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French provincial kitchen images


28 Chic and Timeless French Country Style Kitchens

Becca Interiors

The decorating aesthetic known in the English-speaking world as French country style is an homage to the charms of the French countryside. While it may be hard to replicate the beauty of the surrounding landscape or the aged patina of a Provençal farmhouse, a rustic thatched cottage in Normandy, or a provincial chateau, architects, interior designers, and home decorators around the world have long sought to transport a bit of the charm and elegance of the French countryside to their own backyards. 

The resulting mashup known as French country decor emphasizes an easy take on rustic but refined aesthetics and natural materials, and an embrace of timeless everyday objects. Much of what we think of as traditional or farmhouse style interiors that are so ubiquitous today have roots in French country aesthetics, which can add character to a modern interior, easily translating to any room in the house from the living room to the bedroom or bathroom.

Adding some French country-inspired decor to your own kitchen can help you to add a sense of history, timelessness, and simple beauty to your home, no matter where you live. Check out these interiors that demonstrate how to borrow a bit of French style to make your own kitchen design into the warm, charming, effortlessly chic gathering space it was meant to be.

15 French Country Living Rooms

19 Most Gorgeous French Country Kitchens

If there’s one type of kitchen that I continue to fall in love with, it’s French country kitchens. I find them super charming and elegant in so many ways. French country decor is known for its vintage elements and old European style. Good news! There are so many creative decorative elements that you can easily copy even if you don’t live in a real “French” country home!

The kitchen is a place where we prepare meals for our family and friends. It’s such an important part of the home, and most of all, it’s one of the most functional spaces we need! Check out some of our favorite kitchens in the French farmhouse style below!

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Let’s talk about design trends in French farmhouse kitchen decor. Here are our favorite French farmhouse kitchen decor ideas and designs.

1. Crystal Chandelier

This is the ultimate kitchen lighting fixture if you’re going for the French farmhouse look. The light will gently reflect off the crystals hanging near the lightbulbs, giving the room an elegant glow.

@simplyfrenchmarket

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2. Checkered Floor Tile

This flooring design is quintessentially French! It works in many rooms, especially the kitchen.

@cat_in_france

3. Fleur de Lis Backsplash Tile

Go for a classic French motif like the famous fleur de lis for your backsplash kitchen tile.

@simplyfrenchmarket

4. French Louis Counter Chairs

The Louis chair is a beloved French furniture design that has stood the test of time. Luckily, a counter chair version is easy enough to find!

@decoratinglife.ca

5. Apron Front Sink

You’ve got to have a farmhouse style, apron-front sink in your kitchen. It’s even better if it has a beautiful engraving on the front!

@somuchbetterwithage

6. Blue Pitcher and Flowers

Ceramic pitchers are handmade in the south of France and sold at markets by artisans. Get yourself a replica if you can’t get an original! Flowers are very welcome as well!

@frenchlarkspur

7.

Gray Floor Tile@white_and_faded

8. Light Blue Cabinets and Chairs

@provencepoiriers

9. Wood and Marble French Island Table

@frenchcountrycottage

10. Wood Ceiling Beams

Leave the wood ceiling beams in your home exposed for a rustic chic look.

@sanctuaryhomedecor

11. Copper Pots

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12. Blue Lacanche Range

Lacanche is a celebrated French range maker to know.

@frenchcountrycottage

13. Marble Top Wood Table Island

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14. Checkered Backsplash Tile

Maison Creative

15. LaCornue Range

Another popular French range manufacturer, LaCornue ranges have stood the test of time. They are shipped around the world, but you’ll need to plan about 6 months in advance for this chef quality range.

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16. Wooden Island

@simplyfrenchmarket

17. Open Glass Shelves

Show off your French china on beautiful glass shelves.

@the_fox_group_

18. Sink Skirt

Brocantelle

19. Open Shelving

Keep the room airy and fresh with open kitchen shelving.

