How to Bring Farmhouse Style Into Your Kitchen

To make a big farmhouse statement in your kitchen, use old wood in places where you might otherwise use drywall or new trim and molding. In this rustic kitchen, the bar or island is covered in reclaimed wood, selected by Athens Building Co. Wood and metal stools complete the effect.

When bringing in country touches to your kitchen, don't forget about texture, says Texas designer Janna Allbritton with Yellow Prairie Interior Design. Kitchens are full of hard surfaces, so adding texture by using baskets and plants is always a welcome relief from the sleek and shiny. 

For authentic farmhouse appeal, use primitive art, such as affordable bird prints, around kitchen appliances and cabinets, says Susan Sully, author of Past Present: Living with Heirlooms and Antiques. In true homespun fashion, the cabinets in this 18th century farmhouse in Connecticut are simple and not flashy. You can look for similar pieces at a Habitat for Humanity ReStore or other nonprofit home donation centers.

The vent hood is a prime spot for a flash of farmhouse cool. This vent hood design was based on the short scraps and random pieces of wood saved by the builder. “Don’t throw away the short pieces of wood. You can reimagine and reuse them in some way,” says Austin Lineberry of New River Building Co. in metro Atlanta. 

Shiplap is a sought-after look these days, but one place to save is in the materials you use. Unprimed spruce is one of the cheapest options, says Atlanta's Austin Lineberry of New River Building Co., who found it at less than 90 cents per linear foot for this home project. Plus, he used shiplap instead of a tile backsplash around the cabinets, for a consistent look and cost-effective option.

To replicate this Old World farmhouse look, wrap a plain drop-down header in cedar to create the appearance of an antique beam, says Ili Hidalgo-Nilsson, architect and designer with Terracotta Design Build in Atlanta. Rustic lighting fixtures and rush-seat bar stools round out the farmhouse design.

A chalkboard wall is a great way to give that farmhouse feel, and it's a budget-friendly way to have interchangeable artwork, says Texas designer Janna Allbritton with Yellow Prairie Interior Design. If your penmanship isn’t perfect use a stencil. A pro tip is to use a level to keep lists and special messages straight, she adds.

For classic farmhouse style, decorate the walls of your kitchen in antique or vintage china arranged in pretty compositions, says Susan Sully, author of Past Present: Living with Heirlooms and Antiques. “You can mix different patterns when you do this,” she says. In this kitchen, plates featuring similar colors in different shapes and sizes are arranged on the wall beside a Dutch door and complement the dinnerware in the open shelving above the sink.

Inexpensive painted trays, which were popular in the 1950s and 1960s and are still made today, can bring a farmhouse motif to a kitchen, breakfast nook or adjacent area. Small silhouettes are often bargain-priced at vintage and antiques shops, or you can make your own by printing silhouette-style clip art and placing it in small wooden frames. Pick three or four types of objects, such as silhouettes, blue-and-white serving platters, trays and resin horns, and arrange them in a composition, says Susan Sully, author of Past Present: Living with Heirlooms and Antiques.

Use beadboard to line a cabinet with glass doors or even open shelving to create instant, old-fashioned appeal, says Susan Sully, of this 18th century farmhouse kitchen in Alabama.

Be on the lookout at flea markets and roadside tag sales for country pieces that are discarded, but actually have a lot of potential, says Susan Sully. This early 20th century wall cabinet features bone- and Bakelite-handled flatware used every day, and stored out in the open in pretty crocks.

Antique and vintage tins make great farmhouse-style decorations for your kitchen. Search for tins that once held coffee, lard, tea or crackers in colors that you like (home decor blogger Wendy Durnwald found these). Use them for storage or just for looks. 

Even an industrial loft kitchen can don the mantle of an Old World farmhouse with a few simple touches. Here, antique wooden beams replace the existing structural supports, creating an eye-catching element in this vintage-yellow kitchen. For a similar effect, cover boring columns with wood, or use a faux finish to give them a rustic appearance, says author Susan Sully. For an even easier farmhouse-style fix, bring in a rocking chair.  

Not all updates are modern. Give a wood cabinet a “rustic update” by replacing the existing cabinet doors with chicken wire. Athens Building Co. created a wood frame for the wire inset. It can make even a china collection fit into farmhouse style.

If you have a fireplace in your kitchen, add quirky and collected elements for instant farmhouse style. This mantel tableau created by Susan Sully mixes inexpensive brass candlesticks, baskets and classic blue-and-white platters along with affordable resin bear statues and a deer bust for a rustic farmhouse feel. “When you group it in an interesting way, they work together,” Sully says.

Baskets add natural texture and warmth to kitchens, and can make even a large space feel cozy and intimate. In this kitchen, designers with Moda Floors and Interiors stacked an assortment of baskets at one end of the island for instant farmhouse charm. 

Even if your kitchen has a more traditional or modern style, you can accent it with country decor. Rooster home accessories add a chic, playful touch to any countertop, while stained glass or leaded glass panels in the cabinets can bring in a bit of farmhouse flair. This kitchen remodel by Judith Wright Design in Seattle won a 2016 National Kitchen + Bath Association Design Competition award.

Practical and informal, farmhouse design is simple with a taste of American heritage. Charming historic features and elements of nature are found throughout. Crisp white cabinetry and a navy island anchor this kitchen's classic farmhouse style. Patterned valances offer subtle color and pattern, while the adjoining dining room is painted the same buttercream yellow, helping to tie the spaces together.

Kitchens are typically found in the back of the house. When designing a farmhouse space consider beadboard on the walls or kitchen cabinets to create a quaint country essence. In this pretty farmhouse kitchen, a dusty blue kitchen island anchors the space with style and utility. Its durable marble countertop is primed for cooking, baking and sorting the splendors of the garden.

Molding around windows emphasizes scale and brings prominence to the windows, while ceiling panels painted in light blue add a touch of charm to this space.