Living Room French Country Furniture

Seating

A solid and comfy upholstered sofa with scrolled arms and preferably upholstered in a neutral shade is a good choice to start with.

Add one or two upholstered chairs, to compliment but not match the sofa, covered in either stripes, checks, or florals.

Classic French Chairs

Amongst others, there is also the bergère, a feather-stuffed armchair, low-backed and comfortable. Or the marquise, a tub chair with cushions and upholstered arms, or the canapé an intimate love seat in the form of a sofa.

And let's not forget the comfy day bed, or ever so French chaise longue, which translated literally means 'long chair'.

The great thing about French chairs is that you can either dress them up or down. The chairs in the above images would look just as great covered in a ticking stripe, or even homespun French feedsack cloth for a modern twist.

Other Living Room French Country Furniture

Buffet à Deux Corps

Old or new, the versatile Armoire, is found in just about any room in the French house, no matter which part of the country. More than likely it will also be found standing proudly in one form or another in the living room.

This tall cupboard, either with solid wood, glass or chicken wire paneled doors - or perhaps open shelves - houses either books, photos, ornaments, vases, collections etc. It could be polished or stained wood, but better painted in soft water based colors and lightly distressed to bring out the shape of mouldings and carvings.

Another useful piece of furniture for storage and display is the buffet, also best painted in a muted color. Or the buffet à deux corps (one cupboard atop another) with storage space at the bottom and on top.

A folding screen in three or four panels can add balance and scale if necessary, plus add some interest to the room.

Last but not least, are those interesting country french living room furniture pieces that add extra character and charm to the room. They can be anything from tables, to cupboards, to drawers, or even fashioned out of another piece of furniture, in wood or wrought iron.
For Example:

• A console table made from the cast iron legs of an old Singer sewing machine, fixed with a top in wood, glass or marble.
• An old scrolled wrought iron garden bench, turned into a window seat and smothered in comfy cushions.
• Make your own buffet à deux corps by placing an interesting bookcase on top of a buffet, chest of drawers or another cupboard. Painting the two pieces one color will easily make them look as one unit.

Possibilities are endless; think laterally when coming across an interesting piece of old furniture and give your room an element of surprise.