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I hope you found these French country kitchens as inspiring as we did! We’re always on the hunt for the best interior design we know will inspire our readers. You can subscribe to our email list below to be notified of new posts. We love sharing with you popular design style guides, furniture buying guides, and other decorating tips!

More French Country Decorating Ideas

Don’t miss our other room decorating guides to get French country style in your home. We have lots of budget-friendly recommendations that you can easily incorporate into your own home!

Happy curating!

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Traditional French cuisine - Trinidad and Tobago Perhaps only Italian cuisine is heard more often, as well as Asian, but solely because of its incredible prevalence around the world. However, all of them are much simpler than the French national cuisine, which is considered the standard of refined taste and a paradise for gourmets. At least that's what they say in thematic books and travel guides. nine0006

But I'm not a foodie at all. All sorts of gastronomic delights and the search for “soul” in a dish are alien to me. I just travel and try what the locals eat. My ideas about French cuisine were limited to croissants, baguettes, snail frogs and cheese wines.


It so happened that I don't eat cheese at all, but I tasted French wines during my summer trip to Strasbourg. So I cut it all out of my diet.

Most of all I wanted to try the famous frog legs in Paris, but they were my main disappointment. It turned out that the eating of frogs by the French is a very, very much inflated myth. Yes, once upon a time it was part of their meals, but even then it was quite rare. It was just that it struck all the visitors so much that it remained one of the main impressions that they willingly shared upon returning to their homeland. nine0006

Frog legs are to a modern French table the same way a steamed turnip is to a Russian one. How often do you eat steamed turnips at home? So do the French too: almost never. Moreover, in the entire vast Paris there are only a few establishments where you can taste this dish: a couple of tourist restaurants, and various Asian eateries. But this, you see, is no longer French cuisine.

Snails are a completely different matter. Oh yes, they are adored in France! A snail dish can be found in almost any catering establishment, and they themselves are sold in almost any grocery store. They say that in some places you can even buy live snails for the purpose of their further cooking at home, but I have not seen such places. nine0006

What do snails taste like? They are amazing! At first I was very skeptical about eating these gastropods, but after trying it once, I realized how much I was mistaken. They resemble the well-cooked caps of the noblest mushrooms, but are slightly firmer in texture, so that they must be chewed.

Highly recommended!

In addition, I managed to eat rabbit meat (with potatoes and mushrooms, but this is not so important), which also made a positive impression on me. In addition to its dietary qualities, which, of course, are not felt in the process of eating, rabbit meat is very, very tender. I have never eaten more tender meat than rabbit. nine0004

Let's move on to sweet treats.

In one of the stores, I stumbled upon the famous Breton pancakes by accident: large and thin, as it should be. I took them and did not lose: they turned out to be extremely tasty! So, if you are in France, you can safely buy just such a package - they are no worse than those that are baked at fairs.

It is worth noting that Breton pancakes are already sweet on their own.

A French table is impossible without a baguette (you saw it in the title photo) and a croissant. Every morning before breakfast, I dressed and went to one of the million Parisian bakeries to taste the real French muffin. And, believe me, it's worth it: in no other country have I found baguettes and croissants close in taste to French ones. nine0004

Another unusual dessert is canele. These are such small “turrets” that resemble ordinary donuts both in taste and texture. Delicious, but no more than that - it can be tastier.

There are desserts in France that I have never tasted better. It's pasta! An absolutely amazing meal! The quintessence of amazing taste! For a long time, Lithuanian šakotis cake remained my favorite product, but pasta has far surpassed it.

The most delicious pasta is sold, of course, in private small pastry shops. There they are always fresh, soft, and the taste is the most intense. My favorite flavor is pistachio. nine0006

You can also buy pasta in supermarkets. There they are sold in packs of 10/12/24 pieces. Not always as tasty as in pastry shops, but sometimes you can find specimens very close to that.

The price in pastry shops is about 1 euro per piece, cheaper in shops.

And finally, about drinks.

