Thanks for you kind words about my posts, refuge 821. I have to add that I love to redecorate but that doesn't mean I throw out furniture and start over. Far from it. I have a Tuscan look going in my house, but my dining room furniture is a medium golden oak., not what you would consider Italian looking. However the china cabinet is curved at the top and sort of formal looking which sort of looks that style.
I've found that what furniture companies label Tuscan or Country French or whatever is just their interpretation of that style. (They have to keep changing it so they can sell more furniture LOL) I have looked online at Tuscan villas that are for rent and a lot of different furniture styles are used in the 'real thing'.
I was surprised to see my exact china cabinet in a furniture store being shown as Country French and the only difference was the front of the cabinet was painted green! (my husband would kill me if I painted the china cabinet, so that idea was out!)
Anyway, I would say the furniture style is a country version of a formal style. The chairs are Queen Anne style which aren't Tuscan looking either (although those pics online of real Italian houses had Queen Anne chairs sometimes). My solution was to re-upholster the chairs myself, something I've done about 4 times since I've been married. It's very easy, just unscrew the seats, pull off the old fabric and take a staple gun and staple the new fabric on. You pull the corners tight and staple the material in place. If you examine the original upholstery you can figure out how to do it. I used an Old World looking fabric. Another thing you can do to make chairs look more the Tuscan style is to cover them with those fabric chair covers that tie in the back (like they use at weddings).
Then I took the American country looking handles off the china cabinet and sideboard and put something more Tuscan looking on. The rest was done with tall candle holders on the table, textured paint, and pictures and accessories and the dishes I have in the cabinet. I actually like the lighter wood furniture better than the dark Mediterranean woods they are showing now because that room is sort of dark for half of the day. With my apricot paint and light wood the room reminds me of sunny Italy, which is what I was going for.
Accessories can really change the whole look of a room. I get lots of things at thrift stores and antiques stores (not the expensive stuff though) and T.J. Maxx is a great source too.
Not saying my stuff is all that great, but hey, if it makes me happy and sometimes I get compliments, then I'm just saying—you don't have to spend a ton of money to get the look you want.
P.S. My bedroom furniture is 32 yrs old and was called Italian Provencial back when I got it. My sister asked me a few years ago when I was going to get new bedroom furniture. I told her it was so far out of style that its back in again- which actually is true. It wasn't 'In” when everything was country furniture but I kept it because it was a wedding gift, Thomasville, and I think, very pretty. We took good care of it. Her question annoyed me, so I decided to do my whole house in an Italian look to go with my bedroom furniture!
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