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.