You love Rustic design! Here’s everything you need to know about Rustic design and how to achieve this beautiful look.

What is Rustic Design

Your home is casual with a welcoming feeling wrapped in nature. Your love of distressed wood is a hallmark of your home and stands out beautifully in your neutral color palette!

Rustic doesn’t mean you live in a log cabin or even in the countryside. In fact, Rustic can encompass a few styles, including Farmhouse, Gustavian, Tuscan, or even Coastal Chic.

Rustic style is all about texture, texture, and more texture. Natural fabrics like sisal, linen, cotton, canvas, and leather are used in combination. Wood finishes often show their grain and can be a bit beaten up. After all, no one and nothing is perfect, so why pretend?

Rustic elements tend to have a matte finish, so avoid shiny surfaces like lacquer, chrome, or even glass. With the exception of perhaps a vintage crystal chandelier thrown in for juxtaposition, Rustic style relies more upon heavily textured objects.

Photo by Canyon Design BuildLook for family room design inspiration

Rustic Color Palette

Neutral colors are the cornerstone of a Rustic style. The color palette is muted and earthy, like beiges, whites, browns, and grays. It’s a warm color palette that reinforces the feeling if cozy and relaxed.

Characteristics of Rustic

  • Stone and brick
  • Furnishings with a beautiful patina
  • Slipcovers made from vintage linen
  • Animal hide accent rugs
  • Old books on display
  • Heavy, wooden furniture that is simple in design

Photo by RiverWorks Design StudioMore living room photos

GET MY CURATED SHOPPING GUIDE AND FAV FINDS!

Sign up here and I’ll send you my favorite retailers that cater to Rustic Style! Plus, I’ll share some of my latest favorite finds I think you’ll enjoy.

Looking for a little extra guidance? Check out these resources…

1. Read this article where I list out my BEST decorating advice no matter your style.

2. Check out this piece where I break down some of the easily avoidable mistakes people make when decorating.

3. Sign up for more tips! Get the FREE email series, Decorating Made Easy: 5 Tips You Should Know, and join the 10,000 subscribers who already receive the weekly decorating articles.

Not sure if Rustic is right for you? Take the Design Style quiz!

Most people embody more than one style, so take the quiz multiple times to flesh out all of the styles that appeal to you! Just like your personality, your design style should be unique and evolving.

P.S. Don’t forget to check your email! I’ll be in there with more tips to transform your home…

Join the Community

Let’s keep in touch! Get exclusive artwork plus the latest news delivered directly to your Inbox!

3 Comments

  1. For some reason the sign up for sending me rustic designs is not connecting. Any other way I can get the email from you.

    Thanks Kim!

    1. Hi Roseann! Well that took a bit of detective work to figure out what went wrong with the Rustic email. It turns out, my email provider had blocked you for some reason. I just now resent it to you and they’ve assured me that your email is on their “safe” list now. Thank you so much for bringing that to my attention! And thank you for being a subscriber!! :) Kim

  2. Kim,
    Thanks so much for this. I think the quiz nailed my style and I’m happy to have the confirmation.
    Karen

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.