How To Incorporate The 'French-Girl Style' Into Your Home

French-girl chic is often described as an ephemeral style, regularly changing as fashion and interior design trends shift and transform at the drop of a hat. At once fresh and young but also mired in centuries of tradition, the French are always the most fashionable and adept at setting the bar for unique and surprising interiors. Paris apartments are often housed in beautiful antique buildings crowned with high ceilings, enviable balconies, ample fireplaces, gilt mirrors, and chandeliers. The French are equally well known for sleek modernist spaces and contemporary interiors.

In spaces already dripping with history and charm, the French-girl aesthetic tends to boldly mix elements drawn from multiple eras and design periods, frequently guiding the cutting edge of unique and trendsetting interiors. French-girl spaces feel contemporary while pulling on the vast history of interior architecture and design. According to The Zoe Report, recent trends in French-girl homes reinforce their expertise in combining fascinating traditions and unexpected elements. The results are stunning and timeless, with an energy of effortlessness and ease embodied by the French-girl life.

French-girl aesthetic favors juxtaposition — new and old, hard and soft, curved and geometric. When it comes to larger furniture trends in French-girl apartments, you will likely see upholstered and hard pieces with presence, including intricate and eye-catching light fixtures in wire finishes of gold, black, and copper. Modern lamps are often paired with mid-century classics like entertainment consoles, which revel in craftsmanship and clean lines. Antique or vintage pieces are seamlessly combined with new ones.

Natural and vintage-inspired cane chairs and similar pieces of furniture like nightstands, stools, and cabinetry doors are organic elements that can sometimes ground more modern, space-age rooms. French homes often include curvaceous, glossy acrylic stools, dining tables, and accent pieces in bold colors with a solid retro feel. French apartment architectural elements like elegant moldings make a beautiful combination with contemporary and streamlined pieces that seem to have stepped in from the future. Similarly, antique pieces and luxe velvet furniture often accompany avant-garde or mid-century art and accessories.

Accessories and accent pieces in the French-girl aesthetic often embody organic shapes and materials with texture and sculptural appeal. Curved and asymmetrical mirrors in wavy and oblong shapes are popular, as are vases, busts, and other decorative pieces in the shape of the female body. From legs and torsos to gently sloped pieces that abstractly render feminine form, French-girl interiors cannot get enough of them. 

Modular candle holders, which provide a berth for multiple taper candles, always a standby of French interiors, are abstract and modern-looking twists on more traditional candelabra. Pampas grass and dried flowers, which have had their heyday in boho-inspired interiors, add an organic and natural touch to even the most urban residences. Bunches can easily be found peeking out from large and small vases with feathery fronds in dreamy, soft colors and neutral tones. These more organic and feminine elements combine with the sharp modernness of mid-century and contemporary pieces they often accompany. There is also a sense of haphazardness and imperfection, including mixed woods, stacks of books, and a lived-in feel. The effect is intentional with an air of casualness, which suitably echoes the effortless French-girl style.