Use any of a variety of paint techniques to accent a French style bedroom design.

To add dimension, pattern and color to walls in a French-style bedroom, apply one of a variety of faux finishes or specialty paint treatments to give them an aged appearance. Time-worn walls give any French room an authentic look and feel. Walls with painted designs also enhance the European flair of the room.

How to Paint French style bedroom designs

Color Wash

Highlight the walls in a room with a color wash faux finish technique. Choose the three top colors from a paper paint-selection strip as the basis for the wall treatment for a subtle effect. Hues such as tan, cream and yellow are appropriate selections for French style bedroom designs. After the initial application of a base coat with one of the values of paint, dip a soft cloth in a glaze and paint mixture and swirl it on the walls in a circular motion. One or two values of the same color gives the walls depth and an appearance of age.

Sponge Finish

Create walls with a time-worn look and feel with a sponge paint faux treatment. Select the two top colors on a paper paint-selection strip in hues such as soft yellow or French blue. Choosing two adjacent values ensures the final finish will have a soft appearance. Use one of the shades as the wall base coat, and mix the second value with glaze. Dip a sponge in the mixture, and pounce on the wall in a random pattern. For a French provincial room, include an additional layer of metallic glaze to bring out the gilding details often found in this style of furniture.

Stripe Technique

Add visual depth with striped walls. Use a ruler and painter’s tape to mark off equal vertical sections on a wall. Select two values on a paper paint-selection strip. Shades that are adjacent will create a more subdued look, while values that are one or two shades apart will produce a more noticeable final effect. To differentiate the stripes even further, use a flat finish paint on one value stripe and a gloss finish on the second stripe to create a shiny and flat-paint effect. This technique has a formal look to complement a French provincial room as opposed to a more informal French country decor.

Decorative Stencil

Use a wall stencil in a toile de jouy pattern to add visual interest to your room. Toile de jouy is a quintessential French design that depicts French country landscapes. Wallpaper with toile designs can be very costly, so an alternative is to incorporate a pattern that is applied with a wall stencil. Paint the wall a solid color, such as cream, tan or yellow, and use painter’s tape to adhere the stencil to the wall. Specialty wall stencils are oversized, which makes them user-friendly for large stencil projects. Use a red, black or blue acrylic craft paint to apply the stencil treatment for a bold look or a dark cream, medium tan or medium yellow for an effect that gives the walls a muted, European appearance.

French Style Bedroom Designs