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Traditional Furniture: Decorating with Style

SallyJuneWalker | Dec 28, 2009 |

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One of this seasons latest fashions in interior design is French themed furniture. French furniture comes in many different styles, which are derived from the different regions of France. The use of different materials is one of the indicators of style - for example, in southern France walnuts are grown everywhere and often feature in furniture (as well as in the food of the region). Although the style of French furniture can vary widely, it has some universal characteristics. The workmanship is generally quite ornate, and pieces could clearly not be made by hand.

These pieces are more likely to work well in classic themed homes rather than contemporary decor, although you can certainly use tricks like changing wall color or changing to wooden floors to add interest to a room and allow ornate or complex furniture to blend in a little better. Some of the more popular items of French furniture that are reproduced today are grandfather clocks and wall clocks, four poster beds, and beautiful wardrobes in polished dark walnut. French furniture doesn't just come in plain wood though. Color is used to accent pieces tastefully, with popular colors being prime colors like blue and red, and gold or silver to contrast with these.

Whether you are decorating a room with French or any other type of furniture, it's important to plan carefully to come up with the most sensible way to use the space. There are several factors to take into account, eg which room you are decorating, the type of furniture used, and the overall effect or theme for the room. First, choose the features of the room that you wish to highlight. It is best if your attention is drawn to a single point when you enter a room so that you can you create a lasting impression. This could be a natural feature of the room but it might also be one of the pieces of furniture you are about to add.

Now that you have chosen the main feature of the room, you can arrange the rest of your furniture to support your overall goals. Using cutout pieces of paper or even just sketching out the location of your furniture in advance will make it much easier to get it right the first time and avoid moving too much furniture!

Arrange furniture starting from the largest piece, and fit smaller items around it. The largest piece of furniture will draw your attention, so consider this in relation to the features of the room that you wish to accentuate. For example in a bedroom, the location of your bed might be the most important thing to get right. When you are creating your design, make sure you keep functionality in mind. Allow room for people to move around and between furniture, and leave space if it is an area that will be used by more than one person at once. Of course, you can road test your design by setting it up one way and then evaluating for a couple of weeks before deciding it you have it just right.