of flowering meadows, clear summer day and light sea breeze.
In addition, for partial finishing are good wooden panels. They can be given any of the listed colors, as well as emphasize the natural beauty of the texture by treating the surface with a stain and a layer of varnish.
If you are designing a house in the Provencal style, but do not have the skills of a plasterer or carpenter, you can paste over the surface with paper wallpaper. It is better to choose plain embossed wallpaper - in the Provence style there should not be a pattern on the walls. The main rule in this style is naturalness and unobtrusiveness. Choose wallpapers that can be painted.
Tapestries, paintings with landscapes or still lifes, upholstery fabrics on furniture will help to emphasize a delicate neutral background. It is also important not to overdo it here: bright inclusions should be selected as an addition to the main background.
For the decor of the bedroom, fragmentary textile draperies are appropriate. If you decide to strengthen textile draperies on a large surface of the wall, then cloths of a milky, light beige color are preferable.
Interior decoration in Provence style
Provence decor
In order for the dwelling to give the impression of a French house on the sea coast, the following materials cannot be used for flooring:
carpet;
ceramic tile.
Simple wooden boards are best suited for Provence-style floors. They are laid in the usual way, without any ornament such as Christmas trees or squares.
It is best to paint the floors in muted shades of gray, which go well with all decor elements. If desired, the floors of the bedroom can be made white. No need to achieve perfect coloring - small clearings will add originality and create the desired effect of antiquity.
In addition, an unpainted board can be used to finish the floor in the Provence style. Protect its surface from external influences: after thorough sanding, cover with several layers of clear varnish. The texture of the wood will fit perfectly into the overall style. Terracotta slabs are also well suited for the kitchen. They may be slightly worn, with small cracks or small chips.
Interior decor in Provence style
Provence style design decoration idea
Modern decoration in Provence style
When choosing furniture in this style, it must be remembered that Provence is the embodiment of nationality, closeness to nature. Therefore, only natural materials can be used in the manufacture of furniture. These cannot be serial sets: all furniture elements are carefully selected or made to order. The trend is old things inherited from previous generations.
All pieces of furniture in the Provence style have simple forms, without excessive luxury and intrusive decorations. Numerous chests of drawers, cupboards with transparent or solid doors, open shelves, chairs with carved legs look good. Forging can be used for decoration, for example, handles on furniture, headboards. For painting the gables of furniture, darker paints are used than for walls. Lacquered always looks good natural wood- light walnut, oak, chestnut.
Interior decoration in Provence style
Provence decor
It is not necessary to make furniture for a new interior to order - it is very expensive, besides, almost everyone has pieces of furniture inherited from previous owners. Do not throw them away - just work a little to give furniture a new life with your own hands:
all pieces of furniture are cleaned of old paint;
sand their surface with sandpaper;
the next step is to paint the furniture black or deep shades of gray, brown;
after the first layer has dried, all furniture elements are painted again - white or shades of the selected pastel color;
after waiting for the paint to dry, they carefully pass the sandpaper over the protruding parts of the painted furniture, creating the effect of slight wear, aging;
polishing the surfaces with a soft cloth with the addition of wax completes the work.
This type of finish will help to age even new furniture. You can achieve the desired effect by giving the surfaces a slightly worn look, imitating chips or traces of wormholes.
To combine different pieces of furniture in a Mediterranean interior, you can not only paint them the same way and then age them. An even greater effect can be achieved using the furniture decoupage technique, which is very welcome in the Provence style. Designers advise decorating furniture gables with style drawings using ordinary napkins, glue and a brush for this. After the pattern has dried, do not forget to cover the surface with a layer of protective varnish.
Interior decor in Provence style
Provence style design decoration idea
Modern decoration in Provence style
One of the main rooms of any home is the kitchen. It looks especially beautiful in the Provence style. Light walls, solid wooden cabinets, shelves and chairs in natural color or warm pastel colors, original decor items, an abundance of spices, the presence of free space - these are the main features of Provencal cuisine.
If the area allows, an open hearth with a large wooden, stone or brick facade is appropriate here. High ceilings can be decorated with artificially aged wooden beams, on which several lamps are fixed with wrought iron hooks. They can also beautifully place kitchen utensils.
There should not be a lot of forged decor details - just a few “antique” items are enough. These are a grate and tongs for a fireplace, one or a pair of candlesticks, furniture handles. At the same time, gilding should not be applied to forged parts - it is better to create an imitation of a light touch of patina.
Interior decoration in Provence style
Provence decor
For curtains on the kitchen windows in the Provence style, natural materials should be taken - linen, chintz, cotton with a small addition of viscose. Color palette curtains for the kitchen are also limited to pastel shades of the background, but at the same time they can have a bright floral pattern or print - here you should consider the size of the window. Suitable fabric used for upholstery kitchen furniture, or a canvas that matches in color. The shape of the curtains for the kitchen can be varied - these are stained glass curtains, Roman, roller, cafe-style or full-fledged curtains. The choice of form depends on the size of the window and the area of \u200b\u200bthe kitchen. Lungs look interesting wooden blinds, painted under the main tone of the interior.
We must not forget about the lighting of the kitchen. After all, the Mediterranean is an abundance of sunlight. If the kitchen window is small or faces north, it is necessary to make up for the lack of natural light with the help of lamps, placing them above the kitchen work area and the dining table.
Interior decor in Provence style
Provence style design decoration idea
Modern decoration in Provence style
The interior, decorated in Provence style, does not allow for modern details. Finished vintage watches are very expensive. But you can make a "provincial" watch with your own hands - while you can create an exclusive copy to the envy of all your friends.
For the manufacture of watches, we will again use the decoupage technique. We will need:
clockwork;
wooden or plywood blank for the dial;
primer paint;
drawing for decoupage;
PVA glue;
brushes, sponge, water;
clear nail polish.
We purchase a clockwork or use an existing one from an old but functioning watch.
Interior decoration in Provence style
Provence decor
Available at craft stores wooden blanks under the dial and stencils for decoupage watches in the Provence style with your own hands. And you can cut the base out of plywood. Provence style watches can be of any shape, the dial is located exactly in the middle or shifted to one of the sides.
Let's get to work.
The workpiece must be well sanded with sandpaper, especially the sawn end parts.
If using a plastic base, degrease it well before use.
Mark a hole for fastening the clock mechanism and hands, and also fasten it to back wall hanging fixture.
Prime the wood base with white paint or a pastel color of your choice to create a general background.
Mark the watch face with any convenient way, given the general pattern of the base.
Carefully tear out the selected elements of the pattern from a napkin or stencil for decoupage and glue them onto the base using a brush and PVA glue diluted with water. It is better to cut off the edges of the picture, so it will lie more organically on the base. Avoid the formation of paper wrinkles when sticking, if they appear, try to smooth the pattern with a sponge.
Let the blank with the glued pattern dry, then cover it with a layer of acrylic varnish. After the first layer has dried, repeat the operation again, covering the watch base with three layers of varnish.
After the workpiece is completely dry, stick the numbers on the marked places (you can make them from any natural materials, especially if the clock is designed for the kitchen), or carefully apply them with dark paint using a stencil.
Fasten the clockwork on the reverse side, and install the arrows on the front.
Your exclusive clock is ready - you can hang it on the wall and surprise your guests with your talents!
Create a cozy, sweet Provence-style interior on your own, regardless of whether it is a private house, city apartment or a private room. Your main assistants should be fantasy, the desire to create, and of course, the advice of experienced designers. A mandatory addition to the created interior should be decor elements united by a common idea, bought or made independently using available techniques.
