Farmhouse Decor Ideas: The 8 Most Common Elements in a Farmhouse-Style Decor

Practical, unfussy, evolved, and family-friendly. Farmhouse decor has a welcoming warmth that is universally embraced. While there is no exact formula on how to create this style, there are a few characteristics that are common to many farmhouse-style homes. From cabinet colors to lighting fixtures to accent rugs, here are eight farmhouse decor ideas to incorporate into your home.

1. A Neutral Color Palette

The farmhouse style emulates a simpler time when practicality was the focus. Colors came from nature, so this style is all about the natural, neutral palette. With less adornment, the materials used in your furnishings provide the color, texture, and decoration. Furniture and accessory references should complement the architectural style to make the whole space feel as one. 

2. Open Shelves

Cleaner cabinet styles reference simpler construction. With metal cabinet hardware in their natural finishes, this hardware will patina beautifully in time and add a deeper authenticity. Add open shelves near the sink to hold the things we use every day. Neat stacks of complementary dishware are pleasing to the eye and the mind. Add pantry-style cabinetry on an adjacent wall to store everything else behind doors. This will keep the space clear and uncluttered.  

3. Vintage-Style Light Fixtures

Each home decor style uses lighting to flesh out its theme. For farmhouse, it’s usually antique or vintage-style fixtures.  Simple lanterns and sconces in blackened metal, zinc, or brass metals are predominant. Vintage lighting is pretty easy to find and incorporating something authentic kicks things up a notch. Modern farmhouse lighting can also be more adventurous, creating exciting juxtapositions between classic interior details and a statement or overscaled lighting. 

4. Flooring in Natural Materials

Flooring in farmhouse-style homes is predominantly made of natural materials, such as wood, clay pavers, concrete, and stone. The look is flooring in natural materials with rustic rugs overtop—no wall-to-wall carpet here. 

5. Functional Furniture Made of Natural Materials

Farmhouse style typically features wooden and iron-framed furniture (or leather) and fabric upholstery in a neutral palette. It also features a lot of stone, glass, and metal furnishings, typically with a natural patina. With this style, simpler shapes and comfort outweigh embellishments or decorations. 

6. Minimal Decor

Decoration in farmhouse-style homes is mindfully used.  Well-edited pieces that complement the space and that have or have had some function are most in line with farmhouse style, and they can run from abstract to contemporary to classic. The key is to keep decoration in check, maintaining the open, uncluttered space.

7. Rustic Rugs

Rugs provide additional warmth to the space and offer the opportunity to layer materials for a richer interior.  In farmhouse-style spaces, farmhouse rugs are typically flat-woven, with patterns that often have a historical reference (kilim, for example) and soft, warm tones derived from or inspired by nature.

8. Greenery 

Plants are a big part of a happy, healthy environment. The farmhouse style typically features large bunches of a single type of cut flower or even shrubbery or branches. Potted plants are typically set throughout in ceramic and clay pottery, vintage brass pots, or rustic baskets. Larger potted plants complement the space by adding both dramatic height and scale. 

Readers: Ready to redecorate your space in the farmhouse style? Read this room-by-room farmhouse decor guide.