sign inregister for free use arrow keys < > to view more bath swipe photo to view more bathA simple panel sewn from a soft pink linen blend – coveted for its textural hand and casual drape – is finished with a gently ruffled skirt for added fullness and flair.First, I must tell you a little about myself…the influences of my style! I am a retired French teacher who lived in France for a year before coming home for the birth of my first grandchild. I missed my family and realized that I could no longer live there, but I had wonderful memories of visiting homes like the one pictured above. (You can actually get a peek into this mas provençal here.)  So I decided to create my own little corner of France right here in Georgia and began collecting things that reminded me of the warm, sunny colors of Provence. When you enter, you are greeted by a little candle surrounded by thrifted vintage forks and tied with a Provençal print ribbon. My favorite frenchy plaque welcomes you into my home!

In the living room, you will see lots of blue and yellow with accents of antique red…my favorite Provençal colors.harlequin momentum curtains In the spring and summer, I add some pops of apple green to give the room a fresh look.tardis shower curtain for sale The colors continue on the coffee table where I have a stack of books by my favorite designer…discontinued jcpenney curtains On my mantel you will find pairs of mismatched Chinese-influenced vases and stylized topiaries. second hand curtains beaconsfieldI added a trio of plates to the mantelpiece to give it a little interest.dunelm made to measure curtain sale

And in the center…one of my favorites…my frenchy sheep! I eyed him in an antique and interiors shop for a year before splurging and buying him. lucite curtain rods for saleI am so glad that he waited for me!red poppy voile curtains On the opposite side of the room…subtle colors with a painted chest accented with fruit and fruit-themed art and plates to match. You can see more. Perhaps my favorite room is my dining room, starring a hutch to display my Spode Blue Room plates…thrifted over time...and my double happiness jar collection.  I have added a French-style rush seat chair to my mom’s vintage table and Windsor chairs. I think it fits in nicely. My favorite antique Quimper plates are hanging on the wall. On the opposite side of the room is the buffet and a few more pieces of my Quimper collection…a wall pocket filled with lavender and a poster topped by vintage Quimper plates.

I love to use a tablecloth...this one is actually a drop cloth...and layer it with a faux grain sack runner and lots of blue and white…my favorites! You can find a tutorial for the runner and for the grain sack pillow that you see in the chair The Provençal blue and yellow continue in the breakfast room where you can see my favorite light fixture…my frenchy rooster chandelier! And…of course…there are plates on the wall! I have since added a to the hutch. You can get a closer look at my collection . Are you beginning to notice that I love plates…especially French plates! Under the hutch is my . I love their rustic look and whimsical shapes! I actually do cook with them and have shared a recipe And for the first time I am giving you a little peek into my kitchen. It’s a small galley-style kitchen…just the right size for the Plate Addicts. I have added some here, too...with my French-style canisters and my recently-acquired French wire egg holder…just like the one in Monet’s kitchen in Giverny.

That’s my grandmother’s dough bowl…a prized possession and family heirloom. On the opposite side of the kitchen, I have displayed croissants in my frenchy DIY pastry dome. If you would like to have one of your own, you will find the tutorial This welcomes you into the guest bedroom… …where there are more roosters and layers of fabrics in black and white…ticking, toile and checks… …and Provençal sunflowers along side a whimsical Eiffel Tower lamp. It took me two trips to the store to decide to buy this kitchy lamp, but I love it! The French Country colors and style continue in the guest bathroom with big buffalo check Dupioni silk panels serving as a shower curtain… …and an Old Britain Castles transferware creamer and sugar serving as little holders for French milled soaps. You can see more of my guest bathroom In my I went for a softer color palette with pink and green toile. To create some architectural interest, I added a collection of ironstone plates above the bed and a carved piece above the windows.

A French cane-back chair covered with a drop cloth slipcover with a frenchy flounce… …sits beside my great-great grandfather’s plantation desk. You can get a closer look And on the night stand…a Victorian quadruple silverplate that lost its lid serves as a vase and  a Victorian keeps my earrings safe overnight. I think I have a thing about chairs! This one got a chippy paint job and a drop cloth seat as well. You can see how I did it. And that’s my It’s one of my favorites. And finally…let’s end our tour onmy patio all dressed for summer. Get a closer look at it It’s my favorite spot for morning coffee! I hope you will join me! Thanks so much for taking the tour of my home! I hope you will stay around for a little while and make yourself at home on my blog. I have lots of projects and fun ideas for you to check out in my so head on over and take a peek!World textiles have always been valued for more than just their utility. While it may seem a bit of a stretch to say that ancient cave dwellers decorated with colorful fabrics, it might not be far from the truth.

The oldest textiles discovered to date—flax fibers created in Eurasia some 30,000 years ago—show evidence of having been dyed black, gray, turquoise, and pink. Archaeologists can’t say exactly why, but some speculate that even then, humans may simply have been attracted to color. In the eras since, artisans across the globe have developed their own signature textiles using materials and methods native to their regions, in styles and patterns reflecting their local cultures. The iconographically rich mud cloths of Mali, for example, can refer to a myth or proverb. The way colorful suzani is handcrafted speaks to the rhythms of women’s lives in a traditional Uzbek household. France’s toile de Jouy and Italy’s Fortuny serve as windows into the tastes and social customs of those countries. While classic textiles convey a rich sense of history, they can also make a room feel decidedly modern. “Fabrics have the power to instantly update a space with color, texture, or pattern,” says MSL decorating director Kevin Sharkey.

