If it’s time to redecorate your house and you feel the itch to do something different, consider adding some old-world appeal to the place. Even a newer home can benefit from furnishings and decorations that lend the comfort and ambience of a historic log cabin, old-time lodge, or even an Italian cottage. To help you get started, here are a few tips for decorating your home in a rustic aesthetic.
Expose or Add Some Beams Overhead
Nothing creates a rustic aesthetic better than the rugged and burly look of exposed beams holding up the ceiling. If you have beams like that covered up by drywall or drop ceilings, release them from their confines! A dark stain can add the extra roughness and toughness of a simpler structure. You can also fit the beams with decorative elements and hanging light fixtures that enhance the backwoods feel. Don’t have ceiling beams? Install faux ones that simulate real ones and complement them with similarly stained wainscotting or wood trim and molding.
Reclaimed Wood Furniture
To add to the woody aesthetic, explore purchasing reclaimed wood furniture. While furniture made with, for lack of a better term, new wood is perfectly fine and can even accommodate your vision of a rustic place to read, rest, and recreate, reclaimed wood furniture has its own look and language. As the name implies, reclaimed wood furniture is made of wood that was retrieved from elsewhere. Old factories, warehouses, homes, train cars, barrels, and more are all sources of great wood from old forest growth, given a second life as a picturesque coffee table, couch, bench, or what have you. The naturally aged and colored wood is sure to start many conversations.
Lots of Rustic Layers
If you’re going for a rustic look, keep it shaggy and cozy. Pick an area rug in a woven and simple design or made of a material like jute that really conveys an aura of simplicity and earthiness. Select woolen throws and pillows to appoint the couch and chairs, providing warmth and slightly rough comfortableness. Decorating with paintings, pictures, and photographs is fine, especially with a natural or simple living theme, but think about hanging textiles, macrame projects, and similar fabric-surfaced decorations.
Add Some Green
Here’s another one of our great tips for decorating your home in a rustic aesthetic. Bring the great outdoors inside by setting up plants here and there to add a touch of greenery and a natural look to your home. Plants bring fresh air to your home as well, whether they’re large potted indoor trees or plants hanging from those previously mentioned ceiling beams. Smells activate memory, so raise flowers and herbs that lend a homely scent to the place while helping you recollect a favorite place or time.
