As we mentioned in ‘What is Coastal French Design?’, color is where a Coastal French look begins. In trying to meld the two interior design approaches, what makes any item work is its adherence to a strict (yet soft) color palette. Basically, Coastal French paint colors are confined to anything you’d see at a non-tropical beach: muted blues, bleached greens, pale yellows, beiges, browns, whites, and grays.

Maybe the occasional lavender and light orange, too.

Coastal + French

All of those beachy, coastal tones are present in the vast offering that is French decor. With their age-old facades, stonework floors and plaster walls, the French live life in a narrative of neutrals. Building on that base, they love a pairing of blue and cream (you see it all over Paris), and for crying out loud, they coined the noun/adjective ‘verdigris’ (a natural, sort of sophisticated version of seafoam green .. think Statue of Liberty).

French Colors that Don’t Belong

The reds and yellow ochres at home in some French Country interiors don’t have a place here. They aren’t found in coastal nature, so they get lopped out of the Coastal French palette. Moving beyond paint, you can see how these Provencal placemats look out of place with every other photo on the page. Coupled with ornate patterns, they prove too boisterous for the eye.

However, there are some that could work by retreating back to the prescribed Coastal French paint colors:

Btw, these tablewares are from a beautiful shop called Les Colorades in l’Isle-sur-la Sorgue, France with the most lovely attendant. If you get the chance, go! If that’s not happening anytime soon, they ship. 😉

Coastal French Paint Palette

Back to paint colors! Here are the ones we’ve used in the Coastal French makeover of our Dutch Colonial. Some are by Annie Sloan chalk paint, and the rest are by Benjamin Moore. Further down are links to the rooms where we used them, and you can click on each paint swatch image to go to its product page:

ANNIE SLOAN:

• Graphite (interior doors and interior front door)
• Old White (kitchen cabinets and master bedroom furniture)
• Paris Grey (kitchen cabinets and master bedroom furniture)
• French Linen (master bedroom furniture)
• Country Grey (dining room chair)
• Paloma (master bedroom fireplace)
• Duck Egg Blue (dining room trim)
• Aubusson Blue (dining room trim and basement accent wall)

BENJAMIN MOORE:

• China White (dining room, powder room, family room)
• Harwood Putty (all trim work and exterior)
• Misty Gray (kitchen)
• Bruton White (kid bedrooms and bathroom)
• Shoreline (master bedroom)
• Brittany Blue (living room)
• Ice Formations (deck)

Here are a few others we love, but haven’t had occasion to use… yet:

Never miss a post … subscribe here to get Coastal French inspiration for Home, Travel & Life!