Living room in Provence style - 45 photos of a beautifully decorated living room

04/03/2018 Anastasia Prozheva

Provence is a style that personifies homely warmth and comfort, the roots of which go back to the distant past of the French province. The province of Provence, which is located in the southeast of France, is associated by many with natural beauty, a relaxed lifestyle and an inspiring beginning. Indeed, the lavender Provencal valleys have been captured for centuries by the brush of Van Gogh and Cezanne. But Provence is now written not only with a capital letter, and in this case, Provence is an interior style that is very fashionable today.

What is Provence

A light, unobtrusive interior, fragrant with lavender, sun and sea, can often be seen in country cottages intended for relaxation from the drab work days. However, the features of the style will allow you to recreate an aura with a festive mood in a city apartment, the companions of which are delicious wine and expensive cheese. These aromas accompany not only kitchen interiors: the Provence living room will also be gentle, romantic, and elegant.

Often the Provencal living room is combined with a kitchen, but this is not a prerequisite. Rather, it will have access to a terrace with stunning views of the mountains, the sea, fields and groves.

For all its sophistication, Provence is a rustic French style. But don’t let the simple furnishings confuse you: the interior has both classic features and a noble palette in muted colors. True, pastel colors are chosen precisely because in the province of the same name, in principle, there cannot be bright decoration - it will all fade in the sun, because here warm rays shine into the houses almost all year round. Although both the sea air and the salty wind literally erode all the rich colors.

There is peace here. Perhaps because the aromas of lavender stabilize the functioning of the nervous system. Although the surrounding natural colors contribute to peace. Provence is an exceptional interior for relaxation, in which you can easily recuperate, disconnect from routine and receive a positive charge of energy given by nature itself. It is a natural environment that is always warm and sunny.

It is always noticeable here that people live in the house - the furniture is a little shabby, surrounded by personal belongings and objects dear to the heart, necessary for comfort.

Provence wallpaper for other rooms

In the hallway, the choice of wallpaper is also simple - the less furniture, the brighter the wallpaper, and vice versa.

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Since the hallway is the first thing a guest sees when entering the house, you should immediately set the mood of the whole house in it.

If warm Provence is closer to you, and it is in the other rooms, then do not interrupt the overall style by choosing “cold” wallpaper for the hallway

Children's wallpaper and wallpaper for a children's room mainly use the same floral pattern. And if you think that there is already a lot of it in other rooms, you can turn to a plot drawing, a little with a retro touch. For example, a boy and a girl from the beginning of the last century on a retro bicycle. Or a girl with a birdcage, etc.

Style Features

The French variety of country music has captivated residents of different countries thanks to its naturalness, romance and unobtrusive sophistication of a simple setting. The atmosphere is achieved with simple techniques.

Living room in Provence style is:

• finishing in light colors to create a bright, literally sparkling interior;
• small floral pattern that creates comfort and a romantic mood;
• natural materials and favorable climate;
• porcelain decor;
• handicrafts – embroidery, lace, napkins;
• natural textiles – light and not fluffy;
• wicker baskets, chests, wicker furniture;
• simple shelves, cabinets, benches.

There will be no cutting-edge ideas and new products, technologically transformable furniture, or highly functional designs. A living room in country style (and Provence still remains a rustic design direction) is not only a cheerful interior of the room, but also favorable for living.

Children's room

As a rule, it is customary to select wallpaper for a nursery taking into account the age of the child:

1. For teenage girls, light wallpapers that are more country-style are perfect.
2. For a very young child, noticeable importance is attached to the surrounding color. It is advisable to choose wallpaper in the Provence style in light green or muted pistachio shades that do not contain bright patterns. Since children's rooms have increased requirements for environmental friendliness, it is best to use wallpaper for painting using special harmless paints.
3. It’s good to cover a girl’s room with romantic wallpaper with a pattern of birds and airy roses in muted tones.
4. For a boy, Provence style should contain light green or blue tones, with added elements of wanderings and travel. For example, you can combine plain wallpaper and geographical map motifs.

