Toile de Jouy is just a material, usually cotton or linen, published with comprehensive patterns depicting country scenes, mythological figures, vegetables and flowers. The intricately patterned style originated in India, a 15th-century import to Europe. In 1760, a successful business in Jouy-en-Josas, France developed a sophisticated process for printing multicolored or monochromatic toile. The most familiar toile is black design on a white background — navy or blue toile still thrives as a favorite material in interior decor.
Boudoir Bleu
You can overdo it using toile, even when it’s a monochromatic navy. Do not overwhelm a bedroom using a lot of toile the eyes glaze over. Isolate lovely examples of the fabric so its intricate designs stand out. An upholstered navy toile headboard, narrow navy-and-white striped sheets and a solid navy or color-blocked navy-and-white bedspread lets the charm of a country picnic scene or an explosion of flowers and fruit on the headboard shine. Utilize exactly the same toile for drapes but keep the rest of the room restful strong whites and blues using white-framed furniture — or add small touches of cherry red, at a decorative pillow or a lampshade using wood-framed furnishings.
Salon de Toile
A navy toile cushion cover a daybed or navy toile upholstery on a sofa gives a light, romantic or casual personality to the living room. As a span design, toile feels informal when the stories, scenes and objects repeated in the patterns are printed on linen or cotton. Add a surprise touch having a glimpse of toile lining on floor-length, bold navy-and-white striped drapes. Or restrict toile to a few throw pillows or the fabric in a vintage wing chair. If you’re working with a room filed with French period furniture, cover the fauteuils at navy-on-unbleached-linen toile, the chaise in striped damask and the sofa in hot pink cotton or fine linen grain sacking using one navy stripe.
Pop the Powder Room
Cover the walls of the guest toilet in navy toile, but hunt for a surprise pattern which, on close inspection, reveals cartoon characters engaged in the delicate narrative scenes. The impression of vintage toile greets guests first; even the detail of the design is a light touch. Keep the rest of the decor as conventional as you would to get a traditional toile pattern: white cabinets and fixtures, white eyelet curtains and shower curtain, navy rug, chrome faucets and accessories. A white ceramic pitcher full of blue hydrangeas complements the blue-and-white colour scheme and adds a scent of state garden to the room.
La Cuisine Rustique
Your pastoral French kitchen is going to be a bit fancy using toile decor but the material functions when it’s used in moderation. Toile is just a casual material, but a decorative design, so let it punctuate, not control kitchen decor. Navy toile cafe curtains in an all-white kitchen are crisp; gathered navy toile beneath the counters conceals the contents of open shelving. In a pastoral kitchen using terra-cotta tile floors, a scarred hardwood table and rush-bottomed seats, scatter navy toile placemats and napkins or navy toile dishtowels. Toss a braided solid navy rug from the sink and place a large wooden bowl of red apples on the table. Treat yourself to your toile oven mitt or a navy toile apron. The chef must look the part when hooking up an expert omelet or serving the souffle.