Curtains in the style of "Provence"

The style of the French village - Provence - is very warm and homely. It requires a lot of effort to create, because everything must be thought out to the smallest detail. In particular, window decor: curtains in this style play a very important role.

Provence is a region in the south of France, which comes close to the Mediterranean Sea. It is far from the brilliant, fashionable and business of Paris. Life here goes slowly, in unity with nature.

The Provencal style in the interior belongs to the group of country styles, that is, national village houses. That is why in some sources you can find the name "French country". This style is very cute, cozy and homely. Hostesses around the world are very fond of this design, because it allows for an abundance of decor and various beautiful things. In addition, the Provencal style is ideal for small city apartments, since most of the village houses in the south of France are small.

The main features of the style:

• Print "time" on things. The most visible objects in the room should be either with history or skillfully aged. Modern technology, too ergonomic items destroy the style.
• Bright interior. Preferred colors: white, delicate yellow, mint, light blue, turquoise, beige.
• Use of natural materials and textures: untreated, or vice versa - painted wood, stone, "wicker" will be appropriate to look at the walls, and furniture, and on the floor.
• Abundance of textiles and accessories. Live or dried flowers.

From the shortcomings of this direction, it is necessary to note the perfect irrationality. Provence - style for fans, which will require constant maintenance of order.. Numerous plates, vases, candlesticks, you will need to constantly wipe from dust. All the necessary things will have to hide away in the cabinets, and put out trinkets outside. A part of the premises will be occupied by objects without an appointment — for example, a decorative basket with flowers or a forged bookcase, which could be dispensed with.In such an elegant room you will have to maintain perfect order so that the “French village” does not turn into chaos. Plus, the decor in the Provencal style is quite expensive.

Provence involves large windows that should be covered with curtains. No plastic eaves or roll systems! The classic of the genre is wrought round cornice (or made “forged” in the colors of aged metal) and delicate air curtains. For particularly resistant to curtains - wooden blinds.

Curtains in the Provencal style are, of course, light fabrics. The easiest option is light white curtains. It is preferable, of course, fabric with flower padding. Therefore, most hostesses prefer to hang curtains with a floral pattern on a white background. Flowers can be both small and large - small ones look cute and simple, large ones - more elegantly.

Classic combinations with a white background:

• Pink flowers, green leaves;
• Yellow flowers green leaves;
• Red flowers, green leaves;
• Blue or blue flowers, green leaves

Background curtains can also be beige, light gray, pale blue, dusty pink, sandy, mint lilac. On all these shades floral pattern will look perfect.

Another “Provençal” version of the drawing is a small, delicate cage or equal stripes (colored strip - white strip). Such curtains can be both solo, and combined. For example, you can combine a fabric in a cage or a strip with a material in a flower or monophonic.

Plain curtains are also a viable option. They can be “revived” with printed tulle or accessories and lace.

Provence can be both elegant and simple. Both are good in their own way. A simpler design is suitable for the kitchen, but for a bedroom or living room you can make the style festive. For this useful accessories. Provencal curtains can be added with lambrequin (simple, short or with semicircular folds), hooks, ruffles and lace,satin ribbons, bows. It is better to refuse cords, brushes and other “pomp”: the decor should be tasteful.

In this style, curtains can be completely different lengths. It is necessary to proceed from considerations of practicality and other parameters of the room. Long curtains can be hung in a large room, and if the room and the window are small, there will be quite short curtains.

It is also better to prefer the short version if, for example, in your kitchen, the stove is close to the window. For security reasons, it is better to choose short curtains for those who have small children and pets.

The most beautiful options in the style of Provence:

• Simple long curtains from eaves to the floor with or without pickups.
• Short curtains up to the window sill.
• Shortened curtains (30-40 cm long below the window sill), collected on the hooks.
• Cafe-curtains: the upper part of the window is covered with a magnificent lambrequin, and the short curtains are attached at the level of the middle of the window to the stringed eaves. Such blinds reach exactly to the window sill.

The style of the French countryside to natural fabrics. Therefore, the best will look cotton options: thick satin, poplin, cotton fabric drape. The fabric should resemble chintz for its ease and simplicity. This chintz does not fit for the decoration of windows, because it is too thin and short-lived.

Any rustic style perfectly complements flax. Rough, but nice looking linen fabric will drape well and perfectly protect from the sun. Today, you can choose beautiful multicolored linen options for curtains, but the most beautiful and authentic option is unbleached linen. A curtain of flax natural gray-brown shade will look very impressive. It can be supplemented with hemstones, wide lace, embroidery or short linen fringe.

For a bedroom or living room, you can pick up classic drape fabrics with stylish padding. It may resemble silk or satin. This will bring a bit of luxury into the overall mood of the room.

