How to Create a Provence Interior That Sounds Like Cicadas ?
Hello Cool-Girls ! Designing a Provence interior starts with the senses: the scent of lavender, the sound of cicadas and the taste of good local produce. Those who have visited have experienced this poetry that weaves itself into the small things of everyday life and that bittersweet nostalgia on the way home. I wanted to understand how to replicate this unique charm at home, whether you know this region well or simply dream of it. Because if Provence masters one thing, it’s the marriage between French elegance and the authenticity of the countryside. It’s a perfect duality that you can feel in the interiors of bourgeois country houses. I’m going to show you how to achieve this balance and bring a piece of Provence into your home.
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1. Bring in the Products of the South
Provence is above all a land rich in culture. It’s a world within a world, with its own accent, culture, cuisine and products. When you want to bring a little piece of Provence into your home, you need to understand what makes this region unique. Provence is for example world-famous for its lavender fields. It is used for its medicinal properties but also in perfumery.
You can bring this plant into your interior in different forms. In its natural form as a decoration in a terracotta vase that you can place in your provence kitchen or living room. Or more subtly in dried form, tucked into small fabric sachets to place in your wardrobes for a gentle, lingering scent.
Provence is also known for its iconic Savon de Marseille, made from olive oil, a simple detail you can incorporate into your kitchen and bathroom, perfect if you’re looking to embrace a more natural lifestyle.
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2. Add a Touch of Authenticity to Your Provence Interior
The interiors of Provence homes are neither fully old money nor fully rustic. You find this countryside charm through small nods to the past, particularly by preserving the history of the house original stone walls, exposed wooden beams that are highlighted rather than hidden. In the kitchen you’ll find echoes of the past like an old cast iron stove or copper cookware hanging on the wall. In old French houses you also find the iconic bread bag, where fresh bread was kept.
You can recreate this Provence interior by embracing everyday objects like hanging decorative plates on the walls, just as French great-grandmothers used to do. You can hunt for these unique pieces at your local flea market or bring them back from your next trip to Provence.
3. Hunt for the Iconic Furniture of a Provence Interior
Having explored the rustic side of Provence, it’s time to look at the chic side of the Provence interior. While the distinctive architecture of bourgeois country houses plays an important role, the furniture is truly the centerpiece. Here we favor Louis XVI style furniture which, unlike some Provençal pieces, has never really gone out of style. These are refined and lighter pieces that have managed to feel timeless across the ages.
You’ll find for example the medallion chair and the bergère with their upholstered backs. Or the Louis XVI chest of drawers, perfect for a bedroom. To keep these pieces feeling current, the Provence style opts for light patinas or aged effects, as well as painted wood in pastel tones like sky blue, sage green, off-white, pale ochre yellow or Trianon grey. To adopt this style there’s no need to replace all your furniture the key is to have a few of these pieces that will blend beautifully with more rustic ones. That’s the secret to the Provençal style.
4. Inspire Romance in Your Bedroom
If you want to create a Provence interior, the ideal place to start is your bedroom, it only takes a few details to transform the space. The Provençal bedroom has its own signature, it breathes the romance of the countryside. For the bed you are spoilt for choice : you can opt for a raw wood frame with a light aged patina or an iron bed. For bigger budgets, and if you really want to capture the spirit of the bourgeois houses, a Louis XVI bed with fabric panels in floral patterns is the ultimate piece. If you go for this last option, it’s important not to overload the room with other Louis XVI furniture.
There are also more accessible signature elements of the Provençal bedroom, like antique gilded mirrors that can be found secondhand. They will not only make your room feel larger but will add character to your decor. Finally, the last romantic touch I love in a Provence interior is vintage wallpaper. It has seen a real revival in provence design in recent years. For the pattern, favor botanical motifs lavender, olive branches or wildflowers.
5. Choose the Right Fabrics
Fabric choices are essential when creating a Provençal interior. Quality is the first criteria, closely followed by lightness, a necessity for surviving the heat of summer. Linen is a noble material that ticks both boxes. You’ll find it in curtains but also in bedding for cooler nights. It’s also a material that works with many colors and pairs beautifully with old stone walls and exposed beams. Linen sofas are a staple of Provençal living room inspiration, the raw authenticity of linen creates a beautiful contrast with the elegance of Louis XVI furniture. For smaller budgets, washed cotton is a great alternative, frequently used in Provençal bedding, with that slightly rumpled look that echoes linen and the countryside feel.
To accentuate the bucolic side of your future Provence home, you can add floral patterns in tones of blue, beige, green, lavender and white.
There is also an iconic fabric from Provence called “les Indiennes de Provence”, used across many interior textiles including the “boutis “, a hand-stitched and quilted bedspread. These are printed cotton fabrics originally imported from India and the Orient, as the name suggests, that were popularized by Provence. You’ll find them as cushion covers, curtains or even upholstery. It’s the easiest Provençal touch to adopt without redecorating an entire room.
6. Embrace the Color Palette of the South
The interiors of Provençal bourgeois homes have their own color palette. Even though the South is synonymous with color and warmth, French charm favors a harmony of muted tones. In the main rooms you’ll find walls in off-white or beige to bring in light, or lime plaster finishes to echo that rustic side. Pastel tones are reserved for one or two rooms like the bathroom or laundry room for that chic touch.I love soft blue, pale ochre yellow or sage green for these spaces.
Saturated color is brought in through accents: a painting of a local landscape to elevate a room or flowers from your garden placed in a vase for that bucolic touch. For these bolder colors the choice is yours, simply think of what Provence inspires in you: the khaki green of olive trees, the violet of lavender, the ochre of the houses, the blue of the sea.
When choosing these colors, pay attention to the light in your home. A khaki green will be elevated by the Southern sun, but in a north-facing apartment it may darken your space.
7. Renovate Your Bathroom for a Provence interior
For a truly on-point Provencal interior, consistency is key throughout your home. If your bathroom feels out of place, the style you’re trying to replicate will lose its authenticity. Today when we think about designing a bathroom we think about comfort first a walk-in shower, modern fixtures. But this is the opposite of the Provençal decorating philosophy. If there’s one thing the French love, it’s making something new out of something old. Instead of tearing everything out, the idea is to renovate and repurpose what already exists. Because what is old has value.
In Provençal bourgeois homes you’ll often find retro bathtubs with lion’s feet or a vintage basin. The fixtures are replaced but with vintage-style pieces in gold or silver tones. The renovation focuses only on changing the wallpaper and repainting the woodwork. For this French style, many Provençal bathrooms feature half wall panelling painted in a color that complements the floral wallpaper.
For the floor, while you’ll often find the same original local stone throughout the house like Luberon stone, this type of flooring isn’t ideal for a bathroom due to humidity. Cement tiles are a great option here, choose ones with geometric or floral patterns for that Mediterranean feel.
If you loved the Mediterranean spirit of this Provence interior, you might also love my guide to create an Amalfi Coast decor another Mediterranean style with its own magic.
