Rustic home décor is always charming, bringing old-fashioned warmth to tech-driven, modern lives, but this home style isn’t always easy to execute. If you’re thinking about giving your living room a rustic update, these four styling strategies combine function and fashion for the perfect family gathering space. It’s time to get back to the basics.

 

Upcycle In White

 

A rustic, farmhouse interior is essentially a blank canvas, and that includes lots of white and cream on the walls, for furniture, and in textiles. Onto this simple backdrop, you can then add natural wood elements, unfinished metals, and other accent colors, but you can also use white paint to upcycle a variety of items for use in your living room. An old dresser painted white and with some of the drawers removed becomes a television console, while a distressed white and wood table forms the perfect centerpiece for family games and tea by the fire.

 

Warm It Up

 

There are lots of ways to warm up a room, from heavy curtains that keep the chill out to candles and blankets that encourage everyone to cuddle up, but nothing ties a room together like a fire – even if you don’t have a fireplace. Heat things up in true rustic style by installing a pellet stove, an energy efficient home heating option. Fuel for a pellet stove costs less than electricity, and they burn cleanly, yet from an interior design perspective, these stoves offer all the same benefits of a fireplace. It’s a perfect balance between classic and modern.

 

Focus On Family Photos

 

Rather than look for artificially old-fashioned items to spruce up your rustic living room, take your cues from the past and decorate your space with family photos, from recent snapshots of your kids to black and white photos of your great-grandparents. As for frames, you can hit the thrift store in search of pieces to fit your décor or select a hodgepodge of frames and give them a shared spray paint treatment in brass or cream. Depending on whether you want to display photos on the wall or on a surface, you might also consider upgrading an old door or window frame to hang photos.

 

The Joy Of Reclaiming

 

From reclaimed shutters to old wooden pallets, don’t be afraid to make use of items that would otherwise be headed for the trash. Old shutters, for example, make a perfect frame for a living room mirror or similarly reclaimed window, while pallets can be broken down to serve as backing for pictures, used to cover a section of wall between shelves, or to craft homemade signs. You can find old pallets behind local stores – just be sure to ask first!

 

You don’t have to live in a farmhouse to enjoy the beauty of rustic décor; it’s easy and affordable to do it yourself. From thrift stores to architectural seconds and estate sales – and even repurposed items from around your home – everything you need is at your fingertips. After all, classic rustic homes were built on what was at hand. You just need to embrace your natural creativity.