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Modern Farmhouse Furniture

What's Your Style?

With so many décor ideas, styles, and choices, it can be quite overwhelming. There are many questions to ask yourself when it comes to decorating your home. Chief among them is, "What style reflects me and my personality?". If you're looking for some help narrowing down the perfect style for your space, you've come to the right place.

Our, "What's Your Style" series looks at different styles and is specifically designed to help you find your perfect aesthetic, which means you're already well on your way to finding your dream home.

We are here to make sure that you have all of the tools and knowledge that you need to be able to answer this question confidently when the time comes. Let's begin by going over an interior design favorite, Modern Farmhouse.

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Modern Farmhouse is one of the most popular choices when it comes to interior design today. Largely popularized in recent years, this style calls for a welcoming, cozy atmosphere that doesn’t sacrifice contemporary elements and elegance. 

Traditional Farmhouse style home

Is modern farmhouse for you?

  • Are you a vehement follower of HGTV's Fixer Upper and in love with their signature aesthetic?
  • Do you find yourself craving a welcoming, cozy atmosphere to come home to after a hard day's work?
  • Are you in love with the calm serenity of countryside living?

If you answered "yes!" to any of these questions, then we think Modern Farmhouse(also called Farmhouse Modern) might be a great fit for you!

What is Modern farmhouse style?

If Modern Farmhouse had to be described in three succinct words, these would be it:

Welcoming, Practical, & Simple

Modern Farmhouse is a design style that ditches the lavish, intricate, and ornate in favor of the simple, practical, and charming. It places a heavy emphasis on natural materials, simple forms, and functionality, striving to combine these aspects into a space that is welcoming, warm, and inviting. It strikes a balance between classic and contemporary, pastoral and refined. 

Traditional Farmhouse style home
Photo credit: www.freepik.com

humble beginnings

Modern Farmhouse design has its roots in, you guessed it, actual farmhouses. More specifically, the style originated in the 16th and 17th centuries. During this time, Europe was still largely made up of farming communities, where houses were built with materials that were readily available. This typically ended up being wood and stone that had been cleared from the fields.

Interior décor at the time was also limited. Farmers spent the majority of their time outside, tending to their fields and livestock--leaving little time to care for complex indoor spaces. Still, these simplistic homes were cozy and provided farmers with an ample place to rest their heads after a long day's work.

Since farmhouses were largely used for basic needs, the floorplans were simple and functional. As families expanded, the houses would grow accordingly, often leading to interesting, unorthodox layouts.

As it evolved, Modern Farmhouse started to blend the classic and contemporary aspects of design mixing practical furniture with antique pieces and restored articles. 

Like any style, Modern Farmhouse intersects with various other types of design in some of its elements. Let's take a look at a couple of them.

Messina Bedroom collecion

Country Style vs Farmhouse

Country design and Farmhouse style are similar and often get mistaken for each other, which is why it's important to emphasize their differences.

Country style is not as focused on a minimal look. Rather, it prioritizes more accessories to dress a space and give it character. Country is often also described as using less clean lines and opting for a more curved, casual feel.

Farmhouse incorporates a casual but contemporary feel. The style is best known for making abundant use of elements like natural wood, apron sinks made from porcelain, and vintage furniture and accessories.

Traditional vs. Modern Farmhouse 

Modern Farmhouse took on all of these main concepts of traditional farmhouse and modernized some of the details around them. 

While the natural materials, sinks, and distressed vintage pieces remain strong, they are now accessorized with glossy accents and paired-down, minimalist décor.

The Many Elements of Modern Farmhouse

The popularity of Modern Farmhouse design can be attributed to the homey yet clean and chic feel of a space inspired by the style. Although it may appear simple at first glance, Modern Farmhouse style utilizes several key design elements:

Color

A good foundation is always the first step towards a successful home project! That being said, let's start with the basics. 

Farmhouse Modern design bets heavily on neutral tones, paired with a liberal use of natural and reclaimed wood, as well as metal accents that polish off the feel. The materials don't have to be reserved to one medium; they can be integrated through things like furniture, light fixtures, and flooring.

This can be intimidating territory, as picking the colors for your space can often feel like it can make or break your project. As a starting point, we recommend matte finishes for consistency and subtlety. If you need a little bit of guidance on your next steps, follow this simple 60-30-10 rule. 

