All About Rustic
You know you've stepped into a rustic home when it feels as if the outdoors has somehow fused with the indoors. Bedrooms here have timber bookshelves attached to full-log walls, organic sheets, and bedding depicting captivating landscapes. You'll also find country bedroom furniture like rad tree-branch bed frames or hammocks suspended with ceiling cables. Then there's also those floor-to-ceiling murals of rainforests with cascading waterfalls.
Rustic house furniture like black-iron wood burning stoves coupled with concrete floors and tree-stump coffee tables also creates a down-to-Earth (pun intended) vibe here. And when it comes to wall palettes, the washed look, neutral hues, and vintage colors gel best. Add some rustic dining room sets or a rustic sofa, and you may just have the ultimate rustic haven. Here's a look at what this style entails and how you can achieve it.
What Is Rustic Style and How Was It Derived?
Rustic style includes designs that accentuate and embody various facets of nature and history. It's unpretentious or without bells and whistles, so to speak. Whether you're a city slicker or love to rough it up in the sticks in a cabin or a mountain dwelling, this style is ideal for any home.
So how did this cool modern-day style come about? Even though it's considered pretty contemporary, its origins date back as far as the 1870s, so it definitely has some historical influences. For instance, the modernist movement influenced home decor toward simplicity. In a nutshell, homes were less flashy way back then.
Also, the Art Nouveau movement introduced natural designs originating from organic and botanical forms. Then there was the Colonial Revival, where folk grew to love Georgian and Neoclassical historical decor. All of this combined to create the rustic style we love today.
How You Can Get Started
Transforming your home into a rustic hub need not be difficult. You can do so by ...
Selecting Natural Colors
Natural elements synonymous with rustic style include natural color palettes, even though some surfaces like walls should remain raw to maintain a natural or distressed look.
Paint your rooms in neutral colors or good ole faithful white. Use pine green undertones or mud-brown for your walls, as this evokes tranquility and earthiness. You should also leave your wooden panels exposed and choose sand-colored furnishings.
Installing a Wood-Burning Fireplace
Nothing beats an old fashioned wood-burning fireplace. Choose engineered stone with a hand-planed board mantel for a traditional look, and decorate it with some vintage accessories.
If you want something different, there's always the old European fireplace, which is made of basic stone. Don't use decorative screening for your firebox here and stain your mantel in patina fashion. For decoration, simply place antiques on your mantel.
You can also add some farmhouse flair by using a simple beam for your mantel and by stocking your firebox with woody shoots. Remember to use granite slabs around this firebox. And for a modern fireplace, choose old mosaic stone with a minimalist ledge. Here, your ledge is actually just the trim of your firebox. Use tiny mantelpieces, as less is definitely more here.
Choosing Natural Materials
Choosing accessories with a hand-crafted aesthetic and natural elements like stone, wood, and metal (think pots and pans suspended from wrought-iron frames) can help you achieve a natural look.
Reclaimed wood and hickory, pine, alder, and cherry wood are all perfect to promote natural flair, too. Raw tree trunks are also ideal for tables, while patchwork quilts, calico rugs, and buffalo-check scatter cushions are great for your living room.
Use reclaimed wood for plank flooring and ceiling support beams. You could also use wrought-iron metal for old fashioned light fixtures. Think iron vintage candle holders, encased in an iron frame dangling from the ceiling. Unpainted stone walls add a great rustic finishing touch too.
Add Flair With Our Rustic Range
Whether it's a trunk-style cocktail table to go with your rustic sofa, a dining room set, or accessories, we have just the right stuff to turn your home into a rustic dream. For example, our Phoenix rustic dining room sets are made of distressed, reclaimed wood supported by a metal base and come with backless metal stools.
All you need to do is add some wooden box wall shelves and plants to complete the natural look. Or choose from our range of rustic accessories like our mesh farmhouse lanterns, humongous terracotta ceramic vases (simply gorgeous for your mantel), and candle-holder metal glass lanterns.