8 Stylish Ideas Inspired by French Interiors

We always enjoy looking at photos of French interiors: luxurious, stylish, modern, and airy. Take a look at these decorator tricks and find the golden mean between the atmosphere of Parisian luxury and comfort in your own home.

PinterestCombine Vintage and Modern Interior Items

French chic in modern settings comes together when you manage to blend something old with the new. The secret lies in proper combination: select vintage restored items and pair them with modern ones that look best when new. For example, you can buy a modern table and mix it with old restored chairs. Read more about how to restore a chair yourself here.

PinterestTransform Everyday Things into Chic

The dining table can look simple and minimalist during the day, but when guests come over, it can transform into a luxurious interior piece thanks to textiles, candles, candelabras, vases, and fine china. Often recall the simple base that you can transform with elements of luxury.

PinterestPlay with Details

Two different interior styles that seem to have nothing in common can look stunning together in one room if combined tastefully. It all comes down to harmony of color, lines, and proportions. Combine velvet drapes with mosaic floors, Scandinavian furniture with vintage items, classic design with Provence elements.

PinterestChoose Restoration Over New

If you manage to find antique furniture that can potentially be restored, use this opportunity even if the restoration costs as much as buying a new piece. Reupholstering with an interesting expensive fabric and polishing wood creates miracles, and an old chair in its new life can become the centerpiece of your new French interior.

PinterestBoldly Mix Styles

Parisian apartments look unconventional due to their items not being tied to a single style and harmoniously coexisting. Think about which interior style feels most familiar to you, and what else you like just as much. Scandinavian style with boho, classic interior with modern elements, minimalism with countryside touches — the secret of the French is in combination and proper proportions.

Place a bright chair in a white Scandinavian interior, hang reproductions of expressionist paintings, stack old books on a table made from unfinished wood. Do you feel how stylish and unconventional your interior has become?

PinterestChoose a Central Piece in the Room

And build the composition around it. Study interior magazines and stop at something that you really love so much that it won't leave your mind. Make this find the central element of the composition (not necessarily placed literally in the center!). Select items according to your taste, based on the compositional rule set by the central piece. And you won't go wrong!

PinterestDon't Ignore Worn Furniture

In Parisian apartments, there is a relaxed atmosphere unlike what we usually see in interior magazines. The difference is that French people don't ignore wear and imperfections on wooden furniture. Imperfections are unique, and they carry something very personal and valuable.

Scuffs on your grandmother's sideboard remain from pre-revolution times, and a groove in the wooden table tells you that it has a story: you didn't buy something new but kept this piece, so the room feels warmer. Therefore, instead of throwing away your grandfather's rocking chair, think about how you could transform it.

PinterestDon't Limit Yourself to One Color

A monochromatic interior done in one style is not characteristic of the French. Add a vibrant detail, play with contrasts in textures, color accents, and prints — and Paris will settle into your home.

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