Provencal style colors and flowers in the living room

Provence in the interior of the living room can create the feeling that you are in a village on the seashore, surrounded by lavender fields and olive trees. For this purpose, an unobtrusive combination of color palette and delicate patterns is used. Implementing such interior solutions with your own hands will not be difficult, since finishing in this style does not require large investments and luxurious materials.

The color scheme is formed on the basis of pastel shades - here any coatings fade under direct sunlight, flooding the room from morning to evening. This is why walls and furniture look so gentle.

Among the current solutions:

• White . But here it is not as sparkling as in the Scandinavian style. In Provence, wooden surfaces will be whitish, so the wood texture will show through the paint. And there may even be cracks on the walls. In modern homes this is achieved using the craquelure technique.
• Cream, sand, light beige . A great color for a background. This palette pacifies, makes the interior calm, balanced, and elegant.
• Pastel yellow . It is close in tone to the creamy range, but has a sunny, energetic character. With such a background, the atmosphere is dynamic and bright. Here, everything certainly seems flooded with sunlight - so much so that you want to close your eyes and even close the curtains. Although in such a living room there are no thick curtains.

• Barely noticeable blue or green . Bleached pastel colors of sky and greenery are suitable for backgrounds, ornaments, and accents.
• Light lavender . A characteristic color for decoration in the Provence style, which in a living room setting can be present in both light notes and the intense shade of a real flower.
• Terracotta . Natural color of clay and brick. It can also be present in its pure form - in floor coverings and wall masonry. But it will be the color of dried clay - slightly whitish and, of course, faded.
• Turquoise . These are often used as color accents in the romantic Provence style. But they are unlikely to be saturated. As a rule, this is the shade of patterns, embroidery, utensils, and a small amount of textiles in the living room.

Gray notes can be used to create a play of light and shadow to emphasize or imitate enhanced natural light in any weather.

French country is a really light visually, bright and spacious interior. Basically, Provence ideas come down to choosing a white, cream or beige base, on which floral patterns are harmoniously superimposed. And they can be made in lilac, blue, green, gold, bronze, terracotta palette.

Interior decoration of the living room in Provencal style

Having determined the color palette of the design, it is important to select materials that will best realize the idea and character of the interior.

1. The simplest and most discreet surfaces are the ceiling and floor . The top of the living room is simply painted or whitewashed. The ceiling in the Provencal style is decorated with elegant fillets - ceiling plinths. Wooden beams in a light wood shade can be used here, but this is not a prerequisite.
2. The living room floor is most often covered with wood - boards or, of course, laminate . These are also bleached, light surfaces. But the climate of the French province itself is quite warm, and therefore ceramic tiles are often used in local homes. In Russian climatic conditions, its use is of little use for a living room, since the tile remains quite cool even in summer. But in winter, few people will like this property of the tile, so it is recommended to lay it only with heating. Although many will prefer wood coverings, which by their very appearance make the room warmer.
3. The design of a living room in the Provence style involves finishing the walls with simple materials that will not force you to hire highly qualified workers and will not require unnecessary costs . Repairs are most often carried out using wallpaper in the Provence style - in this case, light coverings with a small floral pattern are chosen for the living room. You can also choose a strip to match this finish in order to combine patterns. This technique allows you to achieve harmony and make the interior even more elegant.

Decorating a living room in the Provence style does not exclude the use of exquisite classic items, but without unnecessary pomp and pretentiousness. These can be simple wooden products with moldings, carvings, and unobtrusive openwork details. Along with them, wooden panels - bleached and cracked in places - are appropriate for finishing.

The light, delicate and romantic interior of the living room in the Provence style involves both simple and sophisticated decoration and furnishings. Other details are also designed to emphasize its grace - a classic, but not bulky chandelier, a table lamp with a textile lampshade, fresh bouquets of lilacs or even lavender.

Bedroom decoration in the spirit of Provence

The purpose of the premises is relaxation. This means that the very atmosphere of the room should contribute to peace and tranquility, but this does not mean that monotonous kitchen wallpaper will migrate here. Here it would seem appropriate to decorate the walls in calm, non-intrusive colors, complemented by a print that dilutes the color, for example, a flower.

