Living Spaces

This home is rich with the freshest interpretation of country French, a look that's delightfully excessive and exuberant in its combinations. True country French is all about the mix rather than the match -- toiles, stripes, checks, plaids, paisley, and more toiles dance blithely over the windows, walls, and furnishings in each room of this home.

In the living room of this home, tall chenille draperies accentuate the vaulted ceiling above the Palladian window and add coherence to the space with their low-key color and their banding.

 

A cozy table for two is the perfect place to start the day. Red and gold stripes in the Roman shades emphasize the room's height and add a warm feel. The rooster cotton print covering the arm chairs evokes the charm of the French countryside.

 

The dining room most vividly shows the method behind an eclectic French mix. Here, the dynamic verticality of the wallpaper provides a dramatic backdrop for other patterns -- the drapery toile, the chair seats' velvet check, and the contrasts of the coffered ceiling. Red brings the most obvious unity, lending coherence to this space and throughout the house.

Prominent use of symmetry brings order to the pattern mix. Along the dining room wall, pairs of paintings, lamps, and brackets with plates calm the expanse of zingy paper into a pleasant vibration.

Another unifying factor in the home is the orchestration of scale and patterns -- an airy toile against a tight check against another toile with a large, bold repeat -- each room shows how harmony can emerge from complementary visual energies.