A facade in Provençal style
Pale stone, green shutters and lavender accents — the French countryside.
The Provençal style joins southern warmth to rural simplicity. It is characterised by pale, slightly creamy renders, light stone on the plinth and corners, and timber shutters in muted green, grey or blue. The whole thing is gentle and bleached, as though years of sun had softened it.
The muted palette is the key. The green of the shutters is never intense, always grey-green; the blue carries a hint of grey. That faded quality is what separates Provence from the Mediterranean style, which works in cleaner, stronger colour.
A Provençal facade suits houses with a pitched roof, ideally in a warm-toned tile. It looks best on buildings with shutters, or at least with room to add them — that detail builds the style more strongly than the wall colour does.
Which houses it suits
- Houses with a pitched roof and a regular window layout
- Buildings with shutters, or where they can be added
- Plots with a natural, informal garden
Colours and materials
- Cream and sand renders
- Muted green and blue shutters
- Pale stone on the plinth
Common questions
Do the shutters have to work?
No — fixed decorative shutters give the same visual effect at much lower cost. What matters is that each leaf is about half the width of the window, otherwise they look wrong.
What shutter colour should I choose?
Grey-green or grey-blue is the safest. A clean, intense green starts to look cheap quickly. Compare two or three shades on a photo of your own house.
Similar styles