For 60% of your room, pick your primary color. In the great majority of Modern Farmhouse spaces, we see a clean white base taking this spot.

For the next 30%, pick your secondary colors. Muted, earthy tones that are still calming and subtle will add depth to your space without feeling like too much.  

Accent colors make up the last 10%. Here is where you can go in with your bold choices! Once you are done picking, take a look at all of your swatches next to each other before committing the look.

texture

You can already tell that we are all for the neutral tones, but a subtle color scheme means that we need another way to add depth to our space. The last thing we want is to make our room look flat. This is where all of our textures come in to save the day!

Mixing woods, metals, and fabrics such as cotton, canvas, and wool is a great way to add complexity and character to your space. Modern Farmhouse design often works in favor of the blending of these different materials to form an eclectic yet understated décor style. Natural, organic components like stone, wicker, and rattan can further work to blur the lines between the inside and the outdoors. Once again, these elements encourage a relaxing, welcoming ambiance.

Mindful vintage accessories also add character and personality to the space. Plus, it's a fun opportunity to integrate both colors and textures, personalizing the room to you in an elegant and coherent way!

Form & function

Form is another major element of design, and one that is important in trying to make sure this style is well integrated in your space. 

Prioritize a mix of organic and geometric articles of furniture. Keeping this in mind will help ensure that the articles in the room don't match too much, ultimately making the room more natural and organic. Start by picking one or two large pieces that will serve to center the room. Steer away from anything that makes the space feel too crammed - we are looking for open, airy rooms.

Form flows into function: although we are all about aesthetics, we want to make sure that our space is practical and primed for ultimate usability. All of our carefully selected pieces will be comfortable and serve a purpose - we don't want any of that "too precious to use" feel around here!

When picking pieces that fit all of these requirements, you can confidently aim for whatever fits under your definition of classic. Think about furniture that you love and that you believe has the ability to evolve with you and your home over time. 

Cordoba Bedroom Collection

The Cordoba Bedroom Collection

Our Best Design Tips for the Ultimate Modern Farmhouse Home

When picking pieces that fit all of these requirements, you can confidently aim for whatever fits under your definition of classic. Think about furniture that you love and that you believe has the ability to evolve with you and your home over time. 

Attempting to integrate Modern Farmhouse design to your space can sound intimidating, but it definitely doesn't have to be! Here are some of our best design tips to bring in the perfect Modern Rustic aesthetic to your home:

1. Don't be scared of transitional looks

Modern Farmhouse - Bohemian Crossover

The Bali Collection

When re-doing a space, customers often feel overwhelmed by the prospect of having to replace every single furniture item they own, but this is far from reasonable or realistic. You can always work with what you have and what you love! 

Bring together different pieces to create a transitional look, such as blending Modern Rustic design with Industrial Modern light fixtures you might already have, for example.

There are many design-friendly ways in which you can keep some of your favorite items and still change up your interior design. Do you have rattan pieces that you love and can't seem to let go? Bring them in and incorporate a Boho feel to your new Modern Farmhouse living room.

2. Accessories: less is more

There is no need to go after pieces just to fill space. Remember, we want our décor to serve practical purposes and to reflect who we are. Embrace imperfections! 

Here, styling calls for a mix of different eras, embracing the juxtaposition of contemporary minimalism and country influence. Afterall, this is what Modern Farmhouse is all about.

We recommend choosing and celebrating unique one-off pieces that will add personality and charm to even the simplest room. That being said, we also want to make sure to pick pieces that are in good condition and can serve you well. If it looks too shabby, throw it out for something more reliable instead.

3. Look at social media

Still feeling stuck? Head on over to your favorite interior design and décor Instagram and Pinterest pages. Sometimes all you need to do is see something to believe that it is possible for you. Get inspired!

IN SUMMARY

Embarking on a new interior design project is a daunting prospect, but rest assured all of your hard work is going to pay off. The process will be fun and the results will be more than rewarding. For encouragement, just imagine sitting back in your new, cozy Modern Farmhouse room and basking in the glory of your interior design victory!

We hope some of our tips were able to break down the many wonderful aspects of this famous style. If Modern Farmhouse is for you, great! If it's not, there is nothing to worry about - there are many more where this one came from.

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