A new shade of pale blue showed up this spring in my French Country style decor. For years, periwinkle blue has been my go-to favorite blue, and still is, but a different blue has shown up on, and around, the French Country style reclaimed pine dining table.
The first grouping of items together included a large laundry basket, an old stool painted the same blue color as the basket, a European size pillow with coordinating blues, and a vase of blue and white hydrangeas. Together on the country pine table, everything came together with a French Country vibe.
But, this was only the beginning...
F R E N C H C O U N T R Y S T Y L E
I N S H A D E S O F B L U E
Of course, antique French baskets tend to be natural colored wicker, not painted pale blue. And, this large laundry basket was natural colored when I found it several years ago in a booth, one of a collective of shops in the same building. The owner was closing her booth and had all her baskets sale priced at the same, incredibly low price. I bought five or six other baskets and brought them home in the laundry basket.
That winter I had time on my hands and had a can of blue paint. Unfortunately, I do not remember the name of the color. What I do remember is how long it took me to paint this basket by hand with a brush. Hours upon hours of brushing color for three coats of paint into all those crevices in the wicker.
Then the basket became home to throw pillows stored at the back of a closet in the master bathroom. Just because a basket is hidden away in a closet doesn't mean it cannot be pretty.
UPDATE: I was cleaning out old paint cans in the garage the day after I wrote this post and found the old paint blue can! Lowe's: Valspar, Quart Size, LA 1317, Pale Delphinium, Valspar Signature Interior Eggshell, Base 1, Laura Ashley, 102-9, 105-7.5, 115-4 --- from several years ago. I am not sure Lowe's still carries a Laura Ashley paint line.
The European (French Country?) size pillow lives in the same closet in the master bathroom, but not usually in the laundry basket since the pillow almost fills the basket by itself. But, I spotted how well the pillow coordinated with the basket, planting a seed of someday using them together.
With any French Country decor, a room is not finished until a beautiful flower bouquet is included. Blue and white hydrangeas in a blue swirled frosted white vase adds the perfect French flowers.
The arrangement evolved from the first grouping
of pale blue French Country style items
as more items were pulled from storage.
Very seldom is the first attempt of pulling together items for a vignette the final version at my house. Once items are placed, they are moved and rearranged, then viewed from back, front, and sides to check how they look. Little by little, sparks of new ideas emerge as more items in the same colors are pulled from other rooms or storage.
One of the joys of days at home is having time to change things from an old familiar collection to fresh pairings not previously used together. Different people rejuvenate in different ways. Some people garden, exercise, or read to mentally recharge. Fluffing pillows, creating floral arrangements, and rearranging furniture relaxes me and allows my mind to disengage from practical thoughts of budgets, schedules, appointments, and household chores.
So, without a care in the world, I stop and stare off into my mind for decorating visions that begin as a glimmer of a thought. Or, begin as an advertisement from a magazine, or a pin from Pinterest, or a photo from a blog or Instagram!
The proportions seem off with the blue and white striped vase. Instead, how about the large flower pot with the vase of hydrangeas inside it sitting on the blue stool?
The proportions seem better. The bigger flower pot fills the top of the stool. Its large size balances with the large basket and large pillow. The large pieces are visually connected by the large pot sitting below the table top, but also rising above the table top, overlapping visually with the laundry basket. The blue and white striped vase is relegated to the background.
More tweaking what goes where. The blue stool partially slides at an angle under the French Country style pine table. The large blue flower pot with hydrangeas now sits on the table off-center from the laundry basket.
Voilà
Please PIN ⇑
Save to your Pinterest boards for future reference ideas of how to create a new arrangement of French Country style in shades of pale blue including placement of
- Large Basket
- Fresh Flowers
- Vintage Pine Table
- European Size Pillow
- Coordinating Pale Blues
True to authentic French Country decorating style of using vintage pieces collected over a lifetime or inherited, most of the items shown are several years old. Also true to authentic French Country decorating style, beautiful inexpensive pieces are mixed with treasured antiques.
S O U R C E S
Wicker Laundry Basket - Local shop, years ago
European Size Pillow - HomeGoods, a couple of years ago
Large Pale Blue Flower Pot - HomeGoods
Blue Painted Stool - Several years old
Blue and White Striped Flower Pot - HomeGoods
Blue Striped White Frosted Vase - Several years old
Reclaimed English Pine Table - English Pine Company, Ft. Worth, TX, no longer in business