Floral wallpaper for a room in Provence style should be selected taking into account the following recommendations:

• remember that such canvases are in tune with the retro style, and wallpaper with large flowers, geometric or fantasy plants will not work;
• a small, frequent flower on the background will emphasize the depth of color, and in the Provence style - this is what you need;
• the background for a floral print is selected based on the style: for Provence it is a color association with the direction: lavender, mint, olive.

In a bedroom in the Provence style, striped wallpaper, slightly faded in the sun, emphasizes the rustic motifs even more advantageously.

The covering of the walls of a children's room often does not differ from the same paintings for decorating a bedroom and uses the usual floral pattern. If there is too much wallpaper in this style in your home, and you want to highlight one of the zones, in this case, the children's room, choose a covering with a slight retro touch. Typical wallpapers are those with a picture of a girl with a birdcage or children from the beginning of the last century on bicycles.

Living room in Provence style in an apartment

People rarely decide to create an elegant interior in an apartment, fearing that there will not be enough space, the necessary atmosphere or light. But this design direction is suitable even for a small living room; the design will make it quite bright, spacious, and sunny.

To do this, you will need to work a little, because you will still have to correct some of the shortcomings of multi-story buildings, while private construction is initially adjusted to the wishes of the owners.

• Provence style in the interior of an apartment begins with the choice of palette - the living room should be flooded with light. The white, light yellow, and cream shades described above are suitable for this.
• For floors, choose a laminate made of whitish, possibly gray wood.
• Floral wallpaper is suitable for wall decoration . It is advisable to choose non-contrasting materials so that the pattern does not take on the main role in the composition. It will be a soft leitmotif in the decor, creating a positive romantic mood. This decoration is suitable for any room - both the living room and the bedroom in the Provence style can be comfortable and harmonious. It should be noted that interior doors should let in as much light as possible.
• You should choose furniture that is not bulky - wooden, but without massive parts . To make it visually take up even less space, it is worth painting the wood in the main color of the interior.

Most often they choose white or cream. Furniture decor would be appropriate - a little unobtrusive carving typical of this style, painting, moldings. A living room in a Khrushchev building cannot be too crowded. Open shelves, cabinets and racks are suitable here, on which you can put small things in wicker baskets. This will help hide the accumulation of small items from view and keep the room tidy. Even by the sofa, you can put something like a stool with a shelf under the main surface, where you can put a basket for remote controls, phone chargers, glasses, etc.

• There will be no unnecessary decor here, as in a spacious house . The chandelier and other accessories should be chosen to be laconic. For example, a lamp can be elegant, but not overly lush. Three lampshades on metal openwork “branches” imitating forging are enough.

To make the Provence style as authentic as possible, it is better to exclude details that could spoil the atmosphere. Just a few touches, and the living room will turn out to be as sunny as if your house is on the Mediterranean coast.

What kind of furniture should I put in?

Furniture should not look modern. The ideal option is real antiques, but tables, chairs, sofas and armchairs from past centuries are expensive.

An alternative solution is new furniture, artificially aged and stylized as vintage. You can give things an antique effect even at home.

Basic pieces of furniture for the living room that will make the interior authentic and recognizable:

• wicker chairs, classic wooden chairs, soft light armchairs;
• antique chests of drawers and shelves on which you can place figurines and flower pots;
• rocking chair;
• table with a round top – you need to avoid straight lines, so the standard rectangular shape will not work;
• fireplace.

It is worth paying attention to the details - carved legs of tables and chairs, unusual armrests of chairs, small scratches on the chest of drawers. The material of the furniture is also important - it should be made of natural wood.

An item that will make any living room interior cozier is a carpet. In a Provencal interior, the same rules apply to it as to other furniture. The carpet should be made of natural fiber, match the basic color scheme and not look like a new thing.

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When arranging objects, you should not try to maintain strict symmetry. Provence is ease, slight carelessness and relaxation. Demonstrative order contradicts the principles of this style.

