The popular styles of modernism, minimalism, and hi-tech are being replaced by calm, cozy, bright interior preferences. For example, the Provence style, combining homely warmth, delicate shades of lavender, young greenery, and blue sky. A sliding wardrobe in Provence style – an atmosphere of comfort, tranquility, unobtrusive luxury with elements of antiquity. What to look for when choosing, what kind of finish distinguishes Provence, how to place a closet in different rooms - this article will answer these questions.
Modern wardrobe in the French old style
Style Features
The Provence style originated in the 18th century in France and absorbed the features of its provincial landscapes - hence the combination of lightness, nobility and grace. Furniture of this trend is always of refined geometric shapes, often with smooth lines, in light colors. The decor is no frills, delicate, sophisticated.
Provence furniture can be recognized by some features:
- strict lines with smooth corners;
- the use of wood species such as beech, oak, pine, walnut;
- pastel, muted or white color;
- used for finishing techniques: patination, decoupage, artificial aging; carving or forging are also often found;
- the texture of the wood is not hidden - on the contrary, it is left in plain sight and protected with colorless varnish;
- textile decor (for example, curtains on cabinet doors) includes floral motifs or small checks and stripes.
Provencal interior is often used in country houses and is perfectly complemented by ceiling wooden beams, a real fireplace, and walls treated only with plaster. But this style can be easily recreated in a city apartment. Provence is an excellent choice if you want to fill your home with an atmosphere of comfort, harmony and tranquility.
Types of designs
A Provencal style wardrobe is a product that can be recognized by its light color scheme, laconic geometric lines, elegant and at the same time rich decor. The main idea of the direction - creating an image of the French province - leaves a rich field for the implementation of any design ideas. There is furniture that has retained the natural color of wood, painted in pastel colors, decorated with painting, decoupage or stucco.
Provence style cabinets can be of different shapes, designs, and contents. You can choose a suitable model for storing small or large items. If it is difficult to immediately decide what items the cabinet will be used for, it is better to choose a product with compartments of different sizes and a rod.
Clothes
Wardrobes are used to store clothes. They are characterized by the presence of high legs, which visually makes these bulky products lighter. Closers add smoothness to swing doors and drawers. Carvings and applied elements are used as decoration. Less common are options with sliding compartment-type doors. A mirror can be placed on one of the facades.
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Dining rooms and kitchens
Kitchen and dining room cabinets differ from others in a large number of sections of different sizes - open narrow or wide niches, drawers, shelves. In such furniture you can store everything - from pots and pans to porcelain cups, from groceries to spices. If you want to leave the dishes in sight, it is better to choose a model with partial glazing. The facades of such products are often decorated with floral paintings and carvings.
If the entire kitchen is decorated in light colors, you can dilute the interior with a pastel blue cabinet - the color will fit perfectly into the Provence style, and additional decor will add harmony to the room.
Book
Manufacturers of bookcases rarely play with color - they usually use furniture in natural wood tones. Solid, solid, such products can be either completely open or mixed - some of the shelves leave books in sight, some allow you to protect them from dust. There are more expensive models with locking systems, which ensures careful storage of literature; it is no longer afraid of humid or too dry air.
For children's
Despite the fact that the Provence style is dominated by restrained tones, in the case of children's wardrobes you can deviate a little from this rule. Among other examples of the Provencal style, this furniture can be recognized by the decor of the facades. Sometimes manufacturers even put images of children's cartoon characters or fairy tales on them. The carvings, curly monograms, slits instead of handles and the color scheme are reminiscent of Provence - you won’t find flashy, catchy shades here.
For a boy's room, blue, olive, light green or brown cabinets are usually chosen. For a child's girl - pink, lavender, beige, creamy tones of furniture.
Typically these are cabinets of mixed functionality; they have compartments and niches for storing various items: shelves for clothes and shoes, a bar with hangers, as well as drawers for storing bedding and toys. Thanks to this structure, the child’s room can not be filled with unnecessary furniture, leaving space for the necessary air in the Provence style and more space for play.
For the bathroom
Since the Provencal style gives preference to space, cabinets are installed exclusively in large bathtubs. Most often these are white Provence cabinets, but you can choose a model to match the color of the plumbing if the room is decorated in beige, yellow or other pastel colors. These products differ from others in their processing - special compounds protect them from high humidity. The carving is usually very delicate and may involve forging. The drawers are designed for storing oversized items, and there are compartments for towels.
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For the hallway
If the size of the hallway allows, install a wardrobe, always equipped with a rod. This solves the problem of storing outerwear and allows you to collect them in one place. However, often the area of this room is quite small, and you have to limit yourself to compact models for small items, shoes or a Provence corner cabinet.
Almost all types of Provence cabinets are made from natural wood, only sometimes MDF is used.
Design options
The laconicism of the forms is diluted by the rich decor - cabinets in the Provence style are in no way similar to the strict and sometimes even boring furniture of the classical and minimalist trends. Various methods are used for registration:
- The paintings are often floral motifs (mainly images of lavender generously covering French fields, but also depict roses and wisteria). You can paint the facades, the frame - any available surface.
