How Can Rustic Be Modern?
Updated 8/13/24
No! Neo-rustic does not translate to treehouse…or even iconic A-frame. What it does mean is incorporating organic shapes, earthy textures, and natural materials into a serene and sophisticated take on modern interior design.
It’s not that your modern style should veer away from the clean lines and clear purpose that are the hallmark of that aesthetic. Rather, it’s about a resonance with nature’s inherent warmth and essence that you can incorporate into the daily fiber of your lifestyle. By choosing those natural elements you find most soothing, your taste will create a uniquely personal environment that supports both your lifestyle and your well-being.
What does my neo-rustic home look like?
Creating a home in a modern rustic style starts by using interior design elements that complement the architectural style of your home. Seek out natural textures, neutral colors, and simple patterns for your interior that also mirror or echo your outdoor environment. Join materials like solid wood and stone with plant-based fibers to help you take the next step towards this more elemental styling. To enhance the impression, use illumination from (or that feels like) natural light.
Consider incorporating some of these tips as you embrace a more rustic aesthetic:
- Use wood – for floors, trim, furnishings, etc. – in a way that feels natural, choosing neutral or enhancing stains and finishes. Embrace natural markings and wood grain.
- Employ a floorplan that plays up the focus on your fireplace, should you be lucky enough to have one. A fireplace mimics our first and fundamental form of warmth, and its ongoing tug at our emotions is as literal as the heat it provides. The fireplace/firepit feature is also one you can easily add by extending your living space outdoors, where your natural interior design choices meld with and are reinforced by your exterior space. Living in harmony with our surroundings is grounded by actually living in our surroundings – the essence of inhabitance.
- Pay attention to color. While peaty browns, sandy beiges, and rich wood colors are the original basis for rustic design, neo-rustic plays up the depth of their coloration by juxtaposing them with white (or near-whites) for contrast – and to create the illusion of natural, light-flooded space. You can also incorporate other neutral tones that relate to the scene outside your windows, like sandstone, ocean blue, forest green, terra cotta, and sage.
- By using natural fabrics and textures for upholstered furniture and rugs, you’ll accentuate the holistic sense of the environment you’re creating. After all, these are the elements that also coexist in nature. Linen, wool, leather, and canvas are complementary choices, but so too are glass, metal, and various stones. Nature loves a contrapuntal relationship as much as any good designer – in fact, it’s the original source of inspiration!
- Incorporate rich natural textures by adding jute mats, woven baskets, rugs, and textiles that show off both the origins of their materials and the creative process that birthed them. Including photos of nature, like these black and white pieces, contributes to your freshly modern take on rustic design as well as personalizes your environment.
- Following nature’s lead, smooth rough edges and accent your neo-rustic home with easy plants and flowers. Unfussy bunches of eucalyptus, reeds, and grasses bring the softer side of nature in, as do groupings of succulents and vases of whatever’s blooming around you – even something as simple as Queen Anne's Lace.
- Choose window treatments that allow as much natural light as possible. If you don’t need to cover your windows for privacy or light control, you can opt for no window treatments at all. If you do need one or the other, choose straightforward styles and materials that subtly punctuate the furnishings you’ve chosen for the quiet elegance of your understated home.
Furniture is Elemental to the New Look of Rustic
Furniture that helps you stake your claim to a more rustic style starts by celebrating its natural elements – a reliance that’s evident even after it becomes a fully finished piece of furniture.
Furniture like that comes from artisans who approach each piece they’re crafting with a respect for the materials they use. In the case of Bassett and their BenchMade Collection, that’s decades-old lumber that has been sustainably harvested from Appalachian forests. Reverence for the building materials – in this case, wood – also includes highlighting nature’s artistic hand, whether that’s wavy grain, pitch pockets, mineral streaks or knots.
This authentic approach to materials is why there’s still a lovely variety – and not an impersonal homogeneity – to rustic décor. Say your taste leans to smoother finishes and softer edges like those that often appear in Scandinavian-style design – you’d likely want to incorporate maple or cherry wood. If you want heavier texture from your wood surfaces, then oak with exposed joinery or a live edge might be your choice.
And if all this sounds like custom furniture, that’s what it is. In a time-honored tradition that started more than 120 years ago, each piece of BenchMade furniture is made for its new home by Bassett artisans in Bassett, Virginia. And the entire Bassett furniture line is replete with natural materials and textures: from wool rugs, to handcrafted baskets, to natural upholstery fabrics and bedding, to glass and stone accent pieces.
So, if you’re someone who loves the DIY approach to design, your new room is just a scroll away. Many of Bassett’s customizing features are available to explore and order online – and yes, that’s a unique opportunity in the custom furnishings world. But if you’re someone who has a perfect vision in their head of what they want their neo-rustic home to look like, yet have no idea how to get there, then it’s time to schedule a complimentary design appointment with one of our design professionals (available both in person or via a virtual visit).
Neo-rustic design isn’t the latest “-core” or trend. It IS a design style intentional about getting back to the essence of nature – human nature AND how we live in our natural habitat. And that’s as custom and universal – and untrendy and authentic – as it gets.
See our Rustic Furniture Collections Up Close
To see, touch, and feel the natural beauty and artisanry of our BenchMade line of furniture, find a Bassett Furniture store near you.
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