Decorating the living room in the house

In a private house, decorating a living room in the Provence style is much easier than in an apartment, especially if you plan the interior at the construction stage. Then you can combine the hall with the kitchen and/or dining room. In addition, you can arrange wide doorways with two doors, bright transitions between rooms, and large windows.

This will help to realize Provence in a country house exactly as it can be, especially if you follow a few simple rules.

• The rooms should have many windows . They are decorated with light curtains with a floral pattern. Such curtains in the same colors as the wallpaper look harmonious. Of course, if you cannot sleep with translucent curtains, you can use roller blinds, roller blinds, and Roman models in private homes. When assembled, they are practically invisible, so they do not participate in the composition and do not spoil it.
• There should be a lot of textiles in such an interior . Your own handicraft or custom-made linen, cotton napkins, tablecloths, and curtains will come in handy. By the way, even in the kitchen, instead of facades, curtains are often used. It is customary to sew special covers even on upholstered furniture with suitable upholstery. All textile elements can be decorated with a rough rope for fastening - curtains, covers, bedspreads.

• At the dacha or just in a country house, it is desirable that doors lead from the Provence style living room to the terrace . Whether there will be a luxurious view from here will depend on how it will turn out - the plots are still different, and it is not always possible to acquire a special one. But it is important that wide glazed doors lead to the terrace itself - not modern sliding systems covering the entire wall, but classic wooden ones, painted white. By the way, the glass in such canvases can also be covered with a translucent flowered curtain.
• The Provence living room is not very harmonious for wooden houses - they are more associated with a particularly warm Alpine chalet than with French seaside country, but if you already have a desire to build just such a cottage, you should paint the interior walls in a bleached background color.
• You can often see that the furniture in the kitchen and dining room combined with the living room is quite rough . In fact, this is typical for country music, but not for its French direction, where national sophistication is still preserved. Therefore, white wooden furniture, elegant and thin, or wicker would be more acceptable.

The photo shows an elegant interior of a dining room in Provence style.

Choosing furniture

It's no secret that the interior is formed not only by decoration, but also by furniture. In the living room, this is at least a sofa, cabinet storage, perhaps a couple more armchairs, a coffee table, and nightstands. Depending on the area of ​​the living room, both the equipment and the size of the furniture group depend, and its design, color, shape and decor depend on the style.

Furniture for a living room in the Provence style usually repeats the background color - if the walls are white (even with a pattern), then the set will be the same, but the sofa can be brighter, but only due to a more colorful and small ornament. Classics are applicable in such an interior - elegant, but not solemn, objects. These are curved legs, aged painted wood carvings, and sometimes paintings. The subjects of such paintings are obvious - landscapes characteristic of the province. These are the same olive groves, lavender fields, and the sea.

The wall in the living room in the Provence style can also be “country” - with ventilated facades, covered with wooden slats, located parallel or crosswise. Such products are in harmony with wicker furniture, typical for terraces and relaxing interiors.

But built-in solutions are also appropriate here - dressing rooms the full height of the room, closed with sliding doors, which are made using the same technique using slats. Classic portals, moldings, and baseboards are used in the decor of such paintings.

As a rule, the wall in the Provence living room merges with the walls, although its facades somehow stand out from the texture of the finish. At the same time, glass facades are also appropriate, behind which not only porcelain tableware is “hidden,” but also bottles of wine, olive oil, and a mortar for spices. Even the living room can store similar things, especially if the kitchen is located next door.

If the work area is completely separated from the guest area, beautiful bottles, vases, figurines, vases, dried bouquets, elegant glasses, collector's editions, and baskets with handicrafts would be more suitable for a sideboard. If you doubt that you will choose a similar decor, it is better to choose opaque facades.

Decorative stylistic component

A characteristic feature of Provence is the abundance of accessories in the form of:

• forged frames of mirrors and clocks;
• curtain rods;
• extravagant candlesticks;
• wicker chests;
• baskets with dried flowers;
• pillows for decorating sofas, beds, chairs;
• flower pots;
• fruit bowls,
• ceramic and glass figurines.

