My quest to create a French country kitchen…

When we bought our French house, there were lots of things I wanted to do to make it more ‘French’. Furnishings went a long way to adding the style I wanted, however the kitchen, very much the heart of a French home was just too white and blue and fitted to be anywhere close to what I wanted for my French country kitchen!

Over ‘fitted’

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There were just too many units, giving it an over ‘fitted’ look. Having explored the possibility of replacing it  with a Provence style kitchen and realising I wouldn’t see much change from €20,000, that just wasn’t an option!

Adding a table and an armoire…

The first step was to add a table and chairs to give the kitchen a ‘heart’ and the addition of an armoire was another step forward in detracting from the ‘over fitted’ feel.

Next I had to speak to my hubby nicely to see if he would repaint the cupboards, as the bright white was just not doing it for me… I just needed some sort of patina of age… we agreed on the Farrow and Ball eggshell finish  ‘shaded white’ a colour they call ‘greige’ in France (always thought that quite clever a mixture of grey and beige!) I went off to get some sand paper and replacement handles and a few days later, the units were looking much better and in keeping with the old farmhouse.

Since the units were previously white and wood underneath, a little rubbing around the moulded edges. once the paint was dry, produced the desired effect. The handles came from Lapeyre but similar are available for Ikea or other ironmongery suppliers such as Broughton’s and Jim Lawrence.

 

Accessories always make a difference and allow you to personalise your kitchen. This sign was picked up from a vide-grenier for €1!

 

 

 

Off with the wall cupboards…and the tiles!

The addition of an armoire had given me some extra space for crockery and glassware so it was time to ask hubby to take down some of the wall units. He obliged by removing the run of units above the sink. I had a plan for this space. Then over to my lovely French tiler Michel Accarissio to replace the blue highly glazed blue tiles with a softer, more neutral, natural travertine. I was looking for a brickwork layout and found just what I wanted at a discount tile warehouse. All for just €90.

Cue the shelves….

One of the key features of a French country kitchen has to be open shelves. Not only are they great for displaying your glasses, crockery and storage jars but really useful for having plates and glasses to hand.

I chose cast iron brackets, and got my lovely carpenter Monsieur Linan to cut the shelves to size, hubby stained them and then put them up. We added a rail with S hooks from Jim Lawrence for hanging mugs and hey presto, for less than price of one new kitchen unit, I had my French kitchen!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Group items together and choose a mixture of earthenware, glass and china for a traditional French look!

 

 

Plates and glasses are handy for use and are easily stored on shelves.

 

 

 

The finished article…

So after removing a few wall units, adding some freestanding furniture, repainting and distressing the existing units, replacing the tiles and adding some shelves…I have my new French kitchen and I’m loving it.