The Findery in Waco, Texas
offers French Country Design,
not just American farmhouse country.
To transition a house from American Country style to French Country style means looking at every new purchase to see if it moves a room closer to French Country. This may seem obvious, but sometimes you may lose sight of what you want your house to look like, and buy small items that do not add to the overall design. After you replace wingback chairs with French bergère chairs and replace braided cotton rugs with Aubusson carpets, a room has French Country as its foundation style, but you are not finished.
Large pieces are only the beginning.
Large pieces like sofas, rugs, tables, and chests set a room's style. Accessories add greater depth to a style by layering the look. Clocks, lamps, bowls, statues, pillows... provide finishing touches.
The Findery in Waco is a fun place to shop, filled with farmhouse country style, but the unusual store and adjacent warehouse also have French Country items. Here are some small items I bought from there to add layers of French Country design to my ever evolving French-inspired garden and home.
I am not associated with The Findery in any way, but am sharing about their store because I always love finding new places to shop and think some of you may, too.
french country vintage seltzer bottle
Vintage French seltzer bottles have been on my wish list since I found a beautiful peach seltzer bottle, a gift to my sister, at a small brocante (second-hand goods sale) in Carsac, France. After much searching for another one for myself on that trip, I came home empty handed.
Five years later on another trip to France, with visits to brocante sales at every opportunity, I found this beautiful blue seltzer bottle at the Port de Vanves flea market in Paris. But, just that one.
There were two other blue seltzer bottles I found that year in Paris. Both had beautiful etchings, but the prices were way too high for my budget. One day, maybe.
Yes, that metal cap spells, "P A R I S." A French vintage seltzer bottle in Waco, Texas. Rustic, aged metal, paint flecks, and cracked lever... everything says vintage France. While it is small, clear, and plain, the price was just right, and it adds another layer to my French Country breakfast nook.
white linen pillow with ruffles
A heavyweight linen pillow cover with a raw-edged ruffle is not an antique, nor is it likely from France. Yet, it could have come from France with its elegant styling. Instead, it came from The Findery in Waco.
There were other colors... gray, beige, blue..., but the white one adds another layer to my enchantment with white French Country.
white ceramic flower pots...
also with ruffles
A flowing ruffle tops the white smooth ceramic flower pot. Also not from France, but the pot has an extra flourish to its design, a characteristic of French design.
The Findery had two sizes of these white pots. Used together, they will add a double layer of French Country design to either my garden or house interiors. White hydrangeas, chrysanthemums, and paperwhite narcissi will look beautiful in the flower pots during all seasons of the year.
And, ivy topiaries, of course.
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Look at magazines, Pinterest boards, store displays, and blog sites that show home decor in your favorite style. Make notes about what accessories are used to help you find accessories for your home. Start your own secret Pinterest board to collect ideas about how to decorate for your favorite decor style. Be sure to add a note to the image to remind you what caught your eye in it. It may be something other than the main focus of the photo or something in the background.
Think twice about every purchase and how it will fit with your overall style. Little things make the difference. Would you wear cowboy boots with an evening gown?
Well, you might if you live in Texas, but then your overall evening look just changed from French élégance to Texas elegance. One accessory can make a huge impact and change the overall style.
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If you like French style, you may find some items you like at Botanic Bleu's online store. Go to http://www.botanicbleu.com/p/botanic-bleu-market.html which provides information about the online store and provides a direct link to the secure online site for shopping.
{Disclosure: If you purchase items from this site, I receive compensation for your purchase. Please see my Disclosure Policy for more details.}
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Just one week from today is the first day, Oct. 2, of the Fall in Love Texas Blog Tour where you can see more than thirteen Texas bloggers share how they are celebrating Fall. Pumpkins have arrived in north Texas and there may one, two, three,... or more in the centerpiece on my farmhouse pine table.
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See the following for more details...
