Inspired Design: French Gray Interiors

 leafy168 blog (via)

Sipping a cafe au lait and eating a croissant in a small cafe with a single candle as table decor near the Champs Elysee or gazing out on Paris from the top of the Eiffel Tower are quintessentially French.  If May in Paris is not in your future, you can still live a life inspired by French style and beauty in your own home. 

We're in love with French Gray inspired interiors right now. The French have a way with gray that makes it feel romantic and chic, never dull or boring. French gray can range from dove gray to a blue gray and is almost always paired with warm, creamy white for a classic French feeling.

Here are some of our favorite French gray interiors we hope will inspire you too:

Jessica Lagrange Interiors (via)

We adore the the French-like wingback accent chairs near the fireplace, as well as the matching floor lamps in this living room we spotted in Jessica LaGrange Interiors via Design Shuffle. The creamy gray walls balance the warm neutral furniture pieces, keeping the room feeling light and airy.

Dwelement Home Design (via)

This monochrome gray kitchen is French Country chic gorgeous! We like the white and brown accents from the pottery.  The lighter cabinets keep things from feeling too dark or heavy.

Pleasant Living (via)

Gray walls can go quite nicely with all neutral-tone furniture, just like in this casual living room. Check out the chandelier, candle holders, and wall art right above the accent table. All of these items looks like it came from a Parisian specialty store. So chic and unique!

Busybee (via)

The tufted headboard in this bedroom is so romantic.  Soft gray walls and crisp white and neutral tone linens create a soothing, calm environment perfect for sleep.

Decor Pad (via)

This room demonstrates all the key elements of a French Gray inspired room: soft gray walls, cream and warm wood furniture, a sparkly vintage style chandelier and vintage mirror. What makes it one of our favorites is the blue sideboard.  It's a nice spot of color. Don't be afraid to add accent colors in soft hues -- light pink, moss green, silvery blue, pale yellow all work well with gray.

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Inspired Rooms: Rachel Whiting

"Rachel Whiting is a London based freelance photographer who loves modern interior design and clean lines.Like an interior photography must be sensitive to all the elements that will appear in the final print.All the objects from a room look good, but in a print, these objects may cluster the image."-homedit

Whilst not all her interiors are so bright and colorful, they are similar in that  "her photographic work is constructed with an inherent aesthetic of simplicity, shape, color and form evident throughout all of
her images.  "

The rooms she shoots have a certain ethereal function from them. From the airy white draped windows and the bright light cascading onto the white plank floors, the full length canvases of pink leaned against unfussy walls, the classically simple, yet questionably uncluttered rooms are so quiet and yet so full of an almost bohemian character. I do believe I could get used to living in a room with such qualities.

 

Homefront: I'm Going to Miss This Place

 I'm going to miss this place. We have been here for 6 months. It's a 2 bedroom apartment, but we got very lucky. This little room right there, is the patio. But, on the 3rd floor layout, it is an enclosed extra room. I love the massive window, the extra space for my little computer area.  Just when I was starting to feel settle, deciding on window treatments and maybe even a new computer chair... my husband lost his job.



The reason we got this place, is because we also got a great discount on it from his employer. So, not only did our income become zero, our rent went up a few hundred dollars. Fortunately, since he was non-disciplinary terminated due to no fault of his own, we get some unemployment, though we only have 4 weeks of it left. And our wonderful church has helped us out with groceries, and keeping us encouraged as well.



 So, in a few weeks, our family of 4 will be moving in with the in-laws. We've done it before when we were pregnant with our first. At that time, we decided not to renew our lease on the 400 sq ft apartment we were in so we could get a 2 bedroom for the new baby. Just as we were going to put down a deposit on a place we had been looking at, Hurricane Katrina hit and all of the evacuees came here and took all available apartments. We were homeless and moved in with the in-laws for several months. It was rough.

Fortunately, they are kind and gracious people, but that doesn't mean things will be easy. I will miss all that we have built together and wondering how and where we will end up. Starting out all over again is difficult. Not to mention living out of a bedroom with most all of our belongings in storage is hard enough. And being cramped and not feeling like the ruler of your own home is difficult, though I will focus less on that and more on how grateful I am of all that we do have. I am fully aware things could be much worse.

Our home is more than a place... it was a start of something new, a joy, finally feeling like we had a fresh start and things were just beginning to take off. We were just beginning to make friends and find ourselves out here. I had finally decided on what I was going to finish college in, so that is going to have to wait again.

Our oldest was about to start preschool for the first time. It was the first time in the last 7 years we have felt settled and in a city where we were known for us and not as our parent's children.

Before we go, I'm going to do what I can to remember it. Before we pack everything in boxes, I am going to try and finish what projects I can without having to buy anything. Then I can leave here with no regrets.

So, expect to see lots of pictures of this place in the next few weeks. Then, when I am feeling sad and alone and crazy, I can remember that I did have a home at one point in time. I did have dreams and they were starting to come true. Maybe it will help me remember that it can happen again.

