What Is Country Style To You?

I wrote a little introduction today over at Real Simple to an online shop called Patchwork Harmony (based in England) where they stock things that are very typical "English" country style. And after writing the post I sat here with my green tea staring into space thinking, "well wait... how does English country style differ from say, American country style".

And then I thought of Swedish country style, and German, and French and Irish and it suddenly made me realize just how many country styles there are out there that are really country-specific and so if you say on a blog that has international readers that you like country style, they may interpret it to mean the style they are accustomed to associating country style with in their land. I also thought about this style and how it differs per country because of the landscape, language, culture, even religious beliefs and the various arts and crafts movements of the past. It also made me wonder what Japanese country style looks like, and what elements define Russian country style. It's a pretty neat topic to ponder.

Now I will put this topic on the floor and ask for your opinion. Can you comment with where you live and what elements define country style in your part of the world. Maybe you can write about the most popular country styles, colors, old-fashioned customs that influence your local country style, etc. Also do other cultures influence country style where you live (I see a lot of "New England" country style here in Germany along with Scandinavian country, French country, and a more folksy country style that is more local I think), etc. Of course in the states we have a variety of country styles influenced by craft movements from the past, but there is also retro country that is very "American" specific. And of course, in American we have shops that carry only French country products. Then there is this New England country style which has a more coastal vibe. Another idea is that you can post all about this topic on your blog and then leave the link to your post below so we can all pop over to visit you and read about your impressions - maybe you can post photos or something to support your impressions?

(images: patchwork harmony)