Creating Homely Rustic Charm

To create a rustic farmhouse appearance, you’ll need the right kind of furniture and decoration in your home to complete the look. We spend our time hunting around for the best pieces and the best deals, so we have plenty of ideas about how to design your home and use your space to its full potential. We thought we’d share some of our thoughts with you to kick-start your own creative planning. Of course, everything on this page is just an idea, and you can play around with it however you like. Have a quick read through, find the ideas which you like and get your creative juices flowing!

1. Allow your home to be itself. What we mean by this is work with what you’ve got and plan your furniture and designs around your home’s natural appearance. For example, if you have a Victorian terrace or town house, make the most of original features like fireplaces and bay windows. Choose solid furniture which won’t be swamped by large proportions and high ceilings. If you live in a cottage where ceilings are lower and spaces smaller, you may want to choose lighter colours. Large furniture pieces may give you the rustic look you want, but be careful not to overcrowd.
2. Think small. Trying to redesign your whole property is a big job, and you really don’t need to. Individual touches can make all the difference to the appearance of a room. Shabby chic accessories are a good idea for creating a vintage look, bringing style and personality to an otherwise bland space. Try adding a rug or a free-standing light into the mix to make a big difference without any of the hard work.
3. Dare to be different. Whilst your natural reaction might be to try to match up all of your furniture to create a uniform look, don’t do it! You won’t often be told to ignore your instincts, but in this case you’re much more likely to achieve your desired look if you go against the grain a little. Shabby chic and rustic looks depend on furniture and accessories not looking shiny and modern. Try combining different pieces and see how it looks. It’s possible that it may not work first time round, but if at first you don’t succeed, try again! Move furniture between rooms until you’re happy with layouts and appearances.
4. Don’t be afraid to leave space. Whilst you’re likely to want some statement pieces of furniture to enhance your room, the last thing you want is to feel trapped. This is especially important to remember if you live in an old cottage or another kind of residence which has small proportions. If you have open floorboards, you may want to leave some uncovered in the middle of the room to give the illusion of space and openness. You could also perhaps leave exposed brickwork on your walls or uncover original beams which may have been plastered over to open up the space above floor level.

We hope you’ve found our tips and tricks useful – good luck with your furniture hunt.