Lisa is our guest blogger this week, and she has a great eye for adding that little something extra to a room.
The taste for shiny new furniture and fittings is slowly giving way to something a little less formal. Shabby chic, vintage and retro are the interior decor watchwords this season. The reason for this softer approach is a desire to create a home, a place for children to play and for adults to relax, rather than a stiff and uncomfortable, but exquisitely beautiful, showpiece of a house.
A touch of rustic in the kitchen
Strings of onions and bundles of drying herbs not only give a kitchen a gorgeous aroma, but they make the room look very authentic!
Even if most of your meals are pre-cooked and frozen, just needing reheating, these touches make it appear that you are the perfect homebody. Make sure to use up the onions and herbs though, as they will not last forever, and they are ultimately there to be used. Copper pans – shiny yet ever so slightly battered a neat shelf of cook books and perhaps even some fruit and vegetable decals on the kitchen cupboards go a long way to making a kitchen feel warm and welcoming with a home-like ambiance.
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Easy rustic in the bedroom
A log effect bed is not only sturdy and sure to last a long time, it feels like a safe haven in which to sleep. If you cannot find an affordable wooden bed, you can still create the ‘snug log cabin’ look with cunningly designed ‘log cabin’ wallpaper!
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If the site of all that raw wood leaves you cold, you can opt for the shabby chic look by roughly painting a chest of drawers or wardrobe, then lightly sanding it to create a distressed look. Just look how Kristi of Addicted 2 Decorating distresses a dresser and makes it a classic piece. You’ll definitely love it.
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Another option is to try your hand at some retro seventies styling by going two-tone.
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Make sure you do not overdo the rustic element of your home; you do not want to end up living in a home that seems to have had not been redecorated for forty years!
Stylish rustic in the living room
Antiques are returning to popularity as people learn to appreciate pieces that have not only lasted for many years, but have done so in style! You do not have to spend a fortune to pick up a good piece, but you may need to invest some time and TLC in finding a likely item at a sale, then cleaning and polishing the piece before it is ready to take pride of place in the home.
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Ideas to add individuality and rustic charm to the whole home
Bright primary colors lift the spirits and help to make the home a bit less formal. Natural wood, only lightly varnished, always adds a natural element to any room.
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The best advice when laying out the décor of any room is to try different elements together – while some features will clash hideously, or just look plain wrong, it is possible to come up with a very unique and wonderful effect from time to time.
Pot plants and thriving greenery, set against neutral earth tones can make a room feel like a natural outdoorsy place, while simple, hand-crafted decorations add distinctive charm.
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Experiment a bit until you find the perfect combination of rustic charm, modern practicality and complete comfort for your home. Cheers.
This guest post is contributed by Lisa Jolan who is a home decoration blogger and writes for shop4furniture.net. Writing about home décor, home improvement and doing small DIY tutorials is her passion. She is a social media addict and an above average cook. She can be found on Twitter and Pinterest.
