Trends: French Kissed

Forget the interminable attachment of “French” to “country” — rooms loaded with studiously distressed armoires and flowerpots, yards of Provencal-style fabric, ceramic roosters galore. Happily, a new understanding of la mode ­française is dawning, one that’s less defined by a curse of the quaints.

Achieving this style means assuming the attitude of a chic 21st-century ­Parisienne in a gracious Eighth Arrondissement apartment with high ceilings and tall windows. As antiques dealer Josephine Ryan writes in French Home, the look should ooze “nonchalance underscored by enormous confidence.” Some guidelines: 1) Don’t buy it if there’s no coup de foudre (love at first sight). 2) One investment piece casts a certain je ne sais quoi over everything else. 3) Leave space blank. 4) Take risks. Embrace personal quirks. No roosters. Voilà.