“But these timeless designs are also not so sacrosanct that you can’t use them in an unconventional way.” Whether it’s toile covering a pinup board or a Japanese shibori-style cloth hung as a shower curtain, these textiles can bring personality to any room. And decorating with them is not as expensive as you might think—just a few yards may be all you need to dramatically transform a space. So choose a textile that speaks to you, whatever the language. The word chintz conjures Cotswolds cottages and afternoon tea (though in fact this staple of English country style has its origins in India). Indeed, though chintzes can be solid, they are usually printed with flowers. The cotton fabric typically has a glazed finish, which gives the colors depth and helps it resist dust. Chintz can lean toward the fussy or froufrou when applied to billowing curtains, canopy beds, and skirted tables, but when used strategically—for instance, only on the back of a chair, with a contrasting fabric on the inside—the effect can be surprisingly cool.

In this living room, a gray, brown, and cream floral chintz on roller shades, a bench cushion, and an armchair adds a restrained, gracious quality to the pared-down setting. Pyne Hollyhock, in Charcoal, and Deconstructed Stripe, in Black; Chic Style out of Africa It’s no mystery how this cotton textile from Mali got its name: It is dyed with fermented mud. Known as bògòlanfini in the Bamana language, it is typically cream-colored and hand-painted in dark brown or black to create geometric motifs, resulting in a textile with an understated graphic quality. Although contemporary mud-cloth patterns are often purely decorative, this wasn’t always the case. “Historically, the patterns on bògòlanfini were symbolic,” says Sarah Brett-Smith, an associate professor of art history at Rutgers University, in New Brunswick, New Jersey. “They could illustrate moral concepts, myths, and historical events.” The fabric is traditionally used for clothing, but its rugged quality makes it an excellent choice for hardworking upholstery.

Here, the warm earth tones of mud cloth make a harmonious pairing with the clean lines of a wooden bench, setting a quietly welcoming tone in an entryway. Learn More About Different Textiles Bold Beauty from Central Asia With its bright floral motifs, the intricate textile art of Central Asia is hardly subtle—and that’s part of its charm. A traditional part of a young woman’s trousseau, suzani is usually designed as a whole but constructed of three or four separate panels, each hand-embroidered in silk by a different female member of a family, which are then stitched together. Most suzani today is vintage, imported from Uzbekistan. “In Central Asia, suzani is used for anything from wall hangings to tablecloths—there is no one specific use,” says Sumru Belger Krody, senior curator of the Textile Museum at George Washington University, in Washington, D.C. Spreading suzani over a bed is one of the easiest ways to make the most of it. (“You would never want to cut it,” notes Krody.)

A vintage piece serves as the focal point of this otherwise neutral bedroom, its vibrant design complemented by similar patterns on the pillows and armchair. One-of-a-kind suzani and suzani pillow; stitched bedding, in Coral; Get Our Tips, Tricks, and How-Tos on Dyeing Fabrics One of the oldest, simplest, and most labor-intensive forms of textile printing, this involves carving a block with a design, coating it with dye, and stamping it onto fabric. Although no single culture can claim ownership of the method, Indian block printing has been one of the most influential styles since its development many centuries ago. Traditionally, the extraordinary colors associated with Indian prints were created from natural dyes: madder root made red, turmeric created yellow, and old iron horseshoes yielded black. “Depending on the intricacy of the blocks and the number of color processes used, the designs can range from basic to extremely complex,” says Lauren Chang, a textile conservator in Chicago.

While classic Indian designs can use flowers or paisley patterns, this table setting features a large-scale seaweed design and polka dots, for a cheery and inviting table. Esme fabric (on table), in Gold; Dot fabric (on chair); Learn More About Block Printing Luxurious, sumptuous, and refined, Fortuny textiles have been coveted by decorators since Mariano Fortuny founded his company in Venice in 1919. An accomplished inventor as well as a designer, Fortuny made his own dyes and printing machinery to create the lavishly printed velvets, cottons, and silks for which he became known. Largely inspired by Renaissance textiles, Fortuny fabrics are still made in the original factory using the same secret techniques. “Fortuny was an artist,” says Chang. “His textiles tend to have a certain luminosity, reflectiveness, and layering of pattern upon pattern that is distinctly Fortuny.” Because these fabrics are laborious to produce and expensive, Fortuny may not be a practical choice for curtains or upholstery.

But with small amounts of yardage, you can create throw pillows that introduce an element of old-world glamour to a living room. Learn All About Dyeing Unexpected Items The textile properly known as toile de Jouy -- created by printer Christophe Phillippe Oberkampf in 1760 in the French town of Jouy-en-Josas—has never gone out of style. Typically printed in one color (blue or red) on a white background and depicting pastoral or allegorical scenes, toile was known as a great favorite of Marie Antoinette’s. “Copperplate printing allowed for the very fine detail in the engravings that gives toile de Jouy its specific appearance,” says Cristina Balloffet Carr, a textile conservator at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, in New York City. This folding screen covered in toile invites the viewer to see the chinoiserie print as a work of art, while also allowing the textile to serve a functional purpose -- the piece doubles as a pinup board. The punched-up green-and-blue print is a playful twist on the fabric’s traditional palette.