Farmhouse Style House is Casual Country Chic
Aged woods. Wire baskets. Farmhouse sinks. Worn fabrics. Dried herbs and flowers. These are a few of the items that create the perfect farmhouse look. If you watch Fixer Upper, then you have seen lots of farmhouse style. That is Joanna Gaines signature.
Shiplap, wide plank distressed wood floors, exposed beams, and barn doors give a farmhouse twist to any home. It is a juxtaposition of contemporary conveniences with a dash of antique flair, like using a creamy-white milk painted vintage dresser as a vanity in the bathroom with an under mounted sink and a dark quartz countertop. Or a farmhouse kitchen with open shelving.
Framed vintage flower prints, old milk bottles filled with fresh picked roses sitting in the middle of the dining room trestle table, and flea market finds resting on a mantle made from reclaimed lumber are all perfect accessories to add more farmhouse flair.
Color and fabric choices are also important. Creamy white, sage green, and Wedgewood blue are often used wall colors. Fabrics can be subtle like ticking stripes and faded small cotton prints, to bold gingham and buffalo checks. Handmade quilts, be they heirlooms handed down from generation to generation or a bolder modern variation, definitely say farmhouse. As does a delicate French Toile, or a more natural fabrication like burlap or cowhide.
Recreating Big City Industrial Loft Style
Exposed brick. Black trimmed factory windows. Cement walls and floors. Wire caged lighting. And wide-open floor plans. Industrial interior design is changing in the United States. It is becoming more refined. Designers are taking the best of industrial and blending it with contemporary furnishings.
Where industrial used to be about the rusted metal and vintage gears, today’s industrial style furniture is borrowing a bit from Farmhouse style, and a dash from Mid-Century Modern. The design is softer, less cold.
Today’s industrial design is all about letting the natural light shine in. It is about merging the best of 19th century factory design (the brick walls and large windows) with today’s interest in bringing the outside in with the use of lots of green plants and natural fabrics. Metals are no longer rusted, but shiny or matte. Color is exploding with the use of bold accent pieces, like pillows, or statement pieces, like a brightly colored – yellow or orange — velvet couch.
International Flair Key to Laid Back BoHo Home
Asian accents. Casual fabrics, Well-loved furnishings. Natural elements. And a dash of Haight Ashbury or Woodstock. Like farmhouse, there is a strong use of vintage pieces, but where Farmhouse style usually means painting the vintage furnishings or distressing them, BoHo is about leaving woods in their natural state, then pulling in accent pieces collected on international travels, especially those from India and Asia.
Buddahs, Chinese silks, Kantha quilts, macramé plant holders, and hand carved furniture from Bali are all used to give a home a bohemian touch.
This style can be use lightly to add interest to a home, or it can become the overall theme. It is the most eclectic of these three interior design styles, often stealing from the other two, as well as Mid-Century Modern, Transition, and Contemporary.
BoHo colors are bright: Red, orange, teal, golden yellow, magenta, and olive green. Fabric patterns draw from nature and from world cultures.
Accent colors are bright, so floors and walls are often muted. Cool colored walls in creams and grays with wood floors.
Paint with a Heavy or Light Touch
Any home can have a bit of farmhouse flair, industrial nuance, or BoHo bravado by adding elements mentioned above. The best thing about modern interior design is that it is all about finding your voice. Just remember to have a blend of texture, form, color, light, line, pattern, and space.
