Tag Archives | Rustic Style

Industrial and Rustic Charm: Home Brick Wall Designs

I like seeing brick walls in a room. They add rustic charm, character, makes a space feel cozy, and becomes a decor feature in a space. But having an interior brick wall can be hit or miss, as it is better suited for some rooms vs others. Also having an entire wall in exposed brick can overwhelm the design and look of the room. So here are some design notes and advice when it comes to having an exposed brick wall in a room.

The Size of the Room

From the images in the mood board above you can see that almost all of the rooms that have exposed brick walls are not your average sized rooms. Exposed brick walls are better suited for rooms that are taller, double height or 1.5 in height, vs normal rooms. Having a brick wall is bit of a feature piece, and you need space to let it really shine.

A kitchen (1) or bathroom is a good space to have a brick wall, while double height bedrooms and living rooms will look good too.

Less is More – A Feature Piece in the Room

If you look at pictures that have brick walls in their natural color (red), you won’t find just plain solid brick walls. Having a wall just of red brick will be overbearing – and will dominate the look of the room. So you want to mix up the design of the wall.

One way to break up a brick wall is to have wainscoting, like the bottom black wainscoting in the bedroom in picture (2).

Use columns, or frame a portion of the brick wall texture. Mix up textures. Mix in plastered sections, or even fabric (3), to tone down the rustic nature of the brick wall.

Have some parts of the wall plastered and painted, leaving space for a little of the rustic exposed brick – just like in picture (4). You don’t want to over do it. Be selective, and place the brick wall in a feature area, such as a kitchen backsplash (5), the headboard wall of a bedroom, as a room divider (6), or as a background for shelving (7).

The Importance of Color

The color of the brick you use will really determine how the room looks and feels. Have a look at the kitchen in picture (8) – see how the wall blends with the decor and style of the room (from the floors to neutral colors of the table, cabinets, and chairs). Imagine how the space would look if it had your typical red brick – the color would dominate the space.

You can get bricks in all shades of red, from bright glossy reds, to more natural hues. You can also get concrete bricks too. You’re gong to want to use a color that blends well with the design of your room.

You can always paint over the bricks. Having the bricks painted over tones down the rustic nature of the design. White brick wall interiors are popular, as most walls are white – but you are left with a nice subtle brick texture just like in picture (9). Going with black creates a luxurious rustic style (10).

How to Build Your Own Interior Brick Wall

There are two main ways to create an interior brick wall design. If you have indoor brick walls, then you can strip back the plastering and expose the old bricks.

Another way is to use thin slices of brick to create a faux brick wall. You can get these thin slices as individual tiles pieces, that you attach DIY to the wall. Or you can get large panels that interlock to create panelling for the wall.

Other Design Notes and Ideas

If you do have a decorative brick wall in one of your rooms, highlight this decor feature by fitting down lights to the ceiling – pointing towards the bricks
Don’t forget you can play with patterns. Check out the herringbone fireplace design in picture (11)
By using exposed bricks as a design feature in a room, you are creating a rustic/industrial/natural design style. So the other decor pieces in the room should blend well together with this style.

Image Credits: 1/2/3/4/5/6/7/8/9/10/11

Other rustic decor mood boards:

June 20, 2014 in Decor

Home Decor Ideas: Using Large and Small Logs

Inexpensive DIY Log Furniture Ideas

Logs can be turned into pretty inexpensive furniture pieces. Ben of Homemade Modern paid $2 per log from someone on Craigslist who was selling them for fire wood. He then turned them into stripped down log end tables – seen in picture (1). Follow along with his tutorial here.

What I like about using logs to create coffee and side tables, is that there are a bunch of different ways it can be done. In picture (2) two logs have been used to create more table space in the living room. A thick piece of log has been sliced up into 3 separate pieces to create another of coffee table in picture (3). And for a long coffee table – turn a log on its side and cut off the top and bottom to create a flat base and top. Depending on the thickness of the log, this coffee table might be low down – just like the one in picture (4). For more creative coffee table ideas have a look at my mood board here.

Chairs and stools are other home furniture pieces that can be crafted from logs. They can be solid pieces, or the logs can be carved to create a more stylised and lighter stool (5).

Around The House

The chalkboard made out of a log slice is a great rustic chic idea – and simple too (6). Martha Stewart has a tutorial on how you can make your own colored chalkboard paint here. So you are not stuck with using the traditional black paint.

Stripped down and finished quartered log pieces make for elegant book ends – seen in picture (7).

Wood + Lighting

Carved out log candle lanterns will add some serious rustic charm to any space (8). While the white birch log lamp in picture (9) is ideal for a more Scandinavian styled space.

