Design Styles

Rustic Paint Colors and Textured Wall Designs

In a rustic room, you’ll see a lot of natural materials. There will be a lot of old and reclaimed woods, stone, and metal. Because of this the color schemes of a rustic space will be made up of neutral shades and earth tones – white, greys, dark browns, iron black. Natural green shades can be mixed in by adding plants. So use that as inspiration when looking for rustic paint colors. Avoid man made bright colors – like bright blues, orange, and bright red.

Going Simple – Classic White

A Neutral Color: Go with white walls. This way any rustic pieces in the room, like exposed beams or wooden window shutters, will really stand out. Check out the bedroom in picture (1) – the white walls make the beams and the wooden bed the focal points in the room.

For a more modern and cozy look use a darker wall color. The bathroom in picture (2) has had its wooden wall panels painted black. Just like the white walls in the bedroom, the black walls in the bathroom contrasts well with the rustic brown mirror – making it stand out.

Rustic Wall Designs and Paint Ideas

Some ways of creating a rustic wall is to use stone or brick. The walls in the room can be made out of them, or you can decorate existing walls with stone or brick tiles. You can paint over them for a more toned down rustic look, just like the living room in picture (3). Wood is another design option. But use large log pieces – as seen in picture (4), for an authentic rustic look.

Exposed beams can also decorate the walls, not just the ceilings. They can be used as rustic crown molding, or to create a rustic support and valance over a window (5).

Another way to create a textured wall is with rough natural plastering (stucco) (6), or use wall paint to create textured finishes and effects (Textured Wall Painting Ideas: From Faux Wood to Linen Effects) (7).

Subtle Rustic Walls

Tone Down the Rustic: If you have a small room with standard height ceilings, you might want to tone down the rustic walls so they don’t become overwhelming. One way to do this is to have half of the wall (top or bottom) using something rustic like stone, brick or wood. And have the other half plastered over and painted white – creating a rustic/modern combination design.

A Feature Wall: Another way to add some subtle rustic style to a room is to use a feature wall. This is one wall in the room that is decorated, say in stone, brick, or wood, while all of the other walls are simply styled – say painted in white. Because there is only one rustic wall, it really stands out and becomes a focal point in the space. Just like the hallway in picture (8), and the stone wall feature in the bathroom in picture (5).

This feature wall could be the headboard wall in the bedroom, the wall behind the TV, or you could create a stone chimney column in the living room. It could also be the backsplash wall in the kitchen or in the bathroom.

image credits: 1/2/3/4/5/6/7/8

DIY Rustic Decor Project Ideas: From Using Logs to Staghorn Ferns

Here is a collection of simple and elegant DIY rustic decor ideas.

Simple Ideas

Strip the bark off a log, and sand it down to a super smooth finish for a rustic log side table. That is what Ben did over at HomeMade Modern to create the log table seen in picture (1). For other ideas on what you can do with large and small log pieces (from creating coffee tables, vases, to candle holders and book ends) have a look at my mood board post here: Home Decor Ideas: Using Large and Small Logs.

Take a block of wood and drill holes in it to create a rustic DIY tooth brush holder. The one in picture (2) can be bought on Anthropologie here.

Another simple, but very elegant, rustic DIY decor idea is to upgrade your closets, cabinets, and draws with some leather pulls. See how The Brick House made the ones seen in picture (3) here.

Repurposing

Decorating with Ladders: Ladders can be used all around the house. They can be used to hang up towels in the bathroom, hang up magazines and blankets in the living room, hang up clothes in the bedroom, or just to display some flowers (4). You can see a mood board of ideas here (Ideas for Decorating With Ladders).

See if you can find, or reclaim an old wooden ladder, and use it as a hanger. In the ladder mood board post you can see how A Merry Mishap created her own elegant and modern DIY ladder. To create a more rustic vibe have use raw wooden poles. Just like the poles seen in the coat hanger in the mood board.