Separately, it should be said about the lace and lace curtains. For the Provence style is just a godsend! Suffice it to recall the fillet knitted curtains that hung in the houses of our grandmothers: delicate, and most importantly - man-made,they will create a special mood in the room. If you have something similar to the mezzanine left - feel free to reach, bleach and hang on the Provençal window. If desired, such curtains can be bought, made to order or knit by yourself.

In general, the Provencal style allows a lot of liberties - which curtains to hang in which room is up to you.

If you study the recommendations and examples of finished work of professional designers, you can see the following:

• For the living room most often choose long and well draped curtain models. They can even sink to the floor in smooth folds. This option is suitable both for the hall and for the studio, where the kitchen is combined with the living room and the whole room has one common window. The main thing is to make the room large enough, otherwise long and lush curtains will visually take away a lot of space from you.

• For the bedroom is well suited option with lambrequin. Curtains are usually made quite long, but do not reach 2-3 cm on the floor. If the bedroom is small, one curtain instead of two will look great. By the way, Austrian, Roman, “London” curtains with Provence patterns are perfect for the bedroom. They will save space and will look original.In the bedroom and living room is best to prefer fabrics with floral padding or plain.

• For the kitchen, as already stated above, different lengths are suitable, depending on the size. If it is absolutely tiny, the best option is a curtain-cafe or one short (up to the window sill) curtain. Floral motifs will also be appropriate here, although you can easily add a small cell, a pattern of stripes, pastoral prints (shepherds, lambs, a Dutch mill), a drawing on food (vegetables, fruits, lavender, bouquets of Provencal herbs), and coffee. Fabrics on which rapport is drawn from various Provencal herbs with inscriptions (“Cumin”, “Lavender”, “Basil”), etc. are very common.

• Choosing curtains in the gazebo or on the veranda, proceed from the size of the windows and the room itself. If they are small, it will be enough simple curtains or curtains cafe. In general, you can only cover them with top lembrecenes, and leave the windows themselves open for daylight penetration. Large windows can be covered with curtains. Usually in the gazebo or on the veranda there are a lot of small windows - each one can hang a curtain. Decorate windows can be Roman or Austrian curtains, hanging them on each doorway.

• If you want to decorate a window on a sloping wall (for example, under a roof), simple curtains a little longer than a window are best suited. On the bottom edge, they must be attached to the wall. For each, you can make textile pick-up with velcro or strings.

If you have decided on the length and model of curtains, you can think about the color combination. Curtains must be in harmony with the decoration of the walls and must necessarily have “support” in the interior. Ideal if you have a kit. For example, for the kitchen - curtains, tablecloth, pillows on the chairs. For the bedroom - curtains, bedspread, valance on the bed. For the living room - curtains, lampshade or floor lamp, pillows on the sofa / chairs.

French country suggests even simplicity, but impeccable taste. Therefore, you need to carefully consider the combinations and not to overdo it. For example, if you want to make a kit (like the ones listed above), you shouldn't get too carried away. One or two items in the same textile solution will be enough. The rest of the interior should only echo this motive, but not repeat it completely. For example, if you have white-blue curtains in a flower in the kitchen and pillows on chairs from the same material, the tablecloth should be just white with a thin blue stripe.You can put on the window sill monochromatic blue jug.

Pay attention to the unusual design finds, when the curtains in the style of Provence monophonic, but the walls are decorated with wallpaper with a bright and large pattern. For example, the wallpaper is white with red roses, and the curtains are just white. Such chips are best done in large rooms, where there are several windows: so parts of the colored wall will be thinned with plain curtains.

• In the spacious kitchen, the walls are decorated with a floral pattern, and the window is covered with light white curtains. To ensure the density, the window opening is additionally covered with a Roman curtain. Her drawing does not repeat the rapport on the walls - a striped curtain, but it is kept strictly in the white and blue colors. Chandelier and panels on the wall serve as additional color accents.

• Corner with a dressing table in the bedroom - this is very Provencal! A small window is decorated with simple curtains, similar in color to the color of the walls with printed floral patterns. A simple but tightly assembled pelmet creates a sense of completeness. Harmony in the interior is achieved with the help of a bouquet that stands on a stand - it perfectly complements the drawing on the curtains.

• Luxurious large living room with large windows in Provence style. Latticed glass creates a retrospective. The designer chose white curtains with a large floral pattern in yellow and blue colors. Lambrequin without assemblies, but with a figured edge.

• A small window in the kitchen of a country house looks very tender with thin and small curtains in the center. The simplicity adds a mount to ordinary metal rings. The top of the window is decorated in stained glass technology.

For information on how to create the French Provence style with curtains, see the following video.