Guide to The Modern Farmhouse Style

You may have heard the phrase "Modern Farmhouse" in décor styles in the last few years. With its down-home charm, you may have fallen in love with various elements and long to decorate or redecorate your home in this endearing style.

But if you aren't a professional interior decorator, you may find navigating what specifically Modern Farmhouse is confusing. What makes it modern, and what makes it a farmhouse aesthetic? What key hallmarks can you bring to your home for the right ambiance?

If you are fascinated with this alluring design and wish to achieve a Modern Farmhouse ambiance, we're here to share tips, tricks, and ideas to help you create the spaces you dream of.

What Is Modern Farmhouse?

Modern Farmhouse décor generally embraces the classic and timeless staples of the historic country farmhouse with modern-day features that marries the homely, rusticness of farm living with contemporary aspects.

What are the Key Hallmarks of the Modern Farmhouse Style?

Décor in the Modern Farmhouse style boasts clean lines, simplicity, and neutral color palettes to soften the look of the rustic farmhouse furniture or accessories within a space. These designs blend an air of modern chic with a relaxed sophistication perfect for comfort, functionality, and a touch of refinement.

Hallmarks of Modern Farmhouse include:

• Earthy and natural textures and patinas
• Natural materials
• Focused on functionality
• Salvaged materials, like reclaimed wood
• Antiques that are cozy and aren't too delicate to be used

Color schemes within Modern Farmhouses tend to be easy on the eye and generally monochromatic. Neutrals can be warm or cool, such as beige, brown, gray, and white, or natural earthy tones like blues, greens, yellows, and dark orange.

The Common Décor Components for a Modern Farmhouse Look

In nearly every image of a Modern Farmhouse interior, you will no doubt find one or several of the following:

• Open shelving
• Wide-planked hardwood floors
• Barnboard aspects
• Comfortable, big furniture
• Pine, Walnut, Mahogany, or Oak furniture
• Vintage or vintage reproduction accessories
• Shiplap details
• White linen
• Metal or Galvanized items
• Woven baskets
• Wicker
• Rattan
• Hand-stitched pillows or quilts
• Antique or distressed signage
• Plaid
• Ceramic vases and pottery
• Black metal
• Natural Light
• Lanterns

Patina is Perfection

Whether you choose genuine or reproduction antiques or distress your furniture yourself—it's all about the well-worn and well-loved patina of your décor. An antique cabinet serving as bathroom storage, reclaimed wood beams along the kitchen ceiling, and heavily textured and hand-made wood shelving with deep grain for the living room, for example, can all bring the feel of a centuries-old home to a newly built space.
Think rich, warm wood for furniture or accents.

Don't be Afraid to Add Color

As mentioned, while color palettes for furniture or walls tend to be neutral and current trends on social media tend to showcase all-white or all-neutral colors, you don't have to stick to a single color for every item in a room. You can create an area that is joyful and bright to look at by adding your favorite hues to certain accessories or elements.

If you are unsure which colors to choose, consider incorporating the colors from nature near your home. For example, if you live by a gorgeous blue lake or the ocean, you can take inspiration for shades from these surroundings. If you'd like to lean toward something more modern, go bold. A bold contrasting color can make a space that may feel cold into something warm, inviting, and cozy.

Use Lighting as A Balance

If your dining room already has a rich-toned, gorgeous wooden table with stunning Windsor fan-back side chairs, your dining room undoubtedly is already vibrant with patina. To avoid overwhelming the dining room with more, consider balancing the entire space with a simplistic, more modern light fixture.

If your dining room furniture and space lean toward modern or freshly constructed, try a vintage lighting fixture, as it may be the perfect addition to tie everything together.

Mixed Metals

Mixing metals can be a far more impactful room choice than ensuring they match. The general rule to avoid having it look too uneven is to choose three complementary metals to mix per room.

For example, avoid all stainless steel for the kitchen or all brass for the living room. Instead, choose one type of metal finish as a focal point and incorporate other finishes as accents. The key is to match warm or cool undertones within the metal, for it brings character and cohesiveness.
An example of metals that share warm undertones are:

• Brass
• Copper
• Gold or Nickel

Cool undertones:

• Stainless steel
• Chrome
• Silver metals

You can mix warm and cool undertoned metal if you genuinely wish to, but you risk the metal clashing. To make the two appear seamless, such as polished stainless steel and brass, choose a finish somewhere in the middle, like brushed stainless steel.

Let There Be Light

In a perfect world, your home's natural lighting for a Modern Farmhouse ambiance should be natural, warm, and inviting. Natural lighting includes large windows, skylights, light and airy window treatments with sheer curtains to usher in as much as possible. However, some homes may not have these features.

You can 'fake' more natural lighting in your home in a few ways.

• Make all windows the focal point of each room
• Keep any lamp shades you may use clean and simple
• Decorate the walls across your windows with mirrors or use mirrored surfaces
• Use glossy paint or glossy painted surfaces
• Choose LED lights that simulate natural sunlight
• Add floor lamps, table lamps, and wall scones to brighten up dim areas or corners

Modern Farmhouse remains such a popular choice, not so much for its distinctive look but for its ability to be flexible and modified at any time. You can switch up accents, colors, paint, and more to completely refresh a Modern Farmhouse space without heavy renovations.
Modern Farmhouse is an ideal and incredible interior design for a cozy, light, comforting home.