Besides, it will be good to leave this city. I won't have the temptation of going and throwing rotten eggs at my husband's jerk of a former boss's office window. And, I suppose, that is a good thing.

Turquoise Hungarian Home

House of Turquoise reader, Noemi, shows her lovely home in Budapest, Hungary. Noemi's blog, Kedvenc Otthon   is beautiful as well. I love this art she has using Casamance London wallpaper. Imagine, making a wallpaper panel, and on the other side, you could have a totally different color. You could switch it around and switch out a few accessories to suit your mood when ever the fancy strikes. What color fancy are you in right this second?

Soft Yellow Accents

I meet a lot of people that are scared of yellow. But, it is a very versatile color that could transform any room! Using a soft, creamy version in small doses may give your room a hint of sunshine and whimsy. It may be your missing link! So, try it out with some flowers, a small figurine, a frame, a few pillows or a chair. You may be surprised at the impact it can bring. And if you don't like it, no harm done, just slipcover the pillows or use spray paint to change the color on any figurines you find.

In liz of say yes to hoboken's room above, she does it perfectly. I have been eyeing that artwork for a while now too from artists kiki and polly and tushtush's naomi print.

Brooke of playing grown up turned this boring folding screen into an amazing turquoise headboard with lots of sanding and a few coats of paint. Typography pillows from urban outfitters. Love the yellow paring, it really brings a subtle warmth to the room. Any other color would change the look entirely, making it stark and bold.

 Cheap wall art from Tidy Mom. She hung a square of burlap on the wall behind a pretty frame, painted a paper mache letter and nailed it to the wall. Easy! The creamy, pale yellow roses add a sweet touch of sunshine to the aqua walls and dark wood. I love the tri balance of the turquoise, the wall, the bird figurine and the mason jar holding the pens.

 

Christie Chase made these unique and cherry tables for a friend's patio. She started off with some rather interesting vases, added two plywood circles with gorilla glue, then sanded and painted them. Design Sponge shows Christie's gorgeous, yellow and gray home here. The following two images of her rooms are perfect.

The frame wall isn't overbearing when the size of the prints are surrounded by light mats. I love the wall color! It really adds sophistication to the room. The yellow and gray pillows add that soft touch of floral and color.

I could live in this picture. Her guest room is cozy and functional. Yellow and green accessories can be changed at any time and the room will take on a whole new meaning with it's white, gray and natural bones.

This room's bright chartruese wall paint won't work everywhere, but is perfect here. Softened by the white furniture and grand fireplace mantle, the color is brought through the room with an accent pillow. The zebra print rug and black geometric prints work because the furniture lines are clean and modern. domino

This ruffled white table cloth with lemony yellow chairs and flowers are the epitome of sweetness. If lemon meringue pie could be a room, this would be it. The ruffles are even brought in with the plates, cake platter and even the striped straw creates an almost ruffled illusion! indoor sweets picnic table from country living

Love yellow interior inspirations? Visit subtle sunshine here, the influence of color here  sfgirlbybay's yellow bit road here,  simple and true accessory ideas here and orange vs yellow aqua lovers here

White, Black, Gray & Paint

dining room ~ in the fun lane

One day, coming up soon (as in before it gets too hot), I would love, LOVE to paint my wood furniture. We have an armoir, tv stand, kitchen table with 4 chairs, large desk with hutch and two dressers.We would let the boys stay at grandma's for the weekend (okay, maybe 2 weekends) and just do a paint marathon for 2 days straight! I love the suggestions on Shabby Chic Furniture on preparing the wood, to use water and sugar soap to clean the furniture as regular cleaner can keep the paint from sticking. Holly of In the Fun Lane has some of the best painting advice out there.

black table  via Veranda

 dresser painted black over a red glaze ~ bhg kids rooms

I am considering going black with the kitchen tables and chairs. There is a large burn hole from a small fire on the table that will need to be filled and layers of wax from small details. Reading this advice forum on redoing kitchen tables make me balk, so we'll see...

 white hutch ~ in the fun lane

white night stand end table ~in the fun lane

But what about the rest? I have a find love of all white distressed wood ever since I grew to love antique malls and seeing the vintage pie safes in all of the layers of peeling paint, some with even 4 or 5 different colors peeking out from underneath!

my house of giggles gray hutch makeover

gray painted captains bench ~ life in the fun lane

Rachel Ashwell Shabby Chic

But, the more I see grey, the more I grow to love it. It's not to light, not to dark, it has an urban county chic appeal and can pair most any color I choose to decorate with.

Maybe, I will do a mix of white, grey and black. What do you think? Do you mix and match your furniture? Do you prefer light or dark? I like how she keeps some of the natural colors with the painted pieces.

white dresser with caster feet and natural wood chair ~ in the fun lane

white dining room with natural chair ~ in the fun lane

As a note, I love natural wood and stain, especially mid century modern pieces,  but trust me, none of our furniture is lookin so hot for that right now, though I do think that maybe a few chairs would look neat! I do need to get two more for the ends of our table anyways...