Reusing Old Windows: Reclaimed windows can be turned into a number of home decor items – from DIY rustic furniture pieces such as coffee tables and cabinets, to photo frames, and even room dividers (5). For more pictures and ideas of what reclaimed windows can be used for, have a look at my mood board of ideas here: Home Decor Ideas: Using Reclaimed Old Windows.

Getting Fancy

I quite like this next DIY project. It is just the right amount of rustic. Annaleena over at Emmas DesignBlogg created a rustic DIY clothes hanger by simply screwing together some great looking wooden poles, as seen in picture (6). The leather that covers up the screws is a nice touch, along with the metal hooks.

If you want to add some greenery in a room, then look to The Fresh Exchange‘s tutorial on how to hang Staghorn ferns on the wall using split logs (7).

Taking it Further – The Walls

There are a few ways to create a rustic look by modifying your walls. First up are wooden walls. You can find a bunch of examples and mood boards here:

I quite like the idea of storing your fire wood pieces out in the open in a creative way. In the wooden walls post, mentioned above, you can see a white living room that has a recessed wall where the fire wood can be stacked up. This creates a unique design feature in the room.

Another DIY rustic wall design is to have exposed brick. You don’t need to have brick walls to get the look. You can get brick slices and attach them to your existing walls. For some design ideas, have a look at my mood board here: (Industrial and Rustic Charm: Home Brick Wall Designs).

Vintage Dining Room Design Ideas

The table, chairs, and lighting. Those 3 things are really all you need to create a vintage dining room. So let’s focus on these design areas the most.

The Seating: Vintage Dining Room Chairs

Here are some design ideas for vintage dining chairs:

Leather Chesterfield banquette booth seen in picture (1)
Reclaimed, repainted wooden chairs like the ones in picture (2)
Upholstered tufted bench (3)
Industrial metal dining chairs (4)
Fold up metal chairs, repainted (5)
Leather chairs (6) (in natural brown, or deep blue or green)
A wooden bench
French iron cafe chairs (7)

Style Ideas: Vintage Dining Room Tables

When it comes to finding a vintage dining table, some design ideas include:

An old wooden dining room table
Long family style barn table
Carved (4) and/or tapered wooden legs. The round dining table in picture (8) is available from Urban Outfitters here.
If you can’t get your hands on a vintage dining table, then an alternative would be to use a vintage style table cloth just like in picture (2) (the table cloth can be lace, floral or antique patterned, or a pastel shade). You could also use a doily table runner to add some style to your furniture.
For centerpiece ideas have a look at my post here.

Setting the Mood: The Lighting

Pendant lights hanging over the dining table would be the best way to light up and style the dining room. Use fixtures that are styled after barn lights – these are metal enamel lights like the ones in picture (1). You can find out where to buy these kind of lights on my Deli page.

Another lighting option is to use a mini chandelier, decorated with a ceiling rose medallion (3 Unique Vintage Ceiling Design Ideas). For more vintage lighting pictures and ideas have a look at my mood board post here: Style Guide: Vintage Lighting Ideas.

Extra Vintage Styling

Those would be the 3 main areas I would focus on styling first – the table, chairs and lighting. If you get those parts right and well styled you don’t really need to do anything else. But if you want more ideas here are some that will work well:

Check out the vintage ceiling ideas post mentioned above
From areas rugs, to patterned hard wood floors, have a look at these vintage flooring designs Style Guide: Vintage Flooring Ideas and Designs
Follow the rules of materials, going premium and focal points in my The 5 Rules of Vintage Interior Design post
When it comes to decorating the walls, have a look at my mood board post here: Vintage Wall Decor Ideas: From Bird Cages to Designing with Frames

image credits: 1/2/3/4/5/6/7/8

For more vintage mood boards, have a look at my Vintage Collection Page

July 23, 2014 in Design Styles

The 5 Rules of Vintage Interior Design

There ares so many possible ideas when it comes to your home and the vintage style. I have a growing list of mood board posts that you can find here, that covers everything from vintage storage ideas, bathroom decor, to vintage ceiling designs.

