| |

French Country Home Tour – Maison Decor

Today I’m taking you on a  French country home tour in New England that I hope you enjoy! Lots of love has been poured into customizing this home that belongs to my friend Amy Chalmers. She is someone that I’ve known via our blogs for quite some time and I admire her many talents. Amy is an artist, designer, former shop owner, antique collector, dollhouse dabbler, and more. Those are plenty of passions and they all keep her busy, along with spending family time with her husband, grown children, granddaughter and dogs. Let’s step in from this bucolic scene that leads you into the garden.

french country home tour garden gate

Lots of pretty outdoor vignettes accent the white exterior that has black shutters and white picket fences in typical New England style.

new england home and garden french country home tour

FRENCH COUNTRY HOME TOUR

Amy is truly a master at incorporating French antiques into her home. She has had a long standing love affair with all things European since childhood and tells us… “I grew up living overseas with my parents and 4 siblings. There I developed an appreciation for older things while traveling Europe and I loved what I saw in the hotels, museum, restaurants and the architecture. I have a love for decorating and built a business around it, although now I am retired. My passion is interior design, and incorporating older pieces with a European influence.”

dining room in a french country home tour

She has scoured New England for some of her incredible chandeliers, including the rare opaline fixtures shown. She paints and tinkers and always amazes with her talents, as you can see more of on Amy’s blog here- MAISON DECOR. I love following what she’s up to daily over on her INSTAGRAM page as well – AMY MAISON DECOR

french country home tour amy chalmers

“My parents taught me how to repair, restore and fix things around the house as a young girl.  We were always doing projects, including wallpapering, painting, restoring old windows, gardening, etc. and that is how I live my life to this day.  Always finding older pieces to upcycle and fit in our home”.

majolica collection in a french country home tour

Shabby chic pastels with French painting techniques, gilding and Italian Florentine all mingle seamlessly.

vintage florentine chest

Recently Amy has been painting landscapes and gets a lot of pleasure creating artwork for her home. A peek of the wall panel and framed landscape painting below that is framed in a gilded French style frame. Her talent never ceases to amaze! She’s amazing with decorative finishes as well, having taught others to paint in her former shop.

pastoral french landscape painting

french country home tour mora clock

A pull back shot shows more of Amy’s French country style, using pieces that please her and make her happy.

french country home tour shabbyfufu

Not one to follow trends, she stays true to her aesthetic but constantly freshens things up. ” I will forever be decorating our home as I think interiors stay fresh with changes and reflect the owners interests and stages of life.So that is why a couch may get reupholstered or moved into the dining room as additional seating, and a room may begin the day blue but end up white by dusk.”

french country home tour living room

“Personal style is always my approach, and its best to follow what suits your own preferences rather than what may be the current flavor of decor. Have fun with it and add a touch of whimsy as well as a few antiques and I think you will end up with a very charming place to live.”

A glimpse into Amy’s kitchen and you can see more on HER BLOG.

Another of the French style landscapes on canvas tucked on the wall behind the nightstand. Always a work in progress with room decor changing and moved from space to space.

Never shy of taking on new challenges, Amy has recently been decorating an incredible miniature version of a French country home. “Dollhouse decorating is a brand new hobby that I fell into after seeing a dollhouse at a consignment shop. I found quite a lot of fulfillment playing around with this old dollhouse, envisioning it to be a French chateau.I attempted to create and remodel miniatures to fit that criteria. It is a great indoor hobby for our long New England winters.” Seeing her unique dollhouse is a French country home tour unto itself!

The details in this dollhouse are imaginative and realistic, with much more detail shown on Amy’s Instagram feed.

What’s your favorite thing about Amy’s home? Please leave a comment or question if you have one, as I’m sure that she’ll be checking in! If you enjoyed this post, you might want to see some other recent French style home tours, linked below:
VINTAGE HOME – SIMPLY FRENCH MARKET TOUR
MODERN FRENCH COUNTRY DECOR – HOME TOUR
FRENCH FARMHOUSE HOME TOUR

French Country Home Tour

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

31 Comments

  1. Christiane Lavoie says:

    Lovely home. Love the colors, the yard. Thanks for sharing !

    1. She’s done a wonderful job!

  2. Pamela J Milligan says:

    Love, Love, Love!!!

    1. So glad that you loved this tour!

  3. Anne Marie says:

    Really unique and inspirational.

    1. That’s the key I think to a beautiful home. Make it unique and your own! Enjoy your week.

  4. Amy Chalmers says:

    Good morning Janet! What a pleasure to be included in your Sunday home tour feature. Thank you!

    1. My pleasure Amy and everyone just loved it!

  5. I have been following Amy since I started. I love her style and she is an inspiration.

    I have enjoyed this style since visiting Newport RI several times. I am incorporating some portions in our new home. It takes time but I’m happier with our home.

    Cindy

    1. Amy is so inspiring and gifted! So happy that you loved the tour Cindy and hope you have a great week.

  6. I love Amy’s style and started following her blog when she still had her shop… I have gotten so many ideas from her, but would love to know where to find such pieces. I am always perusing antique shops, consignment shops, and thrift stores trying to find like minded pieces and always come up short… French Country style defines the direction I wanted to take our little cottage in and I keep staying true to mu mission. Thank you for this post!

    1. She’s incredible for sure Cara. I think that living in New England there are just some amazing pieces still to be found. Several of the homes I’ve recently featured are in the same are and have beautiful old treasures.

  7. It always amazes me to see someone who can paint a picture to hang in their home. They are so lovely and I shudder to think what a picture I would paint would look like. Equally impressive is someone who has the patience to decorate a doll house in the French style. I have enough trouble with my home!

    1. I know what you mean Margo and for me I would have trouble with miniatures, as those tiny details take such great small motor skills!

  8. Thank you! I’ll now go to her blog!

    1. Terrific….she has some amazing posts!

  9. ruth staley says:

    Thank you Amy for the tour of your home ,I have always wanted a French doll house , you have inspired me to start one and to make it as wonderful as yours , what a great project, I am also decorating my home in Country French with quite a search for pieces, I am envious of your finds. I love your bathroom french shelf, I look forward to seeing more of your blogs .Ruth

  10. Cindy DeMay says:

    I found a dollhouse that looks exactly like our home. I’ve been trying to find some french country dollhouse furniture to fill it with to no avail. Love her furniture she found. Does she have a source I could look into? Absolutely love the tour. Thank you Jan

    1. Hi Jan. What a great find in your dollhouse!! I would suggest going to Amy’s blog and see if she’s linked any sources. I have seen that she makes some of the tiny treasures herself!

  11. What a gorgeous home – I love Amy’s style! And her dollhouse! That is the coolest thing ever! I used to have one, and spent so much happy time with it. I’m heading right over to her blog asap! Thanks so much for the wonderful tours, Janet – I’ve loved every one!

    1. Good morning Barbara and I’m so glad that you’re enjoying the tours!

  12. Laura Harrie says:

    Amy’s French doll house sitting on the cedar chest stopped me in my tacks. I inherited my grandmother’s cedar hope chest which looks so similar. My great uncle made her hope chest. I wonder what the history is behind Amy’s.

    1. That dollhouse is so amazing! Amy has a rich family history and perhaps she has more about the cedar chest on her blog?

  13. Kathie E Rogers says:

    Absolutely beautiful! You have such a great philosophy. I love the subtle touches you add to every nook.

  14. Love Amy’s style and have been following her for years! Thanks for sharing her talent on your blog!

    1. I’m so glad that you enjoyed the tour!

  15. Teresa Snipes says:

    Amy’s canvases are incredible! She is sooo talented! To be so bold using lavender sofas, etc. tells me what an independent thinker and designer she is.

    Thanks for sharing!

    Blessings from a Central Florida neighbor,
    Teresa

    1. Hi Teresa! Amy is a true gem…a talented DIYer that I greatly admire! Hope you have a great week ahead

  16. I was a loyal customer of her shop, Maison Decor, in Massachusetts and miss it a lot. Good to have the blog, though.

  17. Gosh this is a really lovely home tour. Thanks Janet!

    1. Glad that you enjoyed this tour Annie! xo