| How to achieve the Tuscan look in decorating for | | | | many of the designs. For instance, stools may have |
| your home. What are the main elements that define | | | | bases shaped like an X, which is a hallmark of the |
| Tuscan style in terms of colors, textures and | | | | more eastern style not known before in Europe. |
| materials. | | | | Some of the planters or pedestals for vases show |
| The foundation of Tuscan style is the use of earthy | | | | decidedly Greek influence in the way they are made. |
| colors such as ochre, brick and olive and deep green. | | | | What has become known as the Tuscan style is |
| These colors depict the life of Tuscany, with the rich | | | | really a mixture of many different styles from the |
| farm fields of deep earth, the olive trees and poplars, | | | | ancient world. Furniture especially reflects the |
| and the stucco colors of the buildings. In Tuscan | | | | influences of Greek and Roman architecture mixed |
| design, deep colors such as this are mixed with | | | | with Renaissance style: legs of tables and chairs that |
| muted beiges and yellows to form a lovely | | | | are made like columns, with backs of chairs carved |
| variegated palette. The paintings that depict the area | | | | more in the Renaissance style. The geometric lines of |
| will have beautiful terraces of green fields, lined with | | | | Gregor-Roman design mixes easily with the ornate |
| poplars and sprinkled with small Tuscan farmhouses in | | | | touches of ornamentation and curves that the |
| the earthy tones of the region. | | | | Renaissance is known for. |
| The roots of this style are from the fourteenth | | | | Many times, a Tuscan design will include a top made |
| century, when a great shift in European architecture | | | | of mosaics. Table tops, floors and walls may include a |
| occurred. Giotto and Brunelleschi, architects of that | | | | design that depicts a scene, but it is executed in |
| era, learned how to build buildings that were taller and | | | | stones, or small pieces of glass or pottery. The |
| stronger. Because of this strength, they could be | | | | influence for this is from Tuscan cathedrals which, in |
| topped with beautiful domes, even though they | | | | turn, were inspired by Roman places of worship that |
| seemed to be supported by the most slender of | | | | Had wide use of mosaics. |
| columns. Ornamentation, symmetry and elaborate | | | | Another important element of Tuscan design is |
| ironwork became symbolic of this style. Mosaics were | | | | texture. Marble, rough hewn stone and other similar |
| used extensively to reflect the Roman roots of the | | | | materials abound. The colors of these elements is |
| area. A typical Tuscan villa would have incorporated all | | | | particularly popular, with beige and tan marble colors, |
| of these elements. | | | | or clay stone colors used extensively. Accessories |
| Tuscany was at a crossroads in the Roman world, | | | | such as counter tops or tabletops made from real |
| and therefore a center of trade and commerce. It is | | | | marble add an authentic though expensive touch, as |
| no surprise, therefore, that the Tuscan style | | | | does a fireplace made of rough hewn stone, or a |
| encompassed touches of style from many different | | | | stack of stones arranged artistically in the yard. |
| regions. Egyptian and Indian influences can be seen in | | | | |