Farmhouse design has been heavily critiqued in the past few years as ‘out of style’ and ‘overused.’ But, we’re here to show you which farmhouse design trends are here to stay. Learn more about farmhouse style here.

American farmhouse design, especially within the past 30 years, has grown to encompass multiple styles into one, modern farmhouse look that is well known today.

Classic farmhouse design includes hard lines with unfinished wood, as was typical in original farmhouses. White elements are often added, which blend effortlessly with light-colored wood.

Light colors are a staple for any farmhouse design – in fact, nearly every farmhouse design will include white, soft tans, or browns. These colors almost always appear as wood, but can appear as finished metal, especially in shelving. Classic farmhouse design thrives on the ‘light and airy’ feel, which means white, soft tans and yellows, and light blues and greens.

However, this isn’t to say dark elements can’t be added! Dark colors, such as blacks, dark grays, forest greens, navy blues, and dark browns are often added as accents.

When adding dark colors, use plants, pots, books, shelves, and other decor items. This helps keep rooms bright, especially if there is no natural lighting!

In certain cases, dark elements can be used liberally as long as there are lots of light accents or other large light colored elements.

As for each room in your home, some farmhouse design elements differ from room to room. Continue reading to learn how to implement these trends and you’ll be one step closer to your dream farmhouse home. 

Now, let’s take a tour through a typical, modern farmhouse!

Designing Your Farmhouse Kitchen

Kitchens are where farmhouse design can completely take over. The kitchen is the heart of the home – make it feel that way! How, you ask? First, textures are important. Anyone should be able to get the ‘feel’ of the room just by looking at it. Coziness, with a hint of rural life, is essential. 

Features that add texture include unfinished wood for different furnishings, potted plants, and cabinet design, among other elements. 

Several modern farmhouse designs include sleek cabinetry, as seen in the image above. What makes this room so inviting? The counter top and the kitchen table are both made of ‘rough’ looking wood, complementing the modern, black cabinet design.

A couple of plants are added to the mix to give the kitchen a natural, earthy feeling. Finally, openly hanging kitchen utensils and open cabinetry reinforce the farmhouse design look. 

Note that, with small kitchens, you’ll need as much storage space as you can get. So, combine some elements of open cabinetry with closed cabinets to maximize space and maintain the farmhouse look.

Take the following small kitchen for example.

This kitchen maximizes storage space by combining its sleek white closed cabinets with rustic wooden open cabinetry.

The white accents and tan wood help reinforce the farmhouse look well! This isn’t to say you can’t have black appliances – this photo has one!

Also, take a look at how cabinetry might work in a larger kitchen here.

Farmhouse Bathroom Decor

Bathrooms are treasure troves for farmhouse style and decor. Most people love a well-decorated bathroom – with pictures or lights, or other wall decorations.

Converting a bathroom to the farmhouse style is quite easy! Simply mixing in some plants in a vase or empty bottle earns the right feel. If you have shelves, adding wooden boxes filled with towels or rags is an easy and effective way to store items, while evoking the rustic farmhouse feeling.

Open shelving thrives in bathrooms, especially if your bathroom is smaller. They make the room feel bigger and contribute to the farmhouse style, similar to the kitchen!

How to Decorate a Farmhouse Bedroom

Bedrooms are personal spaces and can be decorated any way you want! For a simple farmhouse design, check out the picture to the left.

Keep light colors and wood elements in your room. Add in a couple plants, whether they’re potted or hanging!

This is a good opportunity to add some dark elements in your bedroom; do some research to find a dark-colored plant pot. There’s several other places where you can add dark elements: picture frames, bed frames, or other small decor items.

Rugs add more texture to the room, and, just for practical reasons, they help to dampen sounds in hardwood floors. Light colors are preferred in farmhouse design, but it is your bedroom after all!

Lots of people will mix farmhouse with bohemian (or ‘boho’) design – and oftentimes, this means a loud rug. Colors often seen in bohemian style are reds, oranges, yellows, and purples. Most rugs will feature funky ‘hippie’ style designs, which give your bedroom a flair of style and a unique personality. Check out a colorful boho bedroom below!

Farmhouse Family Room

Since family rooms are often gathering spaces for guests, it’s best to keep inviting colors and features in this room. People will often lounge in these types of rooms, so bring in the soft tans, yellows, whites and perhaps light blues, as seen in the photo above.

Plants will always make people feel more at home, so think of investing in some larger potted plants for this room, as long as this space is available or the walls feel empty. Next, consider adding some shelving units to host plants, pictures, and other small decor items.

You may also consider including elements from outside help sell the look as well: wood coasters, pine decorations (as seen above) or sand and seashells can help bring your family room to life.

Farmhouse Front Room Decor

Making a statement right in the entryway or front room can immediately impact a person’s perspective as they walk through your door. It doesn’t have to be a big piece, but something that speaks ‘farmhouse.’

What might this be? Well, something such as a hat rack (as seen above) or a creative art piece with miscellaneous items scattered throughout will easily get your point across. Plants will always do the trick, too! When in doubt, use a plant on an open shelf. Add some wood products and you’re golden.

Modern Farmhouse Home Office

Home offices have always been a personal space for homeowners. Farmhouse design makes the home office feel even homier. Adding in personal elements such as photos or memorabilia can be a nice touch. Wood desks and open shelving will again thrive, but adding different decor ideas around the space will make it feel more like an ‘outdoor office’ and get you out of the ‘urban office’ environment.

Check out this example on Pinterest.

Here, open shelves work to the room’s advantage. This room is small, so adding in closed cabinets or desks with storage isn’t ideal; it may make the room feel tighter. On the contrary, this office is bigger and will work with closed storage as well as open storage.

Notice in both examples the giant clocks on the wall!

Farmhouse design is a lifestyle choice and can work in most households, especially smaller rooms. A full house makeover may not be ordered right away. But, start with your bathroom or bedroom, and you’ll have a modern farmhouse in no time!

Thanks for stopping by to read our guide on how to build your farmhouse home this year. We hope you enjoyed the unique, rustic styles shown in this article. Best of luck with your remodel!

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