Style Spotlight: Farmhouse Living in Today’s Home

The heart of farmhouse living, and a hallmark of the design, is a simpler, more peaceful daily life. It’s about making the most of the existing space, with multifunctional decorations, furniture, and the personal touch of found art. You can find this in the classic, eclectic farmhouse home, or in the newer, evolved modern farmhouse styles. It is one of the most creative looks, and still a traditional favorite that fits in anywhere. 

Old and New Farmhouse Interior Designs 

Today, farmhouse styles are found in resorts, everyday homes, smaller accessory dwelling units, and most especially in the new, trendy barndominiums. There’s a balance between function and comfort in the farmhouse interior design. It is often very practical, colorful, and rich with a variety of textures.  

The current use of the style is an evolution from rustic roots into a mesh of different interior design styles, ranging from Victorian to Industrial to the crisp lines of more contemporary aesthetics. The traditional farmhouse was built of new or reclaimed wood, while the modern farmhouse style can be found in a big city apartment or an urban loft. The exterior of the home is less important than what’s found inside. 

The Best Farmhouse Décor  

The decorations are key to determining the unique flavor of the farmhouse interior design aesthetic. It is a style that depends on a mix-and-match look, but not quite cluttered. Anything that looks useful, hand-made, or antique can find a home in an eclectic farmhouse room. Items can also be chosen for the color contrast they provide or to highlight a room’s focal points, and they can be changed up from season to season for added variety.  

The items chosen for each space influence the story the room design can convey. The individual items can be heirlooms, hand-crafted gifts from family or friends, or antique store finds that caught your attention. They can be anything from an old kitchen tool made of tin, a hand-quilted blanket, or a porcelain figurine in faded colors. Well-read, leather-bound books fit in anywhere, on a library shelf or just for decoration, and painted wood signs or boxes add a homey touch.  

Natural fibers such as burlap, linens, or cottons can be used as seat cushions, table-runners, or curtains to keep with the found-object motif. Classic Americana or French-Country designs, like floral prints or checkerboard, offer detailed interest on fabrics or painted decor. Wicker baskets make attractive and functional shelf décor. 

Wood furniture or accents can be stained, painted, or distressed and antiqued for that well-loved, lived-in look. This includes any exposed brickwork, stone, or wood built into the structure of the home; if there are exposed beams in the space, all the better. 

The Farmhouse Color Palette 

Basic colors like red and black are just as welcome as blue skies and yellow corn in a home styled after old barns. But red barns aren’t the only color inspiration for the farmhouse living room or kitchen. The important thing to remember is how the different colors are best used within the space. 

To get the farmhouse look, stick with a neutral palette. Natural-toned, light backgrounds allow accent colors to really pop. Worn, aged paint is a key feature of the farmhouse interior style, which often means faded colors that need solid contrasts.  

The furniture, walls, and flooring are just the backdrop for the décor in the farmhouse home and should make the color of the décor stand out on display. It doesn’t have to be a boring color, though it does need to be used consistently throughout the room, such as white shiplap walls alongside distressed white cabinets.  

A bright, hand-stitched pillow provides comfort and color. A painted wood curio cabinet holds the china dishware in a safe, orderly place while it also serves to highlight the colorful, detailed designs painted on the plates and bowls. These traditional décor staples work best when they aren’t in competition with the other colors in the room. 

Mixing Finishes from the Farmhouse 

An understated trick to interior design is to let the smallest details do the heavy lifting. The perfect example of this is the hardware that you choose for every door and cabinet. Even the metal finish of the lighting can help set the visual theme of the space. For more information on this design staple, check out our guide to mixing and matching finishes. 

When it comes to achieving the traditional farmhouse style in any room in your home, one of the most reliable finishes to choose is something in the antiqued bronze or copper family. Bronzes are warm and sturdy while still looking vintage. The darker, natural metal colors provide good contrast, whether as cabinet knobs and pulls on a stained-wood cupboard, or when you choose an antique bronze door lever for a white-washed interior door. 

Yellow and rose-gold metals and seedy, frosted glass also make good accent materials for farmhouse hardware. Look for modern indoor lighting fixtures that capture that old, antique style, such as chandeliers or candelabra wall sconces. The shine of the finishes and the clarity of the glass shades will help clarify the style and keep the space from looking outdated. 