- Mirrors are more often found on the facades of wardrobes or hallway furniture. In addition to their practical purpose, they serve an aesthetic role - with them there is visually more air, even a compact space seems spacious.
- Stucco molding - curved smooth lines to match the color of the facade.
- Decoupage is one of the techniques that you can reproduce yourself. To apply a design to the surface of the cabinet you will need paper pictures. The image is chosen arbitrarily, and in order to maintain style, preference is usually given to colors or a rustic theme.
- Wallpapering - rolls with small floral patterns, checkered patterns or stripes are suitable. Such models are usually not completely pasted over, only in the center - otherwise the light and airy Provence turns into a heavy Empire style.
- Artificial aging - a patina that imitates abrasions adds a sense of antiquity and adherence to tradition, as if this furniture has already served more than one generation and will serve many more.
Provence is unthinkable without textiles. You can choose a cabinet model with transparent doors and hang French-style curtains on them. Some models have a curtain included.
Decoupage
Mirrors Artificial aging
Stucco molding
Wallpapered Painting
Stencil painting of a cabinet
The advantage of stencil decoration is that, with proper preparation of the surface, the process of applying the design will take a minimum amount of time. Moreover, the quality of the final result will not be inferior to manual work. For stencil decoration, it is enough to purchase or cut out a stencil with your preferred pattern (floral motif) from self-adhesive material.
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Before applying the design, you need to additionally clean the surfaces from dust and grease using household chemicals. And also mark the places to apply the stencil. This will allow you to be careful when working and avoid defects. Then, after gluing the stencil onto the surface of the cabinet (doors, drawers, side panels), cover the cut out areas with a thin layer of paint of the selected color.
Wait until it dries, remove the stencil and clean up any imperfections, if any. With proper dexterity of movement, you don’t have to wait for the paint to dry, but immediately remove the stencil from the drawing. It is important to remember that, before using it again, the material must be thoroughly wiped from traces of paint.
If several designs are applied to the stencil film, you can play with the colors, making the composition more “live.” All wooden furniture in the room can be decorated in this style. The main thing is to take care of spare stencils, since one blank is not always designed for repeated use.
Combination with the interior
The easiest way to create an interior in the Provence style is if the background - the walls, the ceiling - are in light colors, and the floor retains the color of natural wood. In this case, it will not be difficult to select furniture and combine it with textiles and other elements.
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If you choose a forged model, you should add other forged items to the interior - for example, lamps. This type of cabinet is also suitable if the room already has a bed with an openwork headboard or an armchair with metal legs. Or you can put it in a country house if the room has a fireplace with a wrought-iron partition.
You can support the Provencal style with fresh indoor flowers, a variety of pillows, curtains, and trinkets. All this can connect even pieces of furniture that are not entirely compatible with each other into a single composition. However, if the cabinet is richly decorated, it is recommended to reduce the number of decorative elements so as not to overload the space.
One of the style variations is the interior in blue and white, somewhat reminiscent of a marine theme. To maintain it, you can add decorative elements in the form of shells, striped linen curtains, thematic paintings or photographs. The cabinet can be one color or painted on a corresponding theme.
If the interior uses wallpaper with a small floral pattern or graphic design, it can also be used to paint a cabinet in the Provence style or fabric curtains on the doors.
Finishing in Provence style
Sometimes furniture remains in the house - in excellent condition, but already out of fashion. You bought a wardrobe, and the chest of drawers, dressing table, and bedside tables can be remade with your own hands.
Popular techniques:
- Decoupage is the application of pictures that match the style - colors, patterns, ornaments - using special glue. Before this, the surface is covered with white acrylic paint, and then with decoupage varnish, which fixes the result.
- Antique effect - imitation is done using mechanical damage to the surface (sandpaper, hard brush, scraper) or special cracking paints.
Paint the doors yourself, use the burning and cracking technique. Decoupage can be dried with a hairdryer, then the top layer of varnish will crack, which will create a good effect suitable for Provence.
Tips for choosing
A Provence cabinet must meet not only aesthetic parameters, but also be reliable and functional, so when choosing, it is important to pay attention to some details:
- stability of the structure - it should not wobble or tip over;
- quality of materials and fittings - all elements are securely fastened, there is no extraneous noise when opening doors or pulling out drawers;
- absence of defects, chips, abrasions, crevices, cracks on the surface; in addition, painted furniture should not peel or peel;
- availability of a passport - for a quality product, it indicates what paint coatings are used and how safe they are.
Before studying the entire range of cabinets, you need to decide for what purpose the piece of furniture will be used. Its capacity and filling directly depend on this moment. In the interior, such a cabinet can become both a complement to the main composition and an object that focuses attention. At the same time, in order for the product to last for a long time, it is important to pay attention to its functional features, safety and quality of materials, fittings, and additional elements.
Photos of wardrobes in Provence style
Before buying a wardrobe in the interior of the French province, it is recommended to look at the gallery of possible options in order to choose a piece of furniture that suits all appearance parameters.
One closet will not be enough for the atmosphere of Provence. It is important to select and combine the decor and finishing of the room - the walls, floors, ceiling, and other furniture should be in harmony with each other, and the wardrobe will add the necessary accent and become the highlight of the room.
