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Decorating with Rustic
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Rustic decor has been updated to meet the needs of todays families. Think handmade, simplicity, farmhouse, authentic materials, and open spaces. The rustic home is airy and bright with open shelves, beamed ceilings, tall doors, and area rugs.
One of the fastest ways to add a dose of rustic decor to a home is to bring in some texture . Rustic furnishings do that with charm and style. Rustic used to mean cheap, but rustic style is all grown up. It now borders on sophisticated and trendy. Beautiful woods and polished logs has made rustic decor one of the most popular styles on the market today. If you love the look of rustic furnishings, here are some tips on adding it to your own rustic decor home.
Since rustic furniture is textural, it's best to add it in small pieces. An entire roomful may be too much. Add some rustic benches around an old oak table, or include a few pieces at random throughout your room. Consider using rustic accent pieces such as tables, mirrors, coat trees, or other accessories. These smaller items can add rustic style without committing yourself to an entire houseful.
Warm up rustic seating pieces with cushions and pillows. These will soften the chairs visually and provide an additional level of comfort. Fabric will also serve as a unifying element to tie in a rustic piece with other items already in the room. Think small print patterns, roosters, fruit, and floral depending on taste. Fabrics associated with rustic decor are cottons, quilting, and fringes. Layer fabrics with contrasting colors, textures and patterns. Vintage lace is big, as are accent pillows. All of these give your home a traditional rustic feel.
Decorate with Warm Colors. One favorite trick of Professional decorators is to take a vase, picture, rug or chair and build up a color scheme with it. Which means they take the color of the object and let that be the dominating shade of color. Everything else in the room harmonizes with it.
Color is the visual language of emotions. Use its subtle but profound influence to create a unique atmosphere that compliments your rustic decor. Different colors have different effects, so choose dominant colors in a room to set the mood, and accent with complimentary or related colors.
To make your guests feel cozy and comfortable, use warm earth tone colors like brown, ivory, tan and gray. Add Mediterranean colors such as cornflower blue, sunflower yellow, red poppy, terra cotta and natural greens to accent. Warm reds, yellows and oranges create a lively, stimulating atmosphere. Red is the color of fire and passion. Color theory also suggests red stimulates digestion. Orange tones offer a warm, welcoming note. Yellow evokes cheerfulness, the color equivalent of bringing sunshine indoors. Yellow, like red and orange, also tends to reflect light and cast a glow of color in the space in which it is used. These are strong colors, so whether you use them boldly or just for small touches, these hues will add dramatic richness to any rustic decor.
Rustic is great for outdoor spaces as well. Porches or covered patios might be just the right spot for a rustic dining table.
Now, think soft and homey and of bringing together natural elements. That's the key to rustic decor!
I found this great article on rustic decor that I had to include, hope you enjoy it!
Rustic Decor Is Not
Just For Cabins!
By Anne Clarke
Rustic décor brings a home one step closer to nature. Sure, one step may not seem like a lot, but if you are living in a bustling city, that one step can seem like a mile. If your world is full of cell phones, fax machines, SUVs, computers, and other technology that “makes the world a better place,” coming home to a house full of rustic décor can be a relief.
There is no home décor quite as simple and comforting as rustic décor. Rustic furniture gives a home a homespun look that other furniture just cannot match. Many people might think that rustic furniture belongs solely in a cabin or a lodge, but what better place to have rustic furniture than in the city? It is in the city that you most need some sort of outlet to nature, even if the only outlet you have is the rustic décor of your home.
You can tell when you have come across a good piece of country furniture if it looks like it has been worn by many years of love, but is still standing strong. On an old, genuine piece of country furniture, every ding and every dent tells a story – “this is where little Bobby bumped is bike… this is from when we tried to move the table through that tiny doorway.”
Even brand new pieces of rustic wood furniture seem to have a long history behind them… they are made to look as such. The same cannot be said of contemporary furniture. In fact, contemporary furniture has a completely different feel that comes with it – most contemporary furniture seems to have the future in mind, rather than history and the past. Also, it is generally made up of hard, cold, bold, straight lines.
