Chalet in the Alps -- Decorate Your Home Alpine Chalet Style
Ranked #61 in Travel & Places, #3,494 overall
I once lived in a Chalet in the Alps of Europe...
It's true, my first home was a chalet in the Alps
It was like living in a picture postcard. Of course, the Swiss chalet wasn't my own, and I did not have the run of this large building either. I was working for my lodging in a 2-room apartment round the side, where the sunlight didn't reach. The rest of the alpine chalet was also a collection of self-contained apartments, all of them more impressive than mine. However, I loved that little room in the Swiss chalet, with its old carved furniture.
I have been back to the Alps mountain range many times. In the beautiful Tirol of Austria, I have stayed in much newer chalets, small enough for a single family or couple to rent out. There I had all of the sunny, bright rooms to myself, and a balcony with flower-filled window boxes to dream away the hours, gazing at the mountain view.
Maybe one day I'll have my very own chalet in the Alps. Until then, let me share with you some ways to bring that Alpine chalet style into your own home.
(Images not otherwise attributed are copyright wordcustard.com)
Mountain Houses: A Book for Chalet Lovers
Opening the doors of homes in the French and Swiss Alps
I think this gorgeous book was written just for me! If you share my passion for Alpine chalets, then it was surely written for you in mind too. The photographer who put this stunning book together takes us on a visual exploration of 30 alpine homes in the Swiss and French Alps. None is quite like the other, some traditional, some modern, but all of them offering a taste of mountain living. Over 300 photographs invite us through their doors in a wonderful tour.
Mountain Houses
Amazon Price: $21.17 (as of 02/16/2012)
Used Price: $18.56
Customers who bought this book from Amazon.com loved the photos showing a variety of chalets and other Alpine mountain buildings.
The Swiss Chalet Book
Learn about the structure and design of a chalet
This book explores the way in which chalets are designed and constructed. Don't be deceived by the rating for this one: currently it has a 5-star review from the customer who received the book, but another customer who experienced delivery problems rated their transaction as 1 star, affecting this average.
The Swiss Chalet Book
Amazon Price: $9.95 (as of 02/16/2012)
Used Price: $17.54
This book received 5 stars from a satisfied Amazon reviewer for its depth of detail into the construction of the traditional chalet.
Your Balcony, Veranda or Garden
Creating an Alpine-style exterior
Outdoors, the quick and easy way to add an instant Alpine feel is with geraniums (pelargoniums). Lots of them!
In the Alps, window boxes overflow with these cheerful flowers in shades of crimson and pink. If you have a balcony, choose a trailing variety. Otherwise, pot up some wooden or terracotta planters, or some hanging baskets. Group smaller ones together for a pretty effect, or treat yourself to a large wooden trough and fill it up with pelargoniums. Don't be afraid of going overboard -- these flowers look their best when clumped together in a bright mass of flower heads, rather than dotted sparingly around.
Group potted geraniums together or plant in window boxes
Swiss Chalet Window Photo Gifts
A beautiful alpine gift range on Zazzle
Alpine Chalet Window by StarBrightNights
This and other Alps designs are available to customize and purchase from Mountain Crazy Gifts, a stylish mountain-themed gift store on Zazzle.
This charming Alpine Chalet Window design currently available on a range of gifts and souvenirs including mugs, postcards, fridge magnets, mousepads, tote bags, stickers and keychains.
Pretty Geranium Themed Gifts
Geranium designs for your garden
Now you can have cheerful geraniums all year round with these enchanting gift ideas.
Amazon.com also sell Geranium seeds and a variety of wooden planters, troughs and barrels.
Chalet Style Bird Houses and Bird Feeders
The prettiest bird houses I ever saw!
These bird houses and bird feeders from Le Petit Chalet are exquisite! Each one is full of charming detail. If I could, I would collect them all. Made from real wood, each one has been carefully painted with exterior water-based paint.
Alpine Style Decor
Furnishing your alpine chalet
Rustic wooden furnishings have a lot of charm. For some, a few decorative pieces may be all it takes to give you an alpine feel; others may love to throw yourselves into a Swiss paradise of cuckoo clocks and carved chairs!