For the Modern Farmhouse interior design, look for black finishes. Black is a timeless color that can be matched with anything. A stained-wood office desk with black hardware can carry over from one generation to the next without looking out of place. A vintage piece with black-coated metal features are going to age well, with scuffs and worn-down color reveals adding character without detracting from the style. 

Create the Old Farmhouse Look 

The look and feel of this character-rich design can be brought in easily to any space. Emphasize it with just a few elements for a simple touch or bring in a larger focal point with multiple accents to set a theme for every room in the house. Here are a few of our farmhouse décor ideas and tips to get the look. 

Planning the Farmhouse Kitchen 

A farmhouse kitchen is always on-trend because it is so versatile. Once the main pieces are in place, the details that customize the look can be adjusted to meet the season or the style en vogue. The best kitchen is an open room with space to work and visit with family and friends, especially when going for a lifestyle-driven designed home. The first step is to choose multitasking, stand-alone fixtures that are easy to work with.  

A big, apron-front sink is the workhorse of the kitchen. These farmhouse sinks out-perform their smaller competition every day, from preparing food to cleaning up after a meal, and always look good doing it. These kitchen sinks are available in the popular white or cream colors, or the more stylish etched copper for a living finish that changes with age. Match it with a bronzed bridge faucet, or upgrade to a handy pull-down or smart kitchen faucet. 

The kind of kitchen appliance to choose varies with the aesthetic you choose. For instance, for a Modern Farmhouse style, new smart ranges or refrigerators in a stainless-steel finish will fit in perfectly. The buffed shine of the finish softens the sleek lines of new appliances and gives the appearance of a more open space. 

A traditional farmhouse kitchen look could be created with a standalone range in a white, black, or a characteristic, color finish, like red or yellow. It changes the overall feel of the room while maintaining a recognizable farmhouse design when paired with the right colors, fixtures, and other hardware. 

Look for a sturdy kitchen island, preferably one with wood or distressed metal accents. A kitchen island minimizes the amount of counterspace needed and opens opportunities for display-friendly cabinets and sideboards.  

The cabinets can be painted cupboards with heavy, prominent hardware for character, or use single-pane, glass-fronted doors to make the room appear more open while also showing off the simplicity of the contents.  

For a kitchen or dining room or both, an absolute must-have is a large harvest table. This can be any long, narrow dining table that can fit the whole family for holidays or Sunday dinners. The perfect farmhouse table has a hand-hewn look to it, with solid planks of stained wood, and bench-style seating.  

Pair it with a sideboard cabinet or buffet hutch for the ideal storage and serving space when a hungry crowd shows up. For a finishing touch, place lace doily, hand-stitched table runners, or full-sized floral tablecloths to tie the look together. 

Bathrooms in Barn Styles 

The bathroom is another solid choice for the trendy farmhouse style. Aside from the color palette and calico curtains, there are a few more décor ideas you won’t want to overlook.  

If you’re planning for a remodel, the first recommendation is, of course, the clawfoot tub. The classic style bathtub is the perfect centerpiece to transport the space back in time. Add in hefty, curvy, traditional tub fillers and a raincan showerhead.  

Choose a shower curtain in pale, cheerful colors of checkerboard or floral chintz. The clawfoot tub also transitions nicely to a modern farmhouse look by adding a more edgy, industrial or mid-century modern style roman tub filler instead and a simple white or gray shower curtain.  

In the bathroom, you could install the big farmhouse sink on a console vanity, or to save space, consider a vessel sink instead. Vessel sinks sit atop a vanity cabinet rather than inset or built in. A similar option is the semi-recessed vessel sink.  

Both sink styles are reminiscent of the old-fashioned water pitcher-and-bowl washboards often found in the farmhouses of yesteryear, while they offer the benefit of modern plumbing and customizable design. These bathroom sinks come in multiple shapes and materials that range from porcelain to hammered copper and cast iron. 

The Most Important Features 

No two farmhouse style kitchens will ever be the same. A living room design will look different than the pieces brought in to decorate the bathroom in the same style. The goal is an understated, inviting home that creates the feeling of wide-open spaces for the people who live in it.   

The homey design that keeps the farmhouse style so popular comes from the creativity put in to keeping it unique. It is a custom, personalized look, centered around the comfortable, unhurried country life. That looks a little different from state to state or rural town to big city. Choose your perfect colors and decorate to reflect your favorites and your lifestyle.