We bought an old house, with a lot of acreage, over 7 years ago. Being in a small, historic town, we knew from the start we wanted to maintain the farmhouse style of our property while adding a modern edge. It was important to us to keep a rustic look but needed to update fixtures, remove 80’s wallpaper from the walls, paint the kitchen cabinets and more. I’ve always been a lover of white and wanted to use lots of white while maintaining a balance between modern and rustic. Whether you take a contemporary approach or a more rustic look, it’s easy to get that desired style.
As you can imagine, the house needed a considerable amount of work because it hadn’t been updated since the 80’s. We decided to begin with a new kitchen and we painted all the builder-grade cabinets white for less than $100 rather than spending $20,000+ on new cabinets. My husband and I were hoping to match the existing hardwood floors, into the living room and office, but trying to match them was going to be very costly.
We thought about ripping out the existing hardwood and using reclaimed wood or reclaimed marble but knew that would be way over our budget. Being practical was extremely necessary, especially with young children. We looked at ceramic tile and limestone which we thought would look incredible, but that was much more than we had anticipated spending. We were in a bit of a quandary what to choose for floors but knew we wanted white floors. We headed to Pinterest for ideas since using a decorator was also out of the budget. It was time to get creative!
After many exhausting trips to flooring stores, looking at a range of materials we found the ideal floor that was in our budget. What better look for a farmhouse than beautiful white laminate flooring. It turns out laminate is a much better choice than real wood when it comes to renovating your home. Not only is it easier to install than real wood floors, but it’s also easier to maintain and keep clean, especially if you have kids or pets. There’s a lot more flexibility with laminate, plus it’s easier to get the look you want while staying on your budget. Good quality laminate flooring is a lot cheaper than wood and in many cases, looks better. White floors have an eye-catching look, especially with a white farmhouse style kitchen. Families seem to hang out in kitchen-family rooms more than any other room, so I wanted it to have a warm look with comfy seating.
Families seem to hang out in the kitchen and family room, more than any other room in the house, so I think it’s best for those two rooms to have the same style. Our kitchen is open to our family room so I wanted to keep the style flowing from one room to the next and have a warm look with comfy seating.
Our living room is currently orange with a bohemian, worldly flair. We have really interesting elements like a hand-painted wall, eclectic accents, vintage knick-knacks, an orange polka dotted couch and matching chairs with ottomans. While I love the eclectic style of our living room, it doesn’t at all fit in with the style of our house. I’m not sure what I was thinking of when I redecorated the living room 4 years ago! It needs an overhaul now to make it blend in with the farmhouse style I’m going for.
After hours on Pinterest, we decided the orange polka dot furniture has to go and should be replaced with a couple of super comfy, worn, lived-in leather sofas. This will give us a comfortable place to relax, without compromising the look we are going for or having to worry about the children spilling drinks on them. The worn-in couches go perfectly with the rustic farmhouse look we’re going for. Burlap and checkered throw pillows complete the farmhouse look by mirroring the pattern on our tablecloth. Our farmhouse, like many, has great space and in keeping the modern-rustic theme, the walls should be painted a soft white. I’ve been slowly painting all the unfinished wood trim in the house with white paint. I’ve done all the trim in 2 out of the 4 rooms downstairs so far. All of the downstairs walls are currently a cantaloupe color, except the bathroom, so painting them all an off-white, linen color is definitely on my to-do list for Spring!
We are thrilled to be creating our own farmhouse style in our home! Tackling a project like this can be overwhelming, but we’re off to a great start with a white kitchen, white floors, comfy sofas, and a few coats of white paint.
Surprisingly, this is working out better than I thought. I have so many decorating ideas, I can’t wait to start shopping. Here are a few things I’m itching to get…
Farmhouse Style Decor
