Decorating Your Home With Rustic Style

Rustic Home Decorating Ideas to Makeover Your Space

Ah, the beauty of rustic, simpler times—that’s the appeal of today’s rustic interior design. One thing you might not realize is that even though its focus may be on natural, rugged beauty, at the same time it channels a contemporary and modern appeal that can be easy to bring to life in your home. Here we share with you some of the essentials to bring rustic style to your home along with a dash of inspiration.

What Makes a Rustic Look?

Unpretentious and simple. Organic and hearty. These are great adjectives to describe the core elements of rustic style. It feels honest and natural. Handcrafted and authentic with a heavy hand on natural materials. Distressed woods, touchable textured fabrics, exposed wood beams, whitewashed walls, stone fireplaces and exposed brick all feel perfectly at home with rustic style.

Curtains, Floors, and Doors Go Rustic

Choose distinctive rustic elements in your floors and window coverings. Wide plank wood floors automatically set a rustic tone in your main room. Try changing out a closet door or bathroom door with a rolling barn door to up the personality quotient in your space. Stone or slate tile adds another natural element that pairs beautifully next to wood floors. Faux animal hides or fur make intriguing floor accents. Burlap is an ideal fabric for curtains because of its natural texture and neutral color. Burlap window coverings let in just the right amount of light, and strike a balance between casual and chic.

Rustic Décor

Once you decide to add the rustic style into your décor, you will be amazed at its versatility. Take a distressed barn wood cabinet, and discover the possibilities in how it works from one room to the next. You will find it is equally at home in your living room as it is welcoming guests in an entryway, standing in as a pantry in the kitchen or wrangling towels with charm in your guest bath.

The key is the neutral distressed wood paired with unique metal handles—these elements fit in beautifully wherever you decide to showcase it.

Add Some Heavy Metal

Metal accents are a must-have in rustic home décor. Add a vintage metal apothecary cabinet to a bathroom wall where you can store all your bathroom essentials or display charming collectibles. Turn a rolling cart into a coffee or side table. Repurpose a metal garden gate as a wall art. Make a wall gallery collage out of galvanized metal trays, rustic framed prints and word art.  In the kitchen, create a cozy dining nook with a small table and a pair of metal barstools.

Rustic Lighting Ideas

Rustic lighting casts an inviting glow in your home. From your entryway to your dining room to your reading nook, a wrought-iron candle chandelier will illuminate any room. Be sure to choose non-shiny metal when decorating, so that the rough-hewn element of the rustic style all complements each together.

Pick Your Shade of White

Nothing pairs more beautifully with the interesting grain and rich tones of natural wood, as a creamy shade of pure white. Whether you paint your walls white to help showcase exposed wood beams or a gorgeous stone fireplace, or if you top your bed with a white quilt and piles of pillows, the ever-versatile shade adds an element of lightness to counter the heaviness of woods and metals that are often the hallmark of rustic decorating style.

Rustic Wire Wall Cabinet, Set of 2 Cactus Wall Art, Gemma Quilt, Nap Pillow

Rustic Home Decor is Earthy and Full of Textures 

Welcoming and comfortable rustic style furniture are imperative to balancing the earthy natural elements of rustic interior design style. Try slip-covered sofas or chairs in a soft inviting neutral cotton. Bed side tables with metallic accents provide a nice foil to natural woods. A natural fiber rug is amazingly versatile — and a perfectly neutral foundation for any room. Dress the bed with a comforter and coverlet in subtle shades of white or with boldly patterned quilts. The key is to use different fabrics and textures. Lace, chenille, satin, burlap and flannel create an interesting textural effect when layered on a bed.

Accent With Greenery

It’s no wonder that all that natural wood and stone looks fantastic when you add leafy greens to the mix. Flower arrangements, potted plants, trained vines, a glass terrarium filled with succulents—adding a touch of mother nature’s greenery makes a perfect addition to rustic home style.

Rustic Style Furniture

There is no better place to consider big statement furniture than in a rustic style home. It is just begging for a big oversized wood dining room table or a large oversized leather sofa and recliner. If you have a spare wall in your kitchen or dining room, try adding an extra-large sideboard. In the living room, use oversized wall décor by propping up wood barn wood doors, a garden gate or shutters to create a dynamic architectural touch.

Want even more décor ideas? We have them for you here Rustic Decorating Ideas for the Modern Home.

Shop this Rustic furniture and accents pieces: Barn Door Cabinet, Round Organizer, Farmhouse Plaque