Farmhouse Decor: Inspiration, Essentials, and What to Avoid

Farmhouse decor has become a staple of the interior style of American homes, booming in popularity in the last five years. What makes the farmhouse style so popular is its versatility. The fundamentals of the style can pair both with modern home features as well as antique furniture and lighting.

The style isn’t without its detractors though, and there are definitely some elements that don’t age well you may want to skip over.

What Makes Farmhouse Style?

The central philosophy of farmhouse architecture and style is the intersection of form and function. In other words, farmhouses looked nice, but they also had to be useful for the purposes of farming and harvesting, and large enough for the farmer’s family.

These underlying needs led to common features like

• Large farmhouse kitchen sinks
• Wrap-around porches
• Open floor plans
• Central chimneys

Combined these features create homes that have a comfortable and classic country feel with natural lines and simple sensible structures built for the pleasures of living. Farmhouse style is currently popular, but it’s not the first country home style to become popular.

Country Home Decor Inspiration

Before modern farmhouse decor took over one of the most popular suburban interior design styles was country style. Country home decor uses many of the staples of farmhouse style, but rather than embracing rustic appeal, country homes often combined natural elements with refined style resulting in highly polished wood features like hardwood floors, along with detailed wooden stair rails and balusters.

Country-style homes often incorporated different decorative wallpapers and stylized light fixtures that are less sought after in homes today.

Farmhouse Decor Essentials

The fundamentals of farmhouse decor are part of what makes the style so versatile. Some of the common elements include:

• Natural Hardwood or Reclaimed Wood Accents
• Neutral Color Palette
• Vintage or Antique Features
• Exposed Ceiling Beams
• Soft Lighting

Often a farmhouse countertop will be made of butcher block, or for the truly rustic feel, even a live edge slab cut to size and shape with a natural unrefined edge.

Butcher block countertops carry on the farmhouse tradition of being beautiful to look at while remaining functional for your kitchen food preparation and cooking tasks.

These gorgeous North American hardwood pieces can be cut to accommodate large apron farmhouse sinks for the perfect put-together kitchen look. A properly maintained butcherblock countertop is even safe for food preparation.

Modern Farmhouse Style Inspiration

Now that farmhouse style has remained popular for years, there are nuanced elements of this interior design style.

Modern farmhouse often takes the fundamentals of this style and pairs them with more industrial elements like exposed brick, distressed metal, or vintage light bulbs and fixtures.

Other attributes you often see in modern farmhouse style include:

• Shiplap
• Stainless Steel
• Indoor Plants
• Mason Jars

Modern farmhouse style isn’t afraid to incorporate colors like black and white into its muted color palette. Traditional farmhouse style uses vintage furnishings and accents to incorporate color, while modern farmhouse style intentionally places woven materials, like blankets and decorative throws, as colorful focal points.

What to Avoid in Farmhouse Style

Our goal isn’t to dissuade anyone from features in farmhouse style that they might like. The fact is that some of the style features of farmhouse decor have drawbacks and we want to be sure that homeowners are aware.

Sliding Barn Doors

The sliding barn door has become a staple of the modern farmhouse style. It can work in special applications, but it’s unlikely to meet what you want from a door.

For example, sliding barn doors don’t latch closed like a traditional door. This gap allows both light and sound to easily pass from the room to the rest of the house. In the age of work-from-home and Zoom meetings, this might not be ideal.

The other significant drawback to consider is that you’ll lose a significant amount of wall and floor space so that the door is able to slide. This is largely the reason why these doors may not be as ideal for your ideal basement den or hallway. The truth is many home spaces are not designed to accommodate barn doors.

Open Shelving

Open shelves in kitchens are a hot trend right now, but they can be tricky. While using them for certain items, like smaller kitchen appliance and dry ingredient storage, open shelving exposes clean dishes to dust, grease, smoke, and more.

Given the extra work likely involved with keeping your dishes clean in an open shelf kitchen we recommend homeowners steer clear of using them as a primary form of dinnerware storage.

Make Farmhouse Decor Yours

The truth is that if you start out decorating your home with farmhouse fundamental style in mind you’ll be creating an interior design canvas with a lot of versatility that can transform over time.

The beauty of farmhouse style is that you can balance having a cohesive fundamental style with details that are all your own. Don’t hesitate to contact our millwork experts at Hardwood Lumber Company for all your farmhouse decor needs.