Before going to France, I really wanted to try French beer. Just out of curiosity, because everyone knows about Belgian or German beer, everyone is aware of high-class French wine, but no one can clearly answer what French beer is. nine0006

Already in France I understood why. It took me a lot of trouble to find any French beer in Paris at all. In stores, the entire range is represented by German, Czech, Belgian and even Spanish foamy drinks. And there is no local one! We managed to find only one brand that, at least territorially, belongs to France: the 1664 brewery is located in Strasbourg.

After trying it, I realized the second reason why no one talks about French beer: it's disgusting! Despite the fact that the can cost about 2 euros, it tasted like cheap urine, which is poured into two-liter plastic bubbles. nine0006

In general, my advice to you: never even look in the direction of French beer!

Voyage to France // Part 1. Parisian Boulevards, Lafayette and the Louvre
Voyage to France // Part 2. Pere Lachaise Cemetery in Paris
Voyage to France // Part 3: Champs Elysees, Moulin Rouge and other nooks and crannies of Paris
Voyage to France // Part 4. Panoramas of Paris
Voyage to France // Part 5. Romantic embankments of the Seine and the ever-extinct profession of a thimblemaker
Trip to France // Part 6. Notre Dame Cathedral
Trip to France // Part 7. French national cuisine
Trip to France // Part 8. Public transport in Paris

* * * Update as of 05/31/20
* * *

Our today's update will focus primarily on Alsatian cuisine (although common French treats will also be found here). But since Alsace has long been an integral part of France, local dishes have become full-fledged objects on the gastronomic map of this state. Without a doubt, they are very different from what we used to understand as the traditional cuisine of France, but it will be all the more interesting to look at the true diversity of the culinary features of this Western European country. nine0006

Perhaps the most famous Alsatian dish is tarte flambé (in Germany it is known as flammkuchen). In fact, this is a local analogue of pizza, but with a number of differences: it has an extremely thin and crispy dough, covered not with tomato paste, but with sour cream. The classic flambé tarte uses onion and bacon as fillings, but modern variations allow you to add anything you want there.

An interesting fact: tarte flambé originated as an extremely simple, peasant dish. For this reason, the attitude towards him in society was rather dismissive; so much so that until the middle of the last century it was not even served in restaurants. And only in the wake of the popularity of pizza and regional cuisines, the demand for tarte flambé has increased so much that at the moment it is the most popular Alsatian dish and one of the most famous outside of France. nine0006

Very tasty!

Another important local dish is choukrut. Despite the fact that it is translated from French as "sauerkraut" (Choucroute), in fact, choukrut is something more. Yes, it is based on sauerkraut, but it is served with boiled potatoes, as well as a variety of meats and sausages. Here, the emphasis should be on the word “varied”, because according to the rules for preparing shukrut, it must be served with several types of sausage and meat garnish. And yes, I was not mistaken in terms - in shukrute it is meat that acts as a side dish, although we are all used to the opposite. nine0006

As for the taste, I will say this: not for everybody. At first I liked it, but I'm just not ready to eat so much sauerkraut, because I don't eat it at all in everyday life. And in general, this product is very specific. Therefore, I quickly got fed up with them and then no longer felt the desire to fill my stomach with choukrut. Well, you need to focus on the fact that both potatoes and meat with sausages will also be saturated with the taste of sauerkraut.

In eastern France, spaetzle (special egg noodles), which we know very well from traditional German cuisine, is also widespread. But the Germans cook it in a simple way, adding pieces of meat to boiled noodles and, if desired, some kind of sauce, while the French, with their inherent predilection for more serious cooking, make full-fledged dishes from spaetzle. nine0006

Personally, I am a lover of pasta, so these dishes are a delight for me! In addition, it is worth noting: among the Alsatians there is an opinion that it was they who invented this type of noodle.

And now let's move on from serious dishes to sweet ones.

The main Alsatian dessert dish is the Kougelhopf cake. It comes in different sizes and with a wide variety of additives (classic - with raisins), but, to be honest, there is nothing outstanding in it: an ordinary Easter cake, just a peculiar shape. Similar pastries can be tasted in other countries. nine0004

Don't you think we're a little too obsessed with Alsatian cuisine? And, after all, Alsace is a part of France, and, of course, pan-French dishes are also widespread on its territory. This is especially true for sweet treats, which we are talking about now.

