Create a Countryside Atmosphere in Your Home: 5 Rustic Decor Tips

Our tips for enhancing your rustic decor

Rustic decor is characterized by solid wood furniture, imposing sideboards, and large dining tables. It is often perceived as outdated and old. However, it can outperform other decor styles thanks to its charm. This authentic style is warm and pleasant in both winter with a wood-burning stove and summer with its mountain-cabin appeal.

Forget the prejudices; rustic decor can be just as trendy as the vintage style. You just need to follow a few rules to achieve a chic, very cozy rustic look.

 

Tip #1: Highlight the materials

Wooden furniture

Rustic decor requires wood. To succeed in creating a chic rustic look, you need to sort through antique furniture and keep pieces like a wooden coffee table, a dining table, some stools, or a prized armoire. If you don't have this kind of furniture, browse flea markets or private sales, as many people are getting rid of old furniture.

A Norman armoire is ideal. A hutch to display your grandmother’s china or mismatched plates is also perfect. A sideboard with chicken wire, a decorated solid oak table, and straw chairs are highly recommended. These pieces of furniture tell a story.

 

Highlight your centerpiece items

For a less cluttered rustic ambiance, wooden furniture should be showcased. They are the centerpieces of your interior. Avoid filling a room with wooden furniture. For example, use a wooden workbench in an entryway and nothing else. In the living room, highlight the coffee table with its authentic wood. A solid wood sliding door creates a guaranteed barn effect. In the dining room, place a large family table to spotlight a piece of rustic furniture while keeping the room bright and modern.

 

Stone and cement tiles

If you have an old house, highlight a stone or brick wall with stone veneer slips or brick-imitation wallpaper. Otherwise, an interior plaster, a lime-washed wall, or light paint will do the trick. For the floor, if it isn't raw wood or terracotta, install hexagonal tiles or cement tiles. The available patterns are perfect copies of those from the early 20th century and bring charm to your interior. Avoid PVC floor coverings.

 

Tip #2: Bring out the beams

A 100% rustic interior often features beams. Keeping them and highlighting them is essential to the charm of your home. To do this, paint the ceiling white while keeping the beams exposed. This will brighten the room, increase the sense of height, and make the wooden beams stand out.

 

If the wood is too dominant, paint the ceiling white and the beams gray or beige to break up the overly woody effect and add a contemporary touch.

Tip #3: Mix styles

A chic rustic decor can blend with other styles. Scandinavian or cozy aesthetics go well with the presence of wood.

The rustic style can also be integrated into a designer and industrial interior thanks to wood and simplicity. Mix styles with different furniture: a solid wood coffee table, a Berber rug, and a designer armchair, for example.

 

Tip #4: The shades of rustic decor

Natural tones

For a family home feel or a country-chic style, use natural shades for the furniture and accessories: off-white, ecru, beige, taupe, twine, linen, putty. These colors should be the base. Dusty rose, blue, or pastel green can enhance the overall look. An interior with light tones will be brighter and more soothing.

 

Touches of color

To energize a rustic decor, add a few touches of color to decorative items such as cushions, a lamp, or a rug. Colors bring life and charm to an interior. Make sure to repeat these colors to harmonize the ensemble.

 

Tip #5: The final rustic touch

For the rest of the decor, be creative and original with floral cushions, curtains, and their tiebacks. Garden roses can appear on a quilt or bedspread in a bedroom. Rustic decor manifests itself in small elements: a bouquet of dried flowers, daisies in a zinc watering can, old advertisements on the wall, a biscuit tin on the table, black and white portraits above the fireplace, a wicker basket for logs. Place candles everywhere, on tables and window sills. The final touch: a crystal chandelier above the dining table in the living area.