The modern alpine look combines sweet-scented golden pine with pretty fabrics. Keep it light, bright and airy.
If you want to finish off an interior, or just want a touch of alpine charm, vintage ski posters are ideal. Or try a botanical print of Swiss alpine flowers or a vintage painting of a mountain scene.
Inside a modern Alpine home
A modern Alpine interior: think bright, fresh and airy with lots of pine
Alps Style Furniture
A fresh look that is also affordable
The decorative moulding and simple, clean lines of the South Shore furniture range is typical of Alpine style.
The beauty of the Alpine chalet style of decorating is that it can be inexpensive and still look good. A simple pine table and chair set is perfect for an alpine style interior.
Pristine white or ivory bedlinen and curtains are ideal to complement a Swiss-look bedroom. Living areas come alive with rich, warm colours, and with check or plaid designs.
Alps chalet bedroom
For a traditional look: choose antique-style pieces in heavier wood, and maybe a cuckoo clock!
Swiss Cuckoo Clocks
A traditional item in an Alpine or South-West German home
People tend to either adore cuckoo clocks or completely avoid them. If you fall into the first category, you won't need me to convince you of their authentic charm. Cuckoo clocks are an unmistakable symbol of Swiss and South German (Black Forest) culture and the better ones are still today hand-crafted by artisans.
One thing you can be sure of with a cuckoo clock is that it will be a talking piece and a source of endless fascination, particularly for children. A simple, pretty clock can be quite affordable. Or invest in a family heirloom that will enchant you with its animated scenes and intricate detail.
Musical Cuckoo Clock
Add a touch of Swiss charm
River City Clocks Musical Multi-Colored Quartz Cuckoo Clock - 8 Inches Tall - Model # M8-08PQ
Amazon Price: $217.00 (as of 02/16/2012)
The Amazon reviewers who bought this pretty cuckoo clock rated it highly for the pleasant sounds and music, with its 12 different songs, and for its compact size.
Handcrafted Black Forest Cuckoo Clock
Handmade in Germany
One Day Cuckoo Clock with Five Maple Leaves & One Bird
Amazon Price: $174.99 (as of 02/16/2012)
This cuckoo clock is highly rated by Amazon buyers. They love the fact that this is an authentic clockwork cuckoo clock with finely crafted detail. The bird appears through a hinged door and is said to make a strong cuckoo sound, but has a silent mode for night if you prefer to only hear the cuckoo in the daytime.
An Heirloom Clock
This cuckoo clock is a work of art
23.5" Black Forest Chalet with Moving Woodchopper, Water Wheel, Wood Saw and Ringing Bell
Amazon Price: $1,542.60 (as of 02/16/2012)
Alpine Chalet Themed Items
Find a Rare or Bargain Item on eBay
Mountain Posters from the Past
Alpine tourism's golden age
A travel poster from the early to mid 1900s is perfect for giving your home a touch of bygone elegance from the golden age of the Alps.
Choose from railway advertisements and the vintage tourist posters of the beginning of the century, the stylised images of the 1920s and 1930s with their focus on fitness and achievement, or from the middle of the century and beyond you can take your pick from a range of posters showing glamorous female skiers basking in the winter sun.
Chemin de Fer de la Jungfrau
Stretched Canvas Print
Cardinaux, Emil
Buy at AllPosters.com
Alpine Living
The latest about chalets and mountain homes
- Gourmet food for lovebirds
- By RICKY YAP HOTEL Equatorial Kuala Lumpur's award-winning Chalet restaurant is offering lovebirds its Back to Old-Style menu for Valentine's Day. The Chalet, befitting its iconic status among locals and foreigners, has delighted gourmets for almost ...
- Design plan for Stow Lake Boathouse renovation unveiled
- Freshly released renovation plans for the Stow Lake Boathouse in Golden Gate Park will keep many of the historic features of the Alpine Chalet-style building intact while adding a modern commercial kitchen, adding a bathroom and bringing it up to ...
- Stow Lake Boathouse makeover to include cafe
- Freshly released renovation plans for the Stow Lake Boathouse in Golden Gate Park will keep many of the historic features of the Alpine Chalet-style building intact while adding a modern commercial kitchen and bathroom and bringing it up to current ...
