Creating the French Look: Inspirational Ideas and 25 Step-by-step Projects

by Annie Sloan

The French look is one of the most popular and enduring for modern interiors—appreciated for its simple, uncluttered style and ornate individual pieces. Whether you want to make grand curtains like those from a chateau or paint a cupboard in rustic style, Creating the French Look shows you how. Twenty-five step-by-step projects demonstrate the three definitive styles of French The gilded elegance of the French chateau, the simple French farmhouse and its more colorful Provençal counterpart, and the urban, tailored town house. Discover how to achieve French decorative style by using the right colors and fabrics. Get to grips with scale—from the grand statement of the painted armoire to the finishing touch of a little posy of lavender. Each section includes a wealth of techniques using paint and textiles.

Genres: Nonfiction, Design, Crafts

144 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 2008

About the author

Annie Sloan is a renowned decorative painter who works and teaches in the UK, the United States and various European countries.

Reviews

[Marie]

Especially valuable to those with a creative touch and a sewing machine! Annie Sloan defines several French looks, then provides us with photographs and sketches of different rooms within the looks. Easy to follow instructions on sewing linen curtains. No matter how you live, if you are interested in the French look there are ideas for decor, both large and small. And remember, less is more.

[Linda]

The book lists 4 different French styles: Chateau, Country, Provencal, and Parisian. But they all register as French Country. It's a beautiful look made famous by retailers like Restoration Kitchen and Pottery Barn. But I would have liked to see how the style could be incorporated with more modern pieces.

[Magdalena]

Lovely pictures, and lovely projects, still, I think much of the things needed are either expensive or, when living outside France , not attainable. If I look upon this book as an inspiration it gets more stars, but as a practical guide, it is far from functionable for me.

[Kelly]

I'm really not fond of the French look, but I can't pass up an interior decorating book. It was fun and interesting to see the various versions of the French style, chateau, maison (country house), Provence, and Paris.

[Ericka]

I think I can actually do some of the projects in this book. The author does assume that you have access to French flea markets and other tres expensive things, but some of the projects will work for those of us on water budgets (can't even afford the beer, much less the champagne). I would have liked some more how to on things like faking the vintage French cloths and the carvings etc.... But on the whole this was a very good book.

[Relyn]

10/24/08
When I saw the beautiful cover in the new books section of our library on Wednesday, I was sold. We'll see if I can actually judge this book by its cover, or not.

5/28/09
And I remember - NOT. The best pictures were on the covers. The writing - blah. Not bad, just not good. This really is a book for design professionals - not eye candy for hobbyists.

[Charlotte Fay - the starlight pages]

Just what I was looking for

This was the perfect book for looking at all styles of french interior design. Perfect for a newbie who wanted for information and knowledge. A thoroughly enjoyable read with beautiful pictures

[Marilyn]

pleasant but not inspiring.