French Country Furniture has a timeless popularity. Indeed, many people are drawn to the curvy, comfortable yet elegant French Country style they have seen in books and designer magazines for years.
But, just what is French Country Style?
French Country style typically has a relaxed yet elegant look. Unlike formal French styles, like Louis XIV or French Empire, French Country typically has furnishings with more relaxed finishes, simple fabrics, and an overall homey look.
So, for example, you may find relaxed bergere chairs in a living room and French ladder back stools in the kitchen. Also, you may find rush seats, worn antique tables with warm patinas, checks, stripes and toile fabrics. Sometimes, painted furniture plays a role in French Country design as well. Finally, casual slip covers and tossed floral pillows add more layers to the look.
French Provincial
Often furniture companies adapted the term “French Provincial” to describe their country French pieces. French Provincial design has evolved from the 18th Century “Provinces” or manor home found in the countryside of France. Logically, the definition of French Provincial pertains to this type of manor style decorating, with an emphasis on elegant antiques, and a layered and elegant look.
So, really “French Provincial style” can encompass many of the same things of French Country style.
Where can I buy French Country Furniture?
French Country furniture falls under the “traditional” design umbrella. Unfortunately, traditional styles can be tough to find these days in modern furniture stores.
During the late 1960s through the late 1990s, French Country designs were very en vogue. So, it was not unusual to walk into a modern furniture store and see the beautiful sinuous lines, checkered fabric and toiles so crucial to this design trend.
Today, you may have to do some hunting. Your best bet for finding beautiful, quality Country French style furniture would be in :
- Antique Shops
- Vintage Stores
- Online Antique Stores
- Large Online Venues such as Ebay, First Dibs and Chairish.
Today, you may find that French Country Vintage Furniture is not only more affordable than you may expect, but also of better quality than furniture made today.
So, we decided to rank our favorite Country French Style Vintage Furniture brands to look for. These brands will ensure you purchase a high quality vintage piece for your home.
1. Century Furniture
Century Furniture made incredible French Country dining room, living room and bedroom furniture during the late 1980s through the early 2000’s. In fact, Century Furniture’s French lines continue to have a great resale value as well, largely because their pieces had great scale and were super heavy.
You may find Century Furniture dining room furniture with trestle tables, rush seat chairs and incredible lighted china cabinets. And many of these pieces were generously proportioned for large American homes.
Often, Century Furniture replicated the finish of real French antiques with some distressing, and warm honey colored woods. These “Old World” touches really look great in new homes. Of course, Century Furniture always showed great quality with doweled and dovetailed joints. You can be sure that a French Country Century piece will be of great quality and condition, even decades later.
2. Drexel Heritage
Drexel Heritage is another fabulous American company that really embraced European styles like French Country. And because Drexel Heritage had such a large nationwide distribution, you can likely find several pieces of Drexel on the market today.
Drexel French Country bedroom furniture pieces may have a natural wood finish. The Drexel Heritage Brittany Collection, for instance, focused on a very rich brown using oak and walnut woods. Then, they add a deep rich brown stain that may appear darker in the paneling and around the edges to produce a patina look.
However, Drexel Heritage also experimented with several painted finishes throughout their long history. The North Carolina company had a fabulous painted furniture finish that involved lots of layers of paint and lacquer, to accomplish a very high end look. In the case of their French Country Furniture, you may find gold and cream as a common color scheme.
In fact, this cream and gold look was imitated by other less expensive brands, including Dixie Furniture Company. Dixie offered a nice French Provincial look of Drexel for a lot less money. So, these types of Dixie dressers and Dixie French buffets are common on the market today (and of less high end quality).
3. Permacraft
Permacraft Furniture is not widely known anymore, but during the 1940s through the 1960s, this company made some great French Country Furniture.
Of course, Permacraft furniture company became widely known for their solid cherry bedroom and dining room furniture during this time.
No doubt, you will see the undulating drawers, gilded hardware and rich cherry finishes on Permacraft dressers and night tables of the era. Mostly, the company focused on selling a rich red cherry finish. Though, often you will see a light natural variation in the cherry drawer fronts.
Permacraft is a great company to consider if you decide to “antique” your furniture with chalk paint. Likely, you will find Permacraft may be more affordable than other brands on our list, and the French Country Permacraft is definitely a quality option.
4. Ethan Allen Country French Furniture
Most people have familiarity with Ethan Allen. In fact, Ethan Allen appealed to so many consumers because they made so many different styles of furniture and really acted as a chameleon of furniture companies.
Ethan Allen Country French Furniture garnered a lot of attention in the 1980s and 1990s amongst upper middle class homeowners. Indeed, many people flocked to the mix of painted and wood finishes common on Ethan Allen Country French dining tables and chairs.
Most of Ethan Allen’s Country French lines were crafted of solid maple, so the rich warm tones of wood worked well in these casual elegant homes.
5.Widdicomb Vintage Furniture
Widdicomb Furniture Company had a very prestigious reputation for their solid cherry bedroom furniture. This Grand Rapids, Michigan Company was eventually purchased by another reputable fine furniture company, Stickley Furniture.
However, during their time in business, Widdicomb crafted incredible solid cherry French Provincial style bedroom furniture. Widdicomb Cherry dressers often weigh a ton and have incredible fine furniture details.
For one, you will find all dovetailed drawers with oak and cherry. Secondly, Widdicomb Cherry bedroom furniture often features the most glamorous brass hardware. Typically, Widdicomb utilized a glossy finish on their pieces that protected their wood from ware and tear. So, likely you will find a Widdicomb dresser from the 1950s to be in tip top shape even after all of these years.
6. Henredon Furniture
Henredon Furniture’s Villandry Line was in production during the 1960s and 1970s. Despite its age, this line of furniture takes the cake in terms of reproducing the patina of real old French furniture.
Usually crafted of oak or walnut, Henredon French Country furniture has a nice “washed look” which no doubt involved multiple layers of stain and finish. Deep rich areas are interspersed with lighter strains to give Henredon Country French furniture an aged appearance. In fact, someone may think you have a very valuable antique in your home if you go with Henredon furniture. To the untrained eye, this warm finish looks very old.
Also, Henredon Country French furniture featured beautiful and finely made carvings on the corners and legs. Often, delicately carved crests topped Henredon desks, Henredon cabinets and Henredon bookshelves in the French Country style.
Finally, many Henredon secretaries and Henredon china cabinets had chicken wire in the doors. This little extra detail helps the fine furniture by Henredon have an even more relaxed and homey look.
7. Thomasville French Provincial Furniture
Silly me, I almost forgot Thomasville French Provincial Furniture on this list. (Bonus! #7) With so many years of dominance, Thomasville Furniture ranks high on the list of popular vintage furniture brands. Like Ethan Allen, Thomasville dabbled in many different styles of furniture. However, French Country furniture by Thomasville is one not to be missed!
Thomasville made great cherry furniture for many decades in their Carolina factories. Indeed, Thomasville prided themselves in offering a great quality product to upper middle class Americans for many years. So, French style Thomasville furniture is one you really should consider. While Thomasville Furniture Company no longer produces French Provincial furniture, you should be able to find vintage Thomasville French furniture with relative ease.
Sporting ornate hardware and with curved front drawers, Thomasville French Country furniture still has an elegant look. Also, the drawers on Thomasville French dressers often have extra details, like curved trim or brass keyholes. You will find that often long dressers by Thomasville can serve as French style buffets in the dining room, or as T.V. stands in the living room.
Vintage French Country Furniture
So there you have it! Our picks for the top Six Best Vintage Furniture Companies to search for when you are ready to start your quest for a French Country home.