- 2Do: Museums, parks, family events and more for Feb. 17-23, 2012
- Mill Stream Run Reservation's Chalet Recreation Area, Valley Parkway between US 42 and Ohio 82, Strongsville. 440-572-9990 or clevelandmetroparks.com. Chalet Toboggan Chutes. All riders must wear gloves or mittens. Children must be at least 42 inches ...
Build Your Own Miniature Chalet Style House
Chalet Dollhouse
This pretty little chalet dollhouse has to be the most affordable mountain home of them all! Assemble it yourself for hours of enjoyment. The finished chalet has all the typical features of these fairytale homes including the upper floor balcony, window shutters and 'gingerbread' style trim. The wooden shingles for the roof are also supplied. All you have to do is to follow the step-by-step instructions and they decide what colors to paint it when complete!
Real Good Toys Snow Country Chalet Kit - 1 Inch Scale
Amazon Price: $99.99 (as of 02/16/2012)
Swiss Chalet Themed Items
Find it on eBay!
More Beautiful Alpine Chalet Themed Gifts
Give your Home or Cabin some of that Chalet Style
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Do you own a chalet in the Alps, or wish that you did?
I hope you enjoyed this guide to getting an alpine look in your home
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paullenton
Feb 7, 2012 @ 7:18 pm | delete
- Beautiful mountains!!! My dream is to live in a house at the top of a mountain, but in Patagonia. Thanks for such lovely images!
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MelonyVaughan
Feb 4, 2012 @ 8:54 pm | delete
- This lens really makes me miss the gorgeous Alps. Thank you for a walk down memory lane!
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oxfordian
Jan 29, 2012 @ 5:21 pm | delete
- So beautiful .... What an amazing view. When you get your Swiss chalet, I want to come visit you!
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Lindrus
Dec 23, 2011 @ 1:03 am | delete
- Nice! How could you ever move away from such a picture perfect place?
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WordCustard
Jan 8, 2012 @ 2:35 pm | delete
- I ask myself the same question... :)
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aesta1
Nov 30, 2011 @ 7:27 am | delete
- We rented one of these in Switzerland one Christmas and we had so much fun.
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seosmm
Nov 25, 2011 @ 10:00 am | delete
- Lots of good info. Very nice lens!
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Irenemaria
Nov 21, 2011 @ 3:00 pm | delete
- Really nice lens with lots of suggestions and photos. Matterhorn is really a peek.
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Mujjen
Nov 1, 2011 @ 4:34 am | delete
- I grew up in a chalet, in the forest. Recognized a lot of the things featured here!
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cffutah
Oct 19, 2011 @ 7:47 pm | delete
- beautiful lens! bright, great photo's, easy reading, 'thumbs up' from this reader!
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Quick View guide to Alpine Chalet style
- Mountain Houses: A Book for Chalet Lovers
- The Swiss Chalet Book
- Chalet Images on Flickr
- Your Balcony, Veranda or Garden
- Swiss Chalet Window Photo Gifts
- Pretty Geranium Themed Gifts
- Chalet Style Bird Houses and Bird Feeders
- Alpine Style Decor
- Inside a modern Alpine home
- Alps Style Furniture
- Alps chalet bedroom
- Swiss Cuckoo Clocks
- Musical Cuckoo Clock
- Handcrafted Black Forest Cuckoo Clock
- An Heirloom Clock
- Alpine Chalet Themed Items
- Mountain Posters from the Past
- Alpine Living
- Build Your Own Miniature Chalet Style House
- Swiss Chalet Themed Items
- More Beautiful Alpine Chalet Themed Gifts
- Want to make your own Squidoo page...
- Do you own a chalet in the Alps, or wish that you did?
by WordCustard
I love the Alps mountain range and have lived, worked and played there over the years.
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The Swiss Chalet Book
The Swiss Chalet Book
Amazon Price: $9.95 (as of 02/16/2012)
Affordable Cuckoo Clock for an Alpine Style Interior
42 Kassel Cuckoo Clock
Amazon Price: $34.94 (as of 02/16/2012)
The Beauty of the Alps Mountain Range, Europe
