?Country Style????

[peanut]

Okay, I've done masses of those online 'find your style' quizzes and they all come up confused or that I have three main styles, etc. Personally, I don't like any of the options that surface for choices in a lot of the questions.

DH and I decided years ago we were going to decorate 'country' style. But as a result of doing all these quizzes I'm left wondering exactly WHAT country style is?

Turns out there's several types. The ones that appeal to me are Swedish, English, and French. But can I marry all three? In truth my house is very eclectic. What would be the key elements for a country style?

I like the clean look of Swedish country, but I'm afraid I'm a bit of a clutterer, which puts me more in the English country style. Then again, I like some of the French country furniture and accessories.

Is there a way to marry all that into a cohesive inviting look?

AND

Has anyone got any good blog/website links for me to peruse on the topic of country style?

TIA

[josantoro]

I would say, just fill your house with what you and DH like and don't worry about style. If the style police have problems, well, so what.

Eclectic works for me. I just can't stand the kind of country where there are wooden geese everywhere.

[peanut]

No wooden geese here! But there is a hand carved yellow bird by Barry Colpitts.

I have been decorating eclectic up till now and DH and I are both finding it a bit unsettling to live with. DH, in particular, likes a much less cluttered look. I'm trying to toss things here as much as possible. But I have a higher tolerance for clutter than he does. He insists he wants country, but I'm thinking he wants a minimalist country look. I don't know if I can do that, or how.

[Hamada]

This site should help: Decorating and Home Improvement - Country Living

Really you should only have what you love in your home. Don't get caught up with what in considered a specific style.

[Contrary Housewife]

I'm having the same issues here. The house has been too eclectic for too long. I can call it eclectic now, we have nice stuff. Years ago I called it 'garage sale', and I don't mean in a cute, vintage sort of way.

I think if you can't get rid of the clutter you're going to have a problem doing the Swedish look.

I don't usually think of country style as 'cluttered', it's more of a 'busy' look to me. Lots of prints and textures, especially in the English style where they use layers of floral fabrics, carpet, pillows, etc. and practically drown the cottages in flowers and ivy. There's still a lot of formal polished furniture, but it's dressed down with floral slipcovers, casual flower arrangements, family photos, etc.

The French look, to me anyway, is a little more austere, not quite so luxurious with the textiles, but still lots of texture with baskets, wood, cane seats, plaster walls, and so forth. I imagine it brighter, with more blue and yellow especially. I find French style a touch more rustic than English, handmade pottery, clay tile floors, wrought iron and unfinished wood beams.

Can you identify more specifically what it is about these looks that appeals? Is it the fabrics? The lines of the furniture? The rustic textures? The color? The clean uncluttered magazine-photo-shoot look? Then you can bring those elements into your home.

I love those rooms with the huge windows and floor to ceiling drapes that have french doors out onto a wide lawn. Unfortunately they don't make many American houses like that.

[peanut]

Thanks Contrary Housewife. I really like the blue and white of the Swedish Country - the lightness and airiness of it all.

I feel our current house is dark with too much dark furniture. It's an Arts & Crafts style home built in 1928. DH and I originally wanted to do a Mission furniture approach with it, but it's just too dark and depressing done that way. So we jumped horses mid-stream and started going straight country with it...light pieces of furniture (pine, etc.). Then Mom died and left us her modern style birch IKEA furniture...

Anyways, I like the English Country look because it just seems more comfortable and homey to me. More like something I could live in day-to-day. I have a lot of photos and art on my walls. I have rugs, quilts, etc. hanging around and laying on furniture and floors.

I like the French Country look because I love blue and yellow...well, blue and anything really. But DH does not like blue. So that's out. French Country just seems to have a bit more class in my eyes. I love wrought iron anything, and we have a wrought iron bistro set on the patio.

I had DH look at some images for the different Country styles and he couldn't see a difference??? They all seemed pretty white. It's just a question of what patterns are mixed and matched with them, and the colour added to the white.

[monkeywrangler71]

Swedish country and French country are very similar; the Swedes were heavily influenced by French style in the 17th/18th centuries. English is a much heavier and stuffier feeling. Swedish is light and airy.

"Cottage" style is the popular term now for an eclectic/casual/Swedish influenced/shabby chic style, which seems to be a more modern take on country. Try searching that to get more ideas.

[peanut]

Thanks MonkeyWrangler! That's exactly what we have right now or are heading towards naturally! I'll show these images to DH and see what he thinks. If we're changing direction, I gotta know NOW! Before I sink big bucks into a dining room buffet.