Last month I told all you designistas out there about my friend Crystal’s Industrial-Steampunk-Farmhouse kitchen, well that is only one take on the ultra-hot Farmhouse style that seems to be taking over the design biz. Farmhouse is everywhere. So if you are serious about jumping on board the trend-train, then here are a few tips on bringing this style into your home.
Wood Floors. In a recent article in House & Home magazine, I read that the place to begin your design is the flooring (well, duh!). There are many takes on Farmhouse style, but all of them begin with wood floors. So the first person I went to see at City Tile was design consultant Susan Headden.
Susan showed me so much wood and wood-look flooring that my head was spinning. There is reclaimed barn wood flooring, regular wood flooring, bamboo flooring, laminate, wood-look porcelain tile flooring, and even some super-cool vinyl flooring that looks like real wood.
The important thing when choosing your wood or wood-look flooring is the function of the room in which you are placing it. Each flooring option has its own pluses and minuses.
While nothing completely replaces the beauty of a real wood floor, it still warps if it gets too wet and a women’s stiletto heel can do serious damage. Modern sealants are making this a much more viable option for all rooms, however there is not much that can be done about deep scratches and gouges except replacing the flooring.
Laminate is more durable, but it too is not good in areas that are constantly moist, like a bathroom or laundry room. It comes in a wide rage of prices, the more expensive, the closer it is to real wood. It is made to be more durable than wood, and to lay quickly and easily.
There are many beautiful and realistic tile options out there, but it is not wood, And if you drop something heavy on your tile floor, it will chip or break and that piece will have to be replaced. Still, with all of the new manufacturing processes, some of it is so realistic you can barely tell it is not real wood. Tile-look wood flooring is great in rooms like kitchens, bathrooms, sunrooms, laundry rooms, and mudrooms.
Vinyl can still tear and it can be gouged, although it is much more durable now than it was even a few years ago. Like tile, new processes have made it very realistic. It can be very simple to put down, as no mastic or grout is required like tile, and it is equally durable in rooms that stay wet.
Lots of White. Look on Pinterest or Remodelista and you will see hundreds and hundreds of photos of Farmhouse homes. Most of them are all wood and white. White is everywhere. The style seems to be inspired by Tom Sawyer and that dang picket fence; A wash of white on the walls, furniture, and linens.
Because there is so much white, textures become more important. A bed made up with crisp cream linen sheets might have a large open-weave throw laid artfully across a raw-silk duvet cover. A shabby–chic couch may be tossed with hairy sheepskin or hand-loomed fabric pillows.
An antique dresser painted with creamy milk paint may serve as a media cabinet, with natural found objects scattered across it’s top; a piece of drift wood or a hurricane lamp filled with grey stones.
Splashes of Color. All that white needs a touch of color to draw the eye. Some designers stick to earthy colors like browns and multiple shades of gray. Others go for forest shades, like fern-green. While others prefer a heavy dose of bright ocean blue or sunflower yellow.
Natural and Antique Touches. A hearth made from a single log, a farm table made of old pallets, open wood shelving, dried herbs, fresh flowers, handmade pottery, and a re-purposed tin milk can. All of these items add panache to the Farm-style home. How you put it the individual pieces together is up to you. There are designers who take a very minimalistic approach, while others prefer the old English estate look cluttered with tasteful knock-knacks and old prints of pastoral scenes, and there is everything in between.
Farmhouse style is about blending the old, the new and the reused with bits of nature to create an elegant and relaxing sanctuary.
