Recently, when I wrote a post about My Kitchen Refresh, I promised to deliver this blog about my French Country Living Room Ideas. As many of you know, I spend late December through May each year in La Quinta, California. La Quinta is a desert community and most of my friends there decorate in a contemporary style. Lots of neutral colors, succulent plants, and striking modern art displays are quite frequent.

Mr. G.Q. and I prefer a French Country style with colorful accents in many of our pillows, flower arrangements, and artwork. This blog will show you some of our French country living room ideas for you to enjoy.

In this post...

Fabrics used in French Country Living Room Ideas

Details that are seen in a French country home include the use of natural fabrics such as linen, cotton, and loads of pretty fabrics. It’s actually preferable to mix and match several different patterns and colors. I mixed the Provencal colors of red, yellow, and blue. (Traditionally, faded, pastel colors are used: white, milky, beige, olive, lavender, sea waves, ocher, sunflower, and terracotta compose a typical color palette. The interior in this style should characterize the blossom meadows of Provence.)

Here is my first of many French Country Living Room Ideas. Here's my tan linen sectional sofa before accessorizing it. You can also see the red ginger jar lamps behind the sofa with some silk hydrangeas as well as a faded red, blue, and cream rug.

As mentioned above, linen is a fabric of choice in French country decor. Thus, we purchased a substantial U-shaped sectional sofa with an ottoman (similar, here, and here) because we had a large room, and we wanted to have comfortable seating while entertaining or watching television. Pro-tip: In all of my homes I have purchased solid-colored sofas as I think they are so versatile and neutral. They allow me to switch out the decor seasonally, just by changing the pillows, throws, and room accessories.

Paint Colors and Materials used in French Country Living Room Ideas

Here's my tan linen sectional sofa before accessorizing it. You can also see the red ginger jar lamps behind the sofa with some silk hydrangeas as well as a faded red, blue, and cream rug. You can also see the two asymmetrical alcoves across the room.

In the larger alcove, you see this darling painting of the entrance t a cozy restaurant before the guests arrive.

It’s important to note that in most French country homes, neutral paint colors are frequently used. Whites, beiges, and woods are commonly used throughout. Our home was newly constructed and fortunately, already had creamy walls with lots of natural light and dark cabinetry in the adjacent kitchen. There were two asymmetrical alcoves on the far wall of the living room that we decided to fill with custom-made dark shelves and cabinets. Pro-tip: Cabinetry or bookshelves are a great option for displaying books, and beloved items. In French country homes, you will often see roosters, bunnies, and even pigs as part of the Provencal theme.

Here is the tan sofa again early in the room refresh.

Since I knew red was going to be the accent color in my adjacent kitchen, we purchased a faded red, cream, and blue patterned rug (similar, here) to warm up the tan tumbled travertine tiled floor. We also found a cool painting (similar, here) to place on the wall behind part of the sofa. The colors were pale red, yellow, and blue all of which blended well with the rest of our country French living room. We found this in a consignment store.

Here's a glimpse of a pretty Impressionist landscape with all the blue, yellows, green, and red oranges you will soon see in the room.

Lighting used in French Country Living Room Ideas

Next, we purchased lighting as we wanted to soften the room up as all that was in place were lots of canned lights. Cozy lighting is one of the common French Country living room ideas. That typically includes lighting at various levels of the room. Mr. G.Q. found these darling red ginger jar lamps (similar, here) which we placed on the walnut-finished sofa table (similar, here).

Here's the room from the kitchen looking into the living room/great room. Here is a close-up of the red ginger jar lamps.

We also found this terrific arced light (similar, here) that is fun to turn on when entertaining as it’s subtle. Although my intention was to have a French Country living room, it’s really more of a French-inspired room. The arced light, for instance, is a current design trend, but, I think it works well with the other French accents that I’ll discuss below.

Here's a peek at the pretty arced lamp with a linen shade that stretches over the sofa.

Accessories used in French Country Living Room Ideas

After the lighting, we added several cozy throws. Pro-tip: I am a big proponent of odd numbers of items as that tends to be more interesting to the eye. We purchased three throws; two are a pretty medium brown fake fur, and the third is a gorgeous, slubby, knotted cream one (similar, here). We actually use the two fake fur ones almost every night while binge-watching our favorite series on Netflix! (Have you seen Lincoln Lawyer? It’s so hard to turn off!)

Here is a cozy ivory slubby knotted throw on the tan linen sofa.

Another French country living room idea is to have numerous throw pillows. I had these sunflower and stripe, yellow, and deep orange/terra cotta ones made because I wanted them to match my kitchen fabrics, but I have linked several very similar ones below (similar here, here, here, and here). The tendency with many French homes is to mix different patterns and colors. But, it’s not a random sort of thing. Instead, think of the pillows, flowers, and artwork as pieces of a tapestry that blend all the details together in a pleasing way.

Here are some of the orange and yellow cotton print throw pillows on the tan sofa with a quick peek at the brown wood accent table and the brown fake fur throw.

This is a yellow, green and rusty red sunflower and striped pillow which matches my kitchen valances.

