15 Farmhouse Decor Ideas

Farmhouse decor delivers a relaxing, welcoming aesthetic. By focusing on natural textures, colors, and light, farmhouse decor makes any place feel extra homey, regardless of whether it's in a home in the country or a downtown condo. 

There are plenty of farmhouse decor ideas to choose from to update an entire home or just a few rooms or spaces. From paint choices to fabrics and artwork to signature pieces, we’re sharing a few easy ways to create your farmhouse feel. 

Lighten Up with Neutral Paint

Light tones in neutral colors like cream, beige, and even pale yellow add warmth and embrace the appropriate palette for the decor. Though there’s room for hints of blues or greens in different areas of the home, keeping the base colors coordinated throughout works best for this aesthetic. 

Bold or trendy colors start steering away from the traditional farmhouse style and edge into modern design. Consider warm earth tones as the main hues to use when painting, and choosing farmhouse furniture. 

Opt for Wood or Iron Furniture Pieces

Embrace the rusticity of farmhouse living with wood or iron furniture and features. A smooth yet unstained wood dining room table or iron baskets add significant touches that fit in well with the feel of a room. 

Skip highly lacquered or polished pieces but feel free to play around with different colors and types of wood. Maple, oak, and cherry are all attractive options to use for your space. Don’t worry if separate pieces aren’t exact matches. When considering farmhouse decor ideas, the imperfections are what give them character. Not everything has to be entirely painted or in premium condition. Beloved antiques or repurposed furniture are great touches for any home.

Create Unique Focal Points 

A farmhouse design layout often feels minimalistic, with a few key pieces to bring a whole look together. The addition of a farmhouse record player brings in modern yet rustic elements and serves as a standout piece to set the room. 

Choose neutral tones as with the Cambridge Record Player, which mixes light wood with a wicker accent. From an operating standpoint, it’s everything needed for modern-day use with wireless Bluetooth technology, built-in speakers, and LED lighting. However, when setting the mood of a room, it naturally fits into a farmhouse vibe.

Switch Out Light Fixtures

A simple way to update a space with homespun touches is through light fixtures. It can instantly change the appearance by merely switching out light switch covers, chandeliers, and lamps to embody the tones and materials that align with farmhouse decor. 

Lighting is also an excellent way to incorporate signature pieces that tie a room together. Softer lighting or natural light are ideal options versus bright lights and a reliance on heavy curtains or shades.

Change Door Knobs and Drawer Handles

Silver or iron doorknobs and drawer handles also meet a more vintage feel than brass or nickel designs found in modern-style homes. It’s also a less expensive area to get creative with farmhouse decor ideas. These can be found at home decor and craft stores and popular store chains that carry household goods.

Find doorknobs with your family initials or seek out silverware-inspired drawer handles. It’s the attention to detail that helps transform a space; starting with doors is an easy way to make the design transition.

Seek Out Antique Finds

To get inspiration for farmhouse decor ideas, visiting antique stores or flea markets is a fun way to find unique pieces. Whether it’s glass bottles repurposed as flower vases or a vintage trunk to use as a coffee table, part of the fun of styling new decor is finding treasures that have been loved by others before. 

Picturing each room’s layout and visualizing which areas need a few extra pieces will help you find antiques that fit an area that needs sprucing up rather than collecting items you may not have a use for.

Experiment with Open Shelving

Open shelving automatically adds style to a space, especially in a farmhouse kitchen, where it may not be the norm. If your layout allows for it, replace kitchen cabinets with wood shelving for plates and glasses. Or, simply remove the cabinet doors off their hinges to create a setup similar to pioneer days. Another option is to use a bar cart to house a cookbook collection and unique dishes; this is also a great way to add in a touch of purposeful color.

Reserve a Space for Knick Knacks

While you might want to keep your space clutter-free, reserving a single shelf or small table for a collection of knick-knacks is an excellent way to display them without feeling like they’re taking over an entire area. 

Vintage salt and pepper shakers and old-fashioned clocks are ways to dress up a space in a fun way that complements the other decor of a room. When collecting items, it’s all about how you display them in an aesthetically-pleasing form. Focus on quality versus quantity to avoid being too kitschy with your decor.

Add a Fresh Element with Greenery 

Fresh flowers and plants immediately brighten up a space and embrace a farmhouse look. There are various ways to achieve this without creating too much maintenance or upkeep. Add a hanging plant to your home office or bedroom. Plant an indoor herb garden for the kitchen. Or, fill a bowl with sunny lemons to use as a centerpiece. 

Mixing in greenery in areas throughout the home creates a common thread that ties together the aesthetic without creating a look that feels too matchy-matchy. 

Weave in New Patterns and Textures

Starting with light, soft tones for paint and furniture allows you to work in pops of color through patterns and textures for placemats, seat covers, dishes, and other decor. Gingham is a popular pattern that shows up in lists of farmhouse decor ideas. A shade of blue blends in nicely with other natural colors. Other complementary hues are yellow and green, which dress up a space without being overwhelming.

Frame Family Recipes

Rather than the traditional wall prints, why not frame treasured family recipes as part of your decor? It’s an inexpensive option that puts a personal touch to your space. Depending on the original recipe card’s quality, you can take a photo of it instead and blow it up to size, or reprint to make it readable.

Use Wreaths as Wall Decor

Adding a wreath made of wheat, magnolia, or another rustic farmhouse style plant is a wonderful way to dress up a front door. It also makes for a unique wall decor idea. It’s a way to add a new shape and color to other artwork or hanging mirrors. 

Stick with a simple design that makes sense for every season. A similar alternative is a hanging basket filled with fresh wildflowers or artfully arranged dry hydrangeas. Create a mix based on your color scheme and favorite blooms to amp up any room in the house.

Warm Up the Room with Cozy Throws

Plush cotton or faux fur throws instantly add warmth to a space and serve a functional purpose simultaneously. When used as a decorative farmhouse accent, drape it over the back of a couch or roll it up neatly in a straw basket. 

Adding different textures that complement the rest of the decor instantly updates the space with little effort. Stick with stripes or solids rather than busy patterns or stitched words to keep the decor style clean and simple.

Upcycle Wooden Crates

Wooden crates can easily be found and used for multiple farmhouse decor ideas. Stack a few to use as bookshelves. Turn the inside into a DIY planter for herbs or house plants. Use them to store records, fresh produce, or extra dishes. 

There are endless ways to repurpose wood crates, plus they’re sturdy enough to use indoors and outdoors. If they’re less than visually appealing, sand them down and finish with a wood stain to make them appear uniform.

Update Walls with Shiplap

Shiplap is a common look for farmhouse decor ideas. The wooden paneling is fairly easy to install and provides dimension to any room. The shiplap style is characterized by long planks that are mounted horizontally and often painted white. A groove cut into the top and bottom of the boards that allow them to fit together snugly and gives the paneling its distinctive appearance. You can choose a single wall or smaller space to change a room without overhauling the entire home.

Most importantly, have fun and make it personal 

There are endless farmhouse decor ideas and ways to customize them to make your own. Even though certain elements create the traditional rustic farmhouse feel, the personal touches are what make a home comfortable and inviting. 

If you’re thinking about changing your decor, Victrola is here to help you achieve your desired Farmhouse look. Start small by working in a few pieces, like a record player or antique finds, and experiment with other ideas of your choosing. There’s no limit to where this home design style can take you. Most importantly, have fun with it and finding what best suits you.