Back to Nature

I really like ideas that take organic materials and use them back in organic settings. One example is using logs as planters (10). Or how about the crafty log bird feeder in picture (11).

Using Smaller Wood Pieces

Simple Ideas: Planters can also be created out of smaller branch pieces. Just by turning the wood slice on its side, and using the bark to keep it still, the test tube planter in picture (A) above is one designer looking piece. Another simple idea is to use wood slices as photo stands (B). And how about drilling holes into a thick wood slice to create an elegant pencil holder (C).

Adding Color: Add a splash of color to play down the rustic look and feel of wood slices. Just like the candle holders that have been dipped in gold paint for a more lux-chic look (D). Then there are the log bowls in picture (E), which use high-gloss paint to add bold colors.

Log Home Decor On The Walls

I’ve seen a few ideas of decorative log slices being used as wall decor. They didn’t really appeal to me. But this log wallpaper by Rockett St. George really caught my eye. It is so artistically designed and creates a striking feature wall.

image credits: 1/2/3/4/5/6/7/8/9/10/11 A/B/C/D/E

June 10, 2014 in Decor, DIY

Decor Style: Rustic Kitchen Ideas

When it comes to rustic kitchen ideas, you are going to want to use and infuse as much raw materials as possible. Make heavy use of stone and wood, and raw metals like copper and brass. For a more modern and industrial look, there is concrete.

Different Rustic Styles

In the pictures in the mood board above, you can see there is variety and degree of rustic styles.

A touch of rustic. You’ve got kitchens that only add subtle and minor rustic pieces that make a big impact – just like the kitchens in pictures (1) and (2). Using white as a base color is popular, and then infusing touches of rustic style around the kitchen through:

wooden counter tops
exposed beams
exposed brick walls (3) Industrial and Rustic Charm: Home Brick Wall Designs
hard wood flooring

Fusion. In picture (4) you can see how modern meets rustic. The raw and rustic table and chairs contrast the modern and sleek kitchen cabinets.

Rustic Cabinet Design

Because cabinets take up so much space, physically and visually, the look and style of them will really set the tone and style for the whole room. Some design ideas for rustic kitchen cabinets include:

White cabinets with wooden countertops
Using brass handles
Go with open shelving and have everything out on display – use rustic style storage containers (more about that below)

Storage as Decor and More

Because so much needs to stored around the kitchen, the storage containers and items you use can act as decor pieces. Get good quality, and good looking storage contains. Things like:

Wicker baskets
Enamel containers
Wire baskets
Wooden trays and bowls
Galvanised buckets
Vintage glass bottles
Copper containers

For a mood board and more ideas, have a look here: Rustic Storage Ideas and Organziation Tips.

If you use rustic cooking pots and pans, like cast iron or copper, these can be hung on the wall and double as decor pieces. A copper cooker hood is grand statement piece to have in a rustic kitchen.

Other rustic kitchen decor ideas include:

Wrought iron wall hangings/clock
Plants in rustic style pots
Lace or ruffled curtains, or wooden blinds

Rustic Dining

If you have a dining area in your kitchen, then the tables and chairs will take up a lot of space. Just like the cabinets, you’ll want to really create the rustic look with the furniture, to set the style for the whole room. Go with a country style long wooden farm table, just like the one in picture (5), with wooden chairs or a bench.

The Sink and Backsplash

A popular sink for a rustic style kitchen is a porcelain tub, just like the one in picture (6). Another option would be a copper sink (7). These would usually go with rustic brass metal faucets.

When it comes to the backsplash, subway tiles will add a nice contrast to all of the rough materials around. Reclaimed wood can also be turned into a backsplash – have a look at my pallet wall post to see designs. Other ideas for backsplashes include using exposed brick, or rough stone tile.

A Wooden Kitchen Island

A common rustic kitchen island would have a rustic wooden countertop, with a painted wooden base. Check out the live edge wooden kitchen island in picture (8). A wrought iron pot rack can hang above.

Iron Lighting

Wrought iron lighting fixtures go well with a rustic style. These can be matched with wrought iron decor pieces, like candle holders, pot racks, bowls, and wall decor. Some lighting ideas include having a wrought iron chandelier. For a mood board on kitchen lighting ideas, have a look at my post here. Or check out my rustic lighting ideas post.

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

More rustic and kitchen mood board posts:

June 10, 2014 in Design Styles, Kitchen

8 Beautiful Wooden Wall Designs

While writing the post on pallet walls, I came across a lot of wooden walls that had not used pallets. Pallets are great because they are budget friendly. New and reclaimed wood can be costly, but can be used to create beautiful and charming wall designs.

Some ways to play around with a wooden wall design include: adding color (either through stains or paint), mixing up the sizes of planks you use, or create patterns such as going angular.

Mixing Light and Dark Shades of Wood