French interiors are known the world over for their charm, but charm is a hard concept to put a finger on. 'Raising domesticity to an art' is the hallmark of the French look, claims French style magazine Maison & Jardin, and they may be right.

There are many different types of French interior, but one hallmark of French houses is that they are usually bigger than English ones. Other than those bourgeoise varieties packed with objects intended for admiration, this can result in a rather spare atmosphere, especially those in the southern style, where life is lived mainly outside. Many an English owner in France, unnerved by the greater amount of space in their French property, has stuffed it to the gills to create the more familiar and cosy look of the English country cottage.

In terms of elements of style, French homes often do without fitted carpets - though rugs may be plentiful. Downstairs rooms often have terracotta or ceramic tiling, or parquet flooring, while upstairs rooms generally have bare floorboards. Furniture is often painted white or grey — a soft, knocked-back look — though the style itself may be quite ornate.

Though not allergic to flowers, the French are not fans of chintz, that quintessentially English fabric, but prefer either very loud floral prints from the likes of Canovas, or the subtle madder- or blue-on-white tones of Toiles de Jouy. Further south, the Indian-inspired paisleys of Provencal fabrics in rich mustard, green and red are popular. Curtains may range from multiple layers of chiffon drapes in the grand Parisian style, to nothing at all in the countryside, where shutters provide the only protection from the weather. However, if you live in the average British street and need privacy, heavy cotton curtains with repeat designs will give you a more French look than the plain nylon net beloved of the British.

French interiors, even in a British setting, are not difficult to create, even if you never set foot in the 'Hexagone', though it is vastly useful to be able to pay a visit to the odd brocante. But don't be too hidebound by rules in creating a French-style interior — the French themselves have borrowed from every style in the world, including British, and after all, it would be tiresome to have everything in good taste!

Sitting room  

Most ordinary French people spend their evenings in the kitchen and either do not have a living room, or have a 'salon' reserved for family events. The grand salon is a stiffly formal affair, with chairs placed against the walls and few soft furnishings of the squashy sofa type. The middle-classes and above, however, do have petit salons that the British would recognise as living rooms. Here the furniture is usually Louis XV or XVI-style (ie: rather curlier than English style) with a heavy velvet finish, or Empire-style with a brocade finish. Wooden furniture has hand carving and curved panelling, with ornate handles and finger-plate, and is usually in fine woods, or painted — the 'stripped-pine' look is not in French taste. The petit salon, though relaxed, is still often more formal than an English sitting room and readers might prefer to merge styles in order to retain some comfort.

Bedroom  

The French bedroom is instantly recognisable, partly because of the shape of the bed. French beds tend to have very high footboards compared with their headboards and the footless, divan type of bed is rarely used. Bedframes may be plain wood, as in a bateau-en-lit (boat-bed, or sleigh-bed) type, or carved wood padded with fabric in the Louis XV or XIV style. The four-poster is a rarer creature — the French generally prefer to canopy their beds at the head end only. Also popular are 'daybed'-style beds, turned side-on against the wall, and in this case, they may be canopied from head to foot.

Sometimes a room may have a complete set of matching furniture, but this is not de rigeur. Toile de Jouy often figures heavily in the bedroom, along with the type of wholecloth quilt known as a 'boutis', and in general, feminity rules, with lots of lace and ruffles. French bedding often has a lace edge to the sheets and pillowcases, and the pillows should be square, not oblong.