So, for example, a ceramic figurine of a rooster is a reminder of the birthplace of this trend in interior design, France. The figurine is also considered a symbol of this country.

Imagine a massive forged or cast lamp with a glass lampshade that fits harmoniously into the interior. The open wall surface is decorated with paintings of Mediterranean landscapes, still lifes, and painted decorative ceramics.

Provence is characterized by the use of cotton and linen fabrics made in soft colors in the form of curtains, floor runners, tablecloths with light patterns or multi-colored stripes traditional to this style.

Textiles should look like they were made by hand. A prerequisite - a characteristic feature of the style - is rustic, naive flower arrangements in pots on the windowsill and bunches of fragrant herbs in the kitchen.

It would not be superfluous to use the Mediterranean theme in the interior design of the bathroom. Tile in white and blue tones, an interestingly shaped bathtub, towels emphasizing the style and, of course, seagulls on tiled squares help attract attention and create a feeling of comfort and harmony.

Fireplace in a Provencal style living room

A frequent guest in a Provence style interior is the hearth. If in the kitchen it can imitate a real stove or be designed in the form of a classic portal with ceramic cladding, then in a living room with a fireplace it can be a discreet niche not so much for fire as for decoration. Among the antique models are stoves with tiled cladding - an elegant decoration of a rustic French interior.

If you can’t decorate the interior with a fireplace, its imitation will help create additional comfort. And this is not an electrical device, but a small recess in the wall with a design in the form of a portal without pretentiousness or excessive elegance. It is customary to place a lot of candles here, which will ultimately create the right atmosphere and delight you with live fire and warmth.

Texture and patterns of decoration and wallpaper

The most suitable and consistent with the Provence style are the following types of finishes:

1. Wallpaper with the imitation of a simple plastered wall. Paintable wallpaper that has appropriate embossing is suitable for this purpose. Wallpaper in the Provence style is good for the kitchen. Also good would be liquid wallpaper that does not contain inclusions or shine.
2. This wallpaper will look great where moldings are made, large textile inserts, where there is a lot of furniture.
3. Flowers on the wallpaper should look like real flowers, repeating the lines of real ones.
4. On Provence wallpaper, depictions of bouquets and flower patterns combined with a pattern in the form of stripes or small peas are allowed.
5. It is good if the floral pattern is arranged in the form of vertical stripes. True, you will need to be careful about the alignment of the stripes when wallpapering.
6. Rhythmically repeating small motifs in the form of boutonnieres, vignettes, and small bouquets will also suit the style well.

Living room decor in Provence style

Provence will appeal to those who love simple but sophisticated interiors without pretentiousness or frills. The style is ideal because you can express your good taste, subtle sense of beauty, and show your creativity in handicrafts. Here, a lot can be done with your own hands - curtains in the Provence style for the hall can be embroidered or sewn from a suitable fabric. Tablecloths, covers for sofas or armchairs, and curtains for cabinets instead of facades would be appropriate from the same fabric. By the way, only natural materials are used in this interior, so as covers for upholstered furniture they will not reduce the level of comfort.

The photo shows a Provence style living room with unobtrusive decor.

In addition to textiles, a Provence living room can have quite a lot of decor:

• retro cages with or without birds;
• paintings with characteristic landscapes;
• live bouquets in a lavender palette or in the same color as the curtains;
• plants in tubs;
• groups of preferably old photographs - on one wall or on the fireplace, on a high chest of drawers;
• forged chandeliers;
• floor lamps with fabric lampshades;
• porcelain and crystal dishes in the sideboard;
• chests and wicker baskets.

Finding suitable decorations for the interior is not so difficult - just take antique or stylized items. But the main thing is not to overdo it. It’s better to abandon unnecessary details if you doubt their organic nature.

In general, Provence is a style that will allow you to relax even in a city apartment, like in a country house or on the seashore. A living room with such a design is always a sunny mood, given not only by the color palette, but also by southern French aromas.