One of the most popular buns in France (excluding croissants, as they are beyond any competition there) is brioche. If someone is not in the know: brioche is a bun made of rich and sweet dough, very tender and airy. Tasty, but nothing unusual in it, really. nine0004

Another world-famous French dessert is meringue cake (although I personally find it difficult to classify it as a "cake" - it's just baked beaten egg whites with sugar, but oh well). In this country, it is found literally everywhere and comes in a wide variety of shapes and tastes! My favorite is with nuts, as in the photo.

By the way, real French meringue differs from what is prepared in the post-Soviet space. Here it is not completely dry and crumbly, but slightly moist and viscous inside. nine0004

If I called meringue a cake with a certain amount of skepticism, then eclairs are, of course, real cakes! And, of course, known on all continents of the globe. I love them very much, but I have to admit that French eclairs differ little from those prepared outside their homeland - they are too popular and familiar to confectioners who can easily reproduce the original recipe.

In general, France is, of course, the country of cakes! There are just a great many of them here, and they are all extremely tasty. I don't doubt for a moment that if you travel the length and breadth of the whole country, you can write a thick tome dedicated only to cakes. And my advice to you: as soon as you set foot on French soil, the first thing to do is run to the pastry shop! This is where you can taste this country! nine0004

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You can also support my creative impulses financially by making a small (one-time or monthly) donation. For you - a trifle, but for me - an incentive to write more, better, more interesting!


three design trends, matching décor and comfort tips

The first associations that come to mind when remembering France are romance, warmth and comfort. Therefore, the design of the French-style kitchen will not leave you indifferent.

Arranging your interior in this style will be quite simple, especially since designers today offer many options for themed decor.

Indeed, in recent years, interest in this direction has increased enormously: against the backdrop of constantly changing modern trends, traditional French classics attract with their calmness and harmony. nine0006

Let's figure out what details can be used to make such an environment as realistic as possible.

The main design features in the style of France

The French style in the interior of the kitchen is designed to relax, tune in to rest. At the same time, the practicality that is so important in such a functional interior is preserved. Modern French kitchens attract both with their charm and rational decor.

Here are some of the characteristics that make French style kitchen interior design stand out from the rest:

French style kitchens have other features as well. It all depends on which direction you choose.

Three types of themed decor are common: luxurious palatial design, French cafe-style kitchen and simple provincial interior.

As a rule, decorating a palace-style kitchen takes more time and money. This is due to the fact that every detail in such a room should emphasize its sophistication, richness of decoration. Therefore, "palace" kitchens are decorated with natural materials, gilded accessories, forged ornaments, and textiles. nine0006

To create a harmonious environment, you can fit antique or artificially aged furniture into such a kitchen.

A less expensive option is a French cafe. Here, the emphasis is on home comfort. This design is suitable for kitchens with a limited area, where it is important to organize both the work and the dining area, but at the same time leave enough free space. For this reason, different zoning options are popular in French café-style kitchens.

Finishing is done with simple design or aged materials. For arrangement, inexpressive models are chosen without unnecessary accessories.

Cosiness is emphasized by a large number of themed accessories, as well as soft lighting in all corners of the room.

Provence is a style typical of the French villages, but it can also be chosen for decorating apartments. In such a kitchen, natural materials are used (not necessarily with perfectly finished surfaces). nine0006

The effect of the presence of the spirit of the past is created by tiles, patterned textiles, dishes, antique accessories.

The charm of furniture in the French style

It is better to choose furniture for the kitchen, taking into account the direction that is closest to you. What models will look most advantageous in such an interior, and how best to plan their placement?

If the kitchen has limited space, it is better to choose a simple set. Depending on the number of storage sections, it can be linear, angular, one- or two-level. nine0006

We recommend leaving some of the top shelves open to display themed accessories in plain sight.

