So That Your Style Is: Rustic

What it is: Rustic design reveals the old adage that everything comes full circle. Our pioneer ancestors could get a fantastic laugh out of how fashionable the look is now — they dreamed of walls instead of rough logs and rugs instead of bare plank floors. However thanks to rustic style’s unpretentious roots, organic textures and contours, and organic heat, it has become as popular in the core of the town since it is out in the forests.

Why it works: Rustic interiors have a sense of connection to the past that is hard to resist. They feel fair and unstudied and evoke a simpler time. They give a showcase for creativity because they celebrate the art of repurposing. In a world where much is virtual, rustic design is boldly, intentionally real.

You will enjoy it if… You were happiest playing in the sand for a kid. You still reread Little House on the Prairie. You can not bring yourself to throw away packing crates or burlap sacks (hey, you never know). You sleep in your sweetie’s old flannel shirts. Forget about the faux-bois fad — you will stick to timber that is real, thank you.

Much more’So Your Style Is’:
Traditional | Arts & Crafts | Art Deco | Hollywood Regency | Old World | Cottage
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Coastal | Preppy

Style Secret: Rough-Hewn Beams

For a lot of us, this component is the very first thing comes to mind when we believe”rustic.” Not merely can rough-hewn beams help define a distance architecturally, they can immediately anchor it into rustic territory, especially if they’re left rough and unpolished. Use beams to frame ceilings and delineate doorways, to surround ceilings and fireplaces, or perhaps to line walls. You can also incorporate rounded logs if you choose, which adds cabin charm.

Inspired addition: Honed beams against sleek, glistening white walls create an arresting contrast. Or juxtapose them using a surface that is still textural although not so rugged, like beadboard.

Birdseye Design

Style Secret: Organic Forms

Too many mass-produced or overly tailored bits dilute an area’s rustic design. Instead, choose furnishings and objects with powerful, slightly rough profiles, like the bread trough, baskets and tray shown here.

Inspired addition: It’s wonderful to have a few sleek surfaces to tighten the look. Simple, clean cabinetry and shelving maintain this space cohesive but allow the rustic notes to come through.

Melaragno Design Company, LLC

Style Secret: Weathered Materials

Rustic design isn’t without patina. Your rooms should not convey a feeling of shiny newness — you also need surfaces with just a little age on them (or at the least, surfaces that fake it well). Reclaimed timber, including in this bathroom; hammered, distressed and stained metals; wavy or seeded glass blend together in a distinctively layered manner.

Inspired addition:Conversely, a little shine can be attractive in the midst of all that texture. The glass vessel sink envisioned here lends a high note of glow without detracting in the gorgeous, striking wood of the vanity and walls.

Garrison Hullinger Interior Design Inc..

Style Secret: Warm, Earthy Colors

The rustic palette eschews brilliant jewel tones and flirty pastels in favor of vibrant, eclectic colors in the organic world. And from natural, we mean woodsy, pulled from bark and soil and stone. Magenta and lime green might be a part of nature’s paint box, but that doesn’t mean they are the best choice for a rustic residence.

Inspired addition: Do not worry — you do not have to stay with brown, brown and more brown. There’s room for a few doses of brighter, clearer color within this style. Those tones work well, but when they feel traditional and comfortable. Think denim blue, Coca-Cola red, gold yellow and faded turquoise (especially nice if your space includes a Western vibe).

Lynne Barton Bier – Home on the Range Interiors

Style Secret: Repurposed Things

To a large extent, rustic design is about making do with what you’ve — just as it was in the previous times. Found objects are crucial: old pails turned into countertops, cable baskets transformed into light fittings, wooden crates reimagined as stair treads. It’s less about whimsy than about developing an awareness of innovation by necessity.

Inspired addition: Rustic interiors lend themselves to cross-pollination with industrial fashion. Feel free to bring a bit of a danger with accents like offbeat lighting, decorative displays and artwork. You can also turn to folk art. With its own self-improvement, homegrown allure, folk art appears particularly nice in rustic rooms.

Michelle Fries, BeDe Design, LLC

Style Secret: Textural Fabrics

Delicate textiles, such as lace and silk, do not have much of a place in rustic interiors. Sturdy, hardworking fabrics that can take just a little wear and tear feel more on point: burlap, linen, cotton, wool.

Inspired addition: Stylish designs that still feel powerful and streamlined, like ikat, can combine nicely into this type of décor. Quilts are a natural companion for rustic design as well; try upgrading them using a patchwork of different stripes or using same-color gingham checks in many different scales, instead of the more conventional calico look.

Narofsky Architecture + ways2design

Style Secret: Barn-Inspired Elements

Remember your mom scolding you about if you had been born in a barn? She might have been on something. Not merely are sliding barn doors, Dutch doors and other details made from outbuildings ultrafunctional, they feel apt and appropriate with rustic design.

Inspired addition:These doorways already are showy, therefore this is the opportunity to have a bit fun with hardware. Choose a dramatic rail remedy to get a sliding barn door or oversize, shapely hinges to get a Dutch door. If you really wish to make them stand out, paint or stain the doorways in a color that contrasts with the walls.

Aquascape

Style Secret: Outdoor Connection

as a result of their organic overtones, rustic rooms feel like an extension of the outdoors. Draw parallels between exterior and interior spaces — for instance, the directional log swing revealed here would be a natural extension of a lodge-style space. Screened and covered porches also help blur the boundaries between outdoors and in.

Inspired addition: Do not forget about landscaping. A prim, manicured backyard would feel uncomfortably stiff with this style. Keep plantings lush and loose, as if unplanned and rooted by happenstance. Or go 1 step further and let nature take over — it has a fairly good eye for detail.

Much more’So Your Style Is’:
Traditional | Contemporary | Transitional | Cottage | Eclectic | Industrial | Coastal
Arts and Crafts | Hollywood Regency

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