Rustic furniture, on the other hand, is made up of warm, smooth, jagged, meandering lines. In fact, if you buy a piece of rustic wood furniture, like log furniture, you never know exactly what the lines of that piece are going to look like – every piece is different. Every piece has its own character.
A piece of pine furniture, for instance, may still have knots and “deformities” in it that make it look completely different from any other piece of pine furniture. Log furniture make have checking (cracking that occurs as the wood dries), knots, bark, and other details. Your rustic bedroom furniture may not all be completely even – your dresser top may not be completely square, etc. Instead, the natural wobbles and interesting lines of the wood are used to define where a tabletop should begin and end. And to better show off these interesting lines and beautiful wood grain, much rustic furniture is coated in a clear finish.
Rustic decor looks great in a cabin, but remember that rustic decor might be the perfect sort of decor for your city home, as well.
Anne Clarke writes numerous articles for websites on gardening, parenting, fashion, and home decor. Her background includes teaching and gardening. For more of her articles on fur boots and fashion please visit Vermont Rustic Furniture.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com
Rustic decor works well with Country too!
An Introduction To Rustic Wooden Furniture
Rustic wooden furniture basically refers to simple, natural and sturdy country style furniture designs that started gaining immense popularity during the late Victorian era. In the United States, the Old Hickory Chair Company in Indiana was one of the first and largest industries to manufacture rustic wooden furniture that started in 1892.
The rustic furniture style, which used to be based on coarser and simpler designs, has become more intricate and elegant today. A lot of care has now been taken to add more detailed texture, charm and flair to the rustic furniture design without losing its original sophistication and classical effect. There are a wide variety of rustic wooden furniture styles, designs, and pieces available on the market today.
Decorating with Rustic Wooden Furniture:
Rustic furniture items can be used to make the outdoor spaces of your home a little more interesting. For example, adorning the patio, garden and lawn with rustic furniture such as arbors, trellis pieces, and country benches will give the general d飯r of your home an accentuated flair, combined with a rustic country look.
For indoors, decorating with a few rustic furniture items by placing them in the right corners and areas of the house can lend your interior furnishings a classy look, but without overdoing it. For example, the fireplace would be an ideal location to place a few rustic furniture pieces such as a rocking chair, rustic fireplace mantel, etc.
Another great idea is to consider a rustic dining table for your porch, kitchen, dining room, or covered patio, combined with some traditional food and vegetables on the tabletop, where you and your guests or family can have a nice country style meal.
Innumerable options and designs are available when decorating your home with rustic wooden furniture pieces. Personal taste and style, along with current trends should be the main considerations if you plan to give your home d飯r a rustic furnishing makeover. Lampshades, wood floors, storage sheds, ceiling fans, cabinets, beds etc are all available in rustic furniture designs and pieces, so decide accordingly.
Taking Care of Rustic Wooden Furniture:
Here are a few important tips to maintain long-lasting and better-looking rustic wooden furniture.
- Use soft or a polish-moistened cloth to dust. This will prevent scratching of surfaces. Never use soap and water because they can penetrate the finish. This can raise grain on wood and lead to damage.
- Do not interchange oil-based and wax-based polishes that will result in streaky or cloudy appearance.
- Do not dry dust, which can result in microscopic scratches on surface.
- Use coasters for cups, vases and beverage glasses because certain types of liquid can damage the finish. Blot out any accidental spills immediately without rubbing surface.
- For rustic dining tables, always use protective pads under the hot dishes to avoid unwanted spots, and damage to the finish.
- Humidity should be kept as constant as possible because high humidity can cause wood to swell while low humidity can cause it to shrink because of moisture loss.
Copyright ? Kayla Berringer, 2006. All Rights Reserved.
Stop by Rustic Embrace to receive free interior design advice about everything from small touches like rustic mirrors to larger pieces like rustic sleigh beds.
Article Source: ArticleCat.com