Country Home Decorating Styles — a Guide to the Rustic Look
Country home decorating can mean many things, and the term encompasses many different styles. One of the most popular is the rustic style. This method of home decorating brings in the beauty, simplicity and texture of the outdoors into your home, and creates a warm, relaxing country feel. If you’re interested in the rustic style of country home decorating, this article will give you the basics.
Although the style is noted for the rough, unfinished look, rustic decorating has become quite sophisticated with gorgeous woods, polished logs and twigs. Although it is fast becoming a trend, it is an affordable style that anyone can use. It works in all sorts of homes, from cottages to country homes to city condos.
Rustic furniture is very textural, and easily becomes a focal point in a room, so you can use it sparingly…one large piece, like a knotty dining table, can form the basis around which you decorate the rest of the room. You can use a large piece like this even with more modern looking furniture, like couches.
Using a few choice rustic pieces in your country home decorating scheme allows each one to stand out. A few bent willow chairs, for example, can be grouped around a fireplace or set around an old table. Warm the pieces up by adding pillows or seating cushions, which help to visually soften them and can also tie the pieces in with whatever else you have in the room.
For smaller rooms, like bathrooms or guest bedrooms, use a few rustic accent pieces. Mirrors, coat trees, tables and other items let you create your room around these pieces.
Country home decorating in the rustic style lends itself well to rough, old world wall treatments. A textured wall treatment compliments the overall texture of the furniture, and brings the style together without overwhelming your room. You can bring your whole house together with the wall treatment, and have an overall rustic look without having to fill your whole house with rustic furniture. Try a plaster type treatment, done in a neutral tone like off white, to really set off your pieces and unify the theme.
For colors, you want to keep them soft and warm. Earth tones work well, and other tones found in nature such as burnt oranges and reds, leafy greens, and sky and water blues. Using solid colors on pillows and fabrics will lend a more contemporary look, while patters such as florals or nature motifs will up the overall country feel.
Country home decorating in the rustic style is an easy, affordable way to bring the outdoors in, and create a homey, warm atmosphere that makes you feel like you’re in the middle of the countryside…even if you’re in the city!