We considered getting a coffee table to center the large sectional but then decided to switch to a coordinating tufted ottoman as part of our sectional. I love the softness of the piece and to make it more functional, I added a large woven tray (similar, here). This allows me to put a drink down on this firm surface when desired. I added some simple hurricanes (similar, here) and candles that are fun to light while watching t.v. or when entertaining.

Here is the start of the arrangement on my ottoman, with a flat woven basket tray.

Here I added two simple hurricanes to the tray.

Baskets and Containers used in French Country Living Room Ideas

I put together a colorful arrangement of orange and yellow silk flowers (similar, here and here) with some green ivy in a copper container (similar, here). I love silk flowers because once they’re arranged, they are carefree. I also love the vibrance of these particular flowers. Accessories such as baskets (antique or not), flowers in copper containers, candles, etc. are all frequently employed French country living room ideas.

Here's one of many French Country Living Room Ideas. It's an ottoman with a basket tray, some hurricanes, and colorful silk flowers in a copper container.

Greenery and Plants used in French Country Living Room Ideas

Next, I wanted to soften the corners of the room. To do so, I purchased more beautiful plants. Pro-tip: When styling your home spend the money to purchase the most realistic and beautiful-looking silk plants as they will last for many years if protected from the sun. If on the other hand, you are great with indoor house plants, knock yourself out and put those all around! Ironically, I am an avid outdoor gardener in Chicago where I spend my summers and falls. But in California, I have mostly opted for gorgeous silk plants.

I purchased silk hydrangeas (similar, here) for the sofa table. I put them in inexpensive galvanized tubs. Next, I found a burnished red plant stand at a consignment store upon which I put a lush silk fern. On the sofa end table, I added a sweet smaller fern. And across the room, I added some silk ivy to the bookshelves. It’s so remarkable how much the greenery and silk flowers really softened up the room.

More Accessories used in French Country Living Room Ideas

Other accessories I added included pretty family photos to the sofa table, along with a pretty yellow and red painted tray (similar, here) that was a housewarming gift from a friend. I also added a white ceramic bunny (similar, here) to a pile of cookbooks in the alcove. I added an Impressionist painting to a side wall that had all the colors of the room on it.

This is the sofa table with the red ginger jar lamps, the painted red and yellow wooden tray as well as multiple family photos.

Here is the alcove with a sweet white ceramic bunny perched atop my many cook books.

At this point in the room styling, I thought things looked great. Mr. G.Q. and I happily lived in this room for two years. But then as you may have heard from my kitchen refresh post, I read an article touting the benefits of blue and white pottery in any type of decor. I was a bit skeptical but decided to bring some items from my Chicago home to give it a try.

Here is the larger alcove with a collection of three small blue and white containers in the corner.

I put three blue and white ceramic containers (similar, here) in the big alcove but originally thought they were too small for the space. But, Mr. G.Q. isn’t a fan of placing items in such a way as to obscure artwork. So I compromised and just added some more silk ferns to the containers, to gently increase their heft, without causing any marital strife

This is the finished alcove with the painting of the restaurant entrance as well as the blue and white containers with lush ferns inside them.

Since I loved how the containers looked, I decided to add some blue and white pillows (similar, here, and here). Wow, did these ever make the room pop! It gave great crispness to the yellow and orange pillows, and it blended with the blue and white kitchen accents.

The pretty living room shows all the details coming together: the tan sofa and ottoman, the colorful pillows, flowers, plants, and rug.

At this point, I thought I was REALLY DONE! But then my friend Irena came to visit and she suggested I add blue flowers to the ottoman arrangement. Blue flowers, I wondered? I purchased a stem of blue silk bachelor buttons (similar, here) that I cut apart and strategically placed in the grouping. It looks so beautiful and ties in the blue of the pillows as well as the subtle blue on the rug.

Here is a close-up of the final flower arrangement of yellow and orange flowers, with blue accent flowers added at the ed.

So lovely readers, there you have it. Lots of French Country living room ideas for you to consider. What I love about this style is that it is classy but still cozy and comfortable. It’s not stuffy, just interesting. I hope you enjoyed it too. Please leave a comment below to tell me your thoughts.

Here is a view of the room from another angle.

XO,

Dr. Julie

PS Here are some more posts for you to enjoy:

My Kitchen Refresh

A Recipe for Shakshuka

Yummy and Healthy Berry Crumble

Fourth of July tablescape and decor

Fun Fourth of July Food

My Dining Room Chandelier Makeover-Before and After

Dermatologist Advice for Anti-Aging Products

6 Comments

Colleen on June 30, 2022 at 12:18 pm

I love all the colors!
- Julie Marshall on July 2, 2022 at 5:06 pm
  
  Thanks Col!
  (Me too!)
  - Phyllis Heinrich on July 13, 2022 at 4:25 pm
    
    Such fun!
    - drjulie on July 16, 2022 at 3:23 pm
      
      Thanks Phyllis!
Joanie on June 30, 2022 at 5:40 pm

Looks really comfy!
- Julie Marshall on July 2, 2022 at 5:08 pm
  
  Thanks Joanie. It’s really comfy!
  Happy Fourth 🇺🇸!
  XO
  julie