I wrote this post to help you simplify the process of creating the vintage interior design style in your own home – to make it easy to know which ideas are best for your home. Because I believe that you don’t need a lot to create a beautiful vintage space. Following a few rules will help you become your own master interior designer.

1. The Rule of Materials

When you are looking for decor pieces or vintage furniture, think about the materials that were used back in the day. You would’t find plastic pieces. Instead there would be copper, wrought iron, porcelain, enamel, galvanised metal, glass, hard woods, and leather.

The materials you choose can really help set the tone and style of the room.

Take storage containers as an example. They would be made out of wood (like wooden crates or wicker baskets), or you would find wire baskets. Enamel containers would be used in the kitchen, along with glass jars. These types of materials would be considered premium materials today.

2. The Rule of Going Premium

I think the reason a lot of us like the vintage style is that we are tired of this throw away culture, where everything is cheap and mass produced. Vintage goods are meaningful pieces that are well thought out when bought. They are also legacy items – being well built and made out of quality materials means they can be passed down for generations.

With this in mind, look for items and furniture pieces that are well made and use high quality materials – as listed above. Avoid plastic.

Go for a few well thought out, meaningful, and well built items, vs a lot of cheaper items. These few items can be the focal pieces in the room (talked about below), and would be all that’s needed to style the space.

You can get inexpensive vintage goods, but you’ll need to go thrifting, go to flea markets, or upcycle old pieces.

3. The Rule of Focal Points

You don’t need much to set the style in a room. In each room there are focal points, areas that take up the most space and where the eye is drawn to first.

Here are some examples of focal point in rooms around the house:

Living Room – the seating area
Bedroom – the bed (bed frame, headboard, bedding) and the side tables
Bathroom – the vanity (the mirror and sink)
Kitchen – the dining table and kitchen island

These are the areas you want to invest and style with vintage goods. Another important area that needs to have the vintage style infused into it is the lighting – have a look at my mood board post for design ideas: Style Guide: Vintage Lighting Ideas. Focal pieces and lighting – that is all you should focus on when creating vintage room designs.

My favorite vintage inspired space is The Vintage House Daylesford:

Take a look at the White Bedroom in the pictures above. Only a few statement pieces are needed to style the room. There is one big vintage garage sign, an industrial side table decorated simply with a glass vase, wooden shutter doors, and vintage pendant lights.

Don’t’ over do it. Don’t clutter the room with small meaningless decor pieces and knick knacks. Invest in big focal pieces that set the style of the room. These will be authentic pieces which might be expensive, but worth it.

4. The Rule of Choice: Vintage Inspired Pieces vs. Authentic Found Items

When shopping for your vintage home pieces there are 2 ways you can go about it. There are shops that will sell vintage inspired pieces, or you can go hunting for authentic and antique vintage design items.

There are some items that would make sense to buy as vintage inspired – like a leather couch, the bed and bedding, or a sink. Some shops that sell well designed vintage inspired pieces include Pottery Barn and Urban Outfitters. You can find a selection of vintage inspired home goods on my Deli page.

Other items are worth going out for and hunting down authentic pieces, such as large wall decor pieces, or reclaimed wood to make furniture out of (like a dining table). These authentic items can be hard to hunt down, take a lot of time to find, and be expensive. But it will be worth it. Remember you don’t need much to decorate and style a room. One or two statement pieces can set the style for the space.

Mr-Cup is one store that sells one of kind vintage pieces such as maps and containers.

5. The Rule of Knowing Your Style

I see two main styles when it comes to vintage decor and interior design. You have the more industrial side, and then the more retro glamorous side.

The industrial style is made up of – dark woods, leather, and cast iron materials
The retro glam style is made up of pastel and mustard colors, thin tapered table legs, and shabby chic style fabric.

The most important things to remember when creating a vintage home style are:

Set a clear picture of the style you want to create (find lots of amazing photos to get inspiration from – check out my vintage mood board collection here)
Figure out where the focal points are in the room (as mentioned above)
Invest in 1-2 premium pieces for those focal points, and vintage styled light fixtures
Don’t’ clutter the space with small decor items.