All furniture must be smooth. Particularly popular options for headsets with rounded corners. If you want to embellish simple facades, choose patina or gilding, as well as antique fittings.

The upper sections can be decorated with doors with stained glass or glass inserts, as well as wooden bars (most often in the Provence style). nine0006

As for countertops, they can be both massive and light in appearance.

Popular sets with surfaces made of wood, as well as stylized granite, marble or other stone.

Elements of technology are best matched to the style of your antique kitchen. Look at options for retro models (large stoves, dome hoods, etc.) or, in extreme cases, try to disguise modern technical devices.

It is also desirable to choose a sink in a retro style: many manufacturers design faucets to look like bronze or copper.

If you are decorating a kitchen-living room, you must consider how to transition between the kitchen area and the next room. In modern interiors, this effect is most often achieved with the help of separating bar or island counters. In French cuisine, they will have to be decorated to match the style of the rest of the furniture or replaced with an old dining table.

Chairs with wrought iron parts or models of furniture with weaving are selected to the wooden table. Try to fit classic chairs upholstered in patterned fabric or leather into the interior. nine0006

If you're creating a mock patio in France, try replacing them with a stylized nook or bench to accommodate even more family members.

Materials

Now we come to the finishing: if you look at the photos of French patios and other themed interiors, you can see that the advantage is given to natural finishes. That is why there may be small cracks, irregularities, aged parts on the surfaces.

Walls can be decorated with decorative plaster, wooden boards or tiles. Photo wallpapers with a natural theme or wallpaper with a small floral and geometric print will also be appropriate. nine0006

In some areas it is allowed to glue moldings or place vertical beams, columns.

If large sections of the walls remain free, not covered by furniture, you can try to make a decorative painting on their surface. And the apron area in such interiors is usually laid out from a small tile.

Even if you make an apron in one color, the kitchen will look quite sophisticated and interesting.

Make the transition between the walls and the ceiling with a skirting board. Both ordinary models and more classic ones with characteristic patterns and cutouts are suitable. nine0006

The ceiling itself is whitewashed or painted in a light tone.

The flooring is made of solid durable materials. If you are not constrained in funds, decorate the floor under a stone or pick up a laminate. This design will look elegant and luxurious.

Suitable parquet boards, linoleum, tiles. Closer to the dining area, you can lay a cozy small rug.

Shades for colorful interiors

To make such a room look as comfortable as possible, you should choose shades that are in harmony with each other. See photos of French-style design: most of these kitchens are decorated in light colors.

The main palette is pastel shades: white, beige, pink, lavender, sand, light blue. You can choose more original tones, for example, mint or light green.

Individual details in a more intense color scheme: for example, do not be afraid to combine the selected colors with brown, blue or gray. nine0006

Emphasize luxury with gold and silver inserts. But make sure that such a kitchen does not turn out to be too pompous. Also avoid excessive brightness: light colors should prevail, create a feeling of lightness and homeliness.

Thematic decor

Be sure to think about which corners of the kitchen you want to decorate with textiles. Be sure to have curtains or curtains on the windows.

Choose lightweight, translucent fabrics that will let sunlight into the room. They can be elongated or short, have pickups, pleats, flounces, and other details. nine0006

If the kitchen itself has a lot of expressive elements, it is better to make the curtains neutral. Stop at the classic elongated version of plain fabrics. And if the window area should become another accent of such a room, look for textiles in more saturated colors or fabrics with prints on the theme of nature, geometry, abstraction.

Damask silk curtains, as well as models with small pelmets in the old style, will look luxurious in the decor of the palace theme. nine0006

The lighting in such a room should be soft and relaxing. That's why in many French kitchens you can see only one light source in the center of the ceiling.

In addition to hanging chandeliers, floor lamps and sconces will suit this decor.

Choose vintage models with lampshades, glass decorations, wooden frames, wrought iron details. Also, lamps of unusual shapes can fit into such an interior. The most common are pendant chandeliers that mimic candlesticks. nine0006

Here are a few more examples of decorations that emphasize French kitchen design: