French Country: Enchanting Yellow & White

 This home from Country French Magazine caught my attention.

It has all the elements I think are important.

Its time for me to redecorate since I will soon be incorporating

 two households of furniture into one.

So I started off by putting together magazine pics
 of the rooms I love,

 to give me direction when I have to 
choose and edit our furnishings.

Painted furniture, french chandeliers, curvy furniture...

 Yellow walls, white slipcovers, 

garden decor brought indoors, and touches of black....

 Vintage furniture and garden urns topped by an old chandelier. Yellow and white.

 Fancy old mirrors, more chandeliers, urns, touches of floral in the carpeting and artwork...

 This theme repeats itself in this other home that was also featured in Country French.

A beautiful pastel floral carpet sets the tone in this yellow room with pink, green, blue and white.

Smocked toile draperies and gilt touches in the mirror and the chandy add elegance.

 Darling damask lampshades in 

raspberry sit on a painted yellow sideboard.

 Yellow walls, floral rugs, iron and painted furniture, white slipcovers with floral pillows...

more toile draperies between the door frames~

enchanting without overpowering the living room.

Vintage pieces in furniture, lighting, baskets, and the

painted trumeau mirror give this room classic french appeal.

WHAT TO USE?

I have things that I would love to use in our Boston house,
 that are in our NH house that is going to be sold next month.
Trying to keep the things you are fond of and at the same time creating a room
 like the ones I am attracted to is a challenge.
 Realistically most of us don't toss out our things and start from scratch.
Most of us redecorate using things we have and perhaps
adding a few new elements like drapes, a mirror or a new carpet.
 Here are some of the things I could use in the living room:

A pair of yellow and white toile slipcovered loveseats with ottoman, a white slipcovered sofa, a painted country hutch, black and white toile draperies with matching slipped wing chair, ivory mirrors, a black floral needlepoint rug, a tole tray collection, lace panels...

 pink and green toile draperies, a room sized lilac lace patterned rug, purple transferware, french provincial marble top table, iron and carved wood coffee and end tables (and I am not averse to painting them off white!), yellow patterned asian toile London shades  with pink and yellow tassel trim, a black leopard frenchy chair...

This rug is in the NH shop Rustique. Her blog button is on my sidebar, The Rehab Boutique.
 I was taking a pic of the stuff on top of it...but this rug stayed in my mind. 
I like the faded vintage feel, but wonder if it would be too small in front of the couch.
 I'll have to call Bridget and get the measurements! 

 I sold the brown sofa above and have moved in the white slipcovered sofa. I also removed the aqua floral rug as it was too colorful and modern feeling. The yellow window treatments I am ambivalent about...they are kind of bright. I have added linen fleur~de~lis panels sheer panels underneath and they create a softer feel. Would I be better off with new linen panels or some of my toile panels instead?

The black needlepoint rug is in here now, but it is not like any of my model pictures from the magazines.

I could try the small faded hooked rug from Rustique or use my large lilac rug...

I am happy with the  sofa and the floral french quilted pillows against the yellow walls.

What about if I painted the iron and wood coffee table ivory and got rid of the leather ottoman?
If I get rid of the black rug, the bright top treatments and use a creamy distressed coffee table, that might be what I need? I would love your thoughts! It is not uncommon for decorators to struggle when making their own decorating decisions, so any feedback you have would be helpful and fun to read!

I had hubs hang an iron fitting from a plumbing supply store to hand a lace panel against the staircase. 
I love how it looks! Our family photos litter the top of the piano now.

Real french lace is yummy.

I took this picture last night...I tucked an iron plant stand next to my front door.

Here it is in daylight. This shows the truer wall color: Ben Moore Harp Strings. It is a happy cheery yellow. Living in New England is probably the reason I go towards a yellow wall instead of the now popular greys.

I also use a lot of mirrors when I decorate. This venetian mirror is hanging above the mantel at the moment. I repainted the mantel white over the blue I had painted this spring. I know, I know....but I don't mind tweaking and painting until I get it right. This mantel started white, then went pink, then faux bois in a wax finish, then blue with a white glaze and now back to Dove White. In just 3 years! I still have yet to accessorize the mantel.

I want the living room to coordinate in feeling with the dining room. I love the light airiness of this space. I switched the position of the table and stuck it against the wall and plopped a little lamp. Its a large peninsula now and it opens the room up by this unusual arrangement.

I'll be moving down furniture from NH and adding to this room and subtracting. 
 I would love to hear your thoughts on what YOU think YOU would do to try and recreate the look of the homes in Country French magazine!