If you’ve ever considered moving to a quaint Italian village & buying a villa, you’ll love these decor ideas inspired by Under the Tuscan Sun!
“What are four walls, anyway? They are what they contain. The house protects the dreamer.”
We’ve all had times like these in our lives, when we want to simply leave everything behind and run off to some unknown village where no one knows us, and live a simple life, disconnected from everything.
Well, if that sounds appealing but isn’t practical, a great way to scratch that itch is to watch Under the Tuscan Sun!
This movie tells the story of Frances, an American writer who loses her home to her husband during their divorce. She needs a fresh start, and she finds it in a 400-year-old, worn-down villa in Tuscany, Italy!
The 2003 movie is inspired by a 1996 novel of the same name, which is in turn based on the real life of Frances Mayes. The Mayes family bought the Bramasole villa in 1990, and have been visiting every year!
Decor Ideas Inspired by Under the Tuscan Sun
The villa is a traditional old villa with Tuscan architecture, featuring details like beamed ceilings, stone walls and curved archways. Since the villa is in quite a state when Frances buys it, there’s a lot of work to be done. However, since it has great bones, she’s able to create a warm, romantic atmosphere, that’s still got a rustic elegance to it.
Natural materials
Traditional Tuscan homes are all about using materials that are available in nature. As a result, you’ll find terracotta floors, wooden shutters, hardwood panels and an abundance of stone like limestone and sandstone. The result is a gorgeous rustic aesthetic – something the most polished marble cannot achieve!
Earthy tones
In keeping with the theme of using natural materials, Frances’ home is filled with earthy colors. This is a lovely space between an all-neutral color palette (think Something’s Gotta Give) and one that’s bursting with color (think Amelie). An earthy color palette includes colors that you see in nature, like brown, ochre, yellow, sage green as well as warm neutrals like beige and taupe.
Colored walls
Just because Frances follows an earthy color palette doesn’t mean that her home is boring – far from it! The walls are painted in delightful colors like dusty rose, lilac, cornflower blue and sage green – colors you’ll find in the flowers that bloom nearby. Walls drenched in color work with the earthy tones – the key is to use the right saturation and shade, so you’re still sticking to that toned-down, rustic vibe.
Lots of greens
Speaking of nature, you have to include lots of green in your home, and not just in the form of indoor plants! Frances’ villa has an abundance of green, in furniture, furnishings and art. Those lovely wooden shutters, Patti’s crib, and a green wardrobe – they look gorgeous on their own while also blending seamlessly into the overall mood of the space.
Ceramic tiles
Many Tuscan homes use ceramic or porcelain tiles in kitchens, bathrooms and laundry rooms, where they make more sense since they can be easily cleaned. Since Frances’ villa is 400 years old, it’s only natural for the tiles in the home to be a little worn down, but it only adds to the charm of the place! It looks even better when you line a sea of plain tiles with a border of patterned tiles, as you can see in Frances’ bathroom!
Antique accents
When you buy a house that’s centuries old, it’s only natural to find some hidden antique treasures within it! Frances is lucky to find some gorgeous pieces, like solid wood furniture, a vintage gas stove, elaborately designed bed frames, ornate accent chairs and the piece de resistance – a gorgeous chandelier! If you’d like to find such pieces, check out an antiques store or flea market.
Traditional Italian art
Frances’ villa also has some interesting pieces of art, including some with religious imagery, which is common in Catholic Italian homes. The most striking work of art is the large mural on the living room wall, which is truly a showstopper. You can easily create this look with peel-and-stick wallpaper these days, or you can hire an artist if you want a more ‘authentic’ feel.
Fresh flowers
Tuscany is a land filled with flowers, especially during summer, from June to August. Rural markets often sell flowers alongside fruits and vegetables. Sunflowers are the most common, and this is precisely what is celebrated in this movie – even the poster features the actress and sunflowers! Flowers are everywhere in the movie, including an old man who shows up with flowers, leaving Frances to wonder about him!
Food gatherings
You can’t have a movie set in Italy and not talk about food!! Frances came to Tuscany with a broken heart, but the house and the land healed her – and now she has lots of friends to have dinner with! Food is an integral part of Italian culture, and the movie fully embraces it, with lots of lovely scenes of full tables and happy friends.
DIY joy
Frances’ home is a ‘fixer-upper’, which means it needs loads of work before it can become inhabitable! But Frances is a strong woman who isn’t afraid of getting her hands dirty – or hiring help! Many of us who own homes realize that there always seems to be something to fix, or change, and there’s never a moment when everything is completely ‘finished’. This movie teaches us to embrace that, and think of our home growing with us over time – just like Frances!
Under the Tuscan Sun is the kind of movie that makes you want to book a vacation to Italy right away, but that may not be practical right now! Instead, you can bring the spirit of Italy to you by creating a calm and elegant atmosphere at home, echoing with the vibes of Mother Nature. Turn your home into your own personal escape, so you don’t have to bother with starting a new life elsewhere!
This post is a part of Blogchatter A2Z Challenge 2026.
Click on any letter below to read the other posts in this series:
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
