How to Bring Farmhouse Style Into Your Kitchen

Big and small ways to add country charm on a budget.

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October 13, 2020

By: Lori Johnston

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Photo By: Christopher Oquendo

Photo By: THRASHERphoto/Athens Building Co.

Photo By: Janna Allbritton, Yellow Prairie Interior Design

Photo By: Susan Sully

Photo By: Austin Lineberry, New River Building Co.

Photo By: Terracotta Design Build

Photo By: Janna Allbritton, Yellow Prairie Interior Design

Photo By: Susan Sully

Photo By: Lowes

Photo By: Christopher Oquendo

Photo By: Susan Sully

Photo By: Christopher Oquendo

Photo By: Susan Sully

Photo By: THRASHERphoto/Athens Building Co.

Photo By: Christopher Oquendo

Photo By: Susan Sully

Photo By: Moda Floors and Interiors

Photo By: NKBA/Dr. Dale Christopher Lang

Photo By: Crates & Pallet

Farm Fresh Look

Part of the charm in a true farmhouse is the way old pieces are given new life or new purpose. You can bring cozy comfort to an old table with a fresh coat of chalk paint. Pair with mixed-and-matched chairs, and then top the table with a jar filled with fresh flowers to complete your farmhouse look.

All-Around Farmhouse Feel

Bring farm style inside. This guest house already had the farm location, so Athens Building Co. used old egg baskets found on the property to create a functional, one-of-a-kind fixture over the island.

Rustic and Reclaimed

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.

Textured Touches

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.

Aviary Art

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.

Salvaged Centerpiece

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 Savings

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.

Ceiling Updates

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.

From: Terracotta Design Build

Stenciled Chalkboard

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.

Extra Details

Simple items, such as a tiny stool or a wooden ladder-turned-display-tower selected by Texas designer Janna Allbritton, can add a dose of farmhouse charm to even a new kitchen.

China as Art

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.

Unexpected Accents

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.

Century-old Charm

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.

Country Collectibles

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.

Hood Like a Hearth

For modern farmhouse style, consider covering your vent hood with a wooden canopy, such as this DIY kitchen hood surround project. It has a hearth-like aesthetic, and complements the wooden display shelf above the classic farmhouse sink.

Start a Collection

Vintage kitchen scales add a homey, rustic touch to any kitchen, plus they come in a variety of colors to add flair to your farmhouse style. Here, Georgia homeowner and blogger Wendy Durnwald topped these scales with five sheep to represent her five children and her home near a sheep pasture.

Styled Shelves

Basic wooden shelves can turn an empty wall into a showcase of farmhouse style. The interiors of this 18th century home, featured in Past Present: Living with Heirlooms and Antiques, has a curated collection of glass decanters on one shelf, then plates and glasses grouped by color on the other shelves.

Vintage Appeal

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.

Clever Cover Ups

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.

Chicken Wire Cabinet

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.

Rustic Layers

Inject a touch of rustic elegance by adding an aged wooden cabinet. Home decor blogger Wendy Durnwald stores appliances like her coffee maker, toaster and slow cooker behind a cute country curtain, which keeps her counters tidy and lets her style shine through. Here, she has also layered an antique cutting board, a pizza stone and a china gravy boat filled with juniper to spruce up her countertop.

Farmhouse-Style Mantel

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.

Bring in Baskets

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.

Rooster Decor

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.

Rustic Crate Storage

What’s more country than open shelving? For a space-saving and affordable alternative to cabinets or custom shelving, consider using crates. This one, from Crates & Pallet, is covered in Rust-Oleum Kona Wood Stain for a deeper finish and a rustic look.

DIY Storage

Make every day a farmers' market in your home by using crates to store and display fruits and veggies. This DIY crate stand project uses bins from Crates & Pallet in a wheeled cart made of reclaimed pallet wood.

Farmhouse Design

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.

Humble Details

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.

Simple Molding

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.

Farm Flooring

Wide-plank wood flooring does a great job of capturing the farmhouse aesthetic. Distress or paint the wood floor for an aged and authentic look. These bright white kitchen cabinets are paired with a contrasting blue island to create a perfect farmhouse look.

How to Bring Farmhouse Style Into Your Kitchen

Related To:

Shop This Look

Farm Fresh Look

All-Around Farmhouse Feel

Rustic and Reclaimed

Textured Touches

Aviary Art

Salvaged Centerpiece

Shiplap Savings

Ceiling Updates

Stenciled Chalkboard

Extra Details

China as Art

Unexpected Accents

Century-old Charm

Country Collectibles

Hood Like a Hearth

Start a Collection

Styled Shelves

Vintage Appeal

Clever Cover Ups

Chicken Wire Cabinet

Rustic Layers

Farmhouse-Style Mantel

Bring in Baskets

Rooster Decor

Rustic Crate Storage

DIY Storage

Farmhouse Design

Humble Details

Simple Molding

Farm Flooring

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