With the cold weather months here, what better way to ensure your home is a cozy oasis than by embracing the tenets of rustic luxury? This trending interior design style is made up of everything good about rural living: exposed beams, crackling firesides, warm blankets, and ample room for relaxed conversation. Curated properly, this look can pair well with minimalism: it doesn’t take much to make an elegant, unaffected statement. You also don’t have to be outside the city to bring a bit of the country in—assemble your rustic mix from this selection of pastoral recommendations.
Natural Materials
Rustic décor is anchored by a focus on wood, but stonework, natural fabrics, and purposeful potted greenery provide the accompanying high notes. Branches, antlers, animal hides, and decorative plants add a layer of the outdoors to your indoors—group these accents to create intimate vignettes.
Rugged Furniture
While rustic can be done to scale, its furniture presents the potential for some maximalist play. Furniture made of leather, wicker, wool, and wood are not out of place in an unpretentious living room, while dining rooms offer the potential for reclaimed wood trestle tables and cast iron pendant lighting. Found driftwood can easily become a coffee table or side seat; the benefit of this comfortable design ethos is that every piece can spark a conversation.
Neutral Palettes
When dealing with the visual textures of rustic design, it is wise to let the ambience do the talking. White, cream, or trending beige walls allow the found elements of your thoughtfully-chosen furnishings to shine through without added visual noise. Drape windows in linen, and anchor gauzy curtains with industrial hardware.
Traditional Patterns
Plaid, earthy prints, and woven textiles ground this style in the patterns of the past, and balance out a neutral backdrop. Browns, reds, greens, creams, and burnished coppers come to the fore in rustic blankets and throws—think autumn as you select your soft trappings.
Whether you incorporate a few rustic pieces or decide to go full Muskoka, the latest in lodge décor promises to add a splash of agrarian life to your everyday routine.
This article was originally on Sotheby’s International Realty’s Extraordinary Living blog and has been adapted for Sotheby’s International Realty Canada’s Insight Blog.
