The term country rustic home decor brings up a number of images in most peoples’ minds, but the problem is that these images differ from person to person. The very term ‘rustic’ can encompass a wide variety of different styles and decorations, so it becomes remarkably difficult to pin down what exactly rustic country decor is.
In the world of interior design, most styles are fairly precise. When you think of the Art Deco style, for example, there is a specific set of things that go along with that term, such as eccentric shapes and odd materials that come together into a unique style. This is not the case with rustic home decor.
As always the best way to define something is examine its elements at the very basic. In a field as broad as country rustic, this means first looking at some of the styles that fit into the basic rustic category and then discover what elements they have in common.
The style that is most often associated with the term rustic in the U.S. is a take on the frontier western style, based on life in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries in Americas, and the primitive rustic home furnishings in old farmhouses and cabins. This style in its most literal form is there for utilitarian for the most part. Things were simply diy constructed from wood and other the materials at hand, and often there was not much in the way of embellishment involved. This has brought about the rustic cabin decor as well.
A second interpretation of country rustic home decor is the somewhat more modern descendant of the frontier style. The modern rustic decor is, in many ways, closely related to the popular country style and also simple for the most part. The furniture of this kind is almost always wood, combined with a stain or varnish to let the wood grain show. There is, however, more room for embellishment in this home decor style, with woodwork and metalwork showing more fancy patterns and shapes. However, there is still the emphasis on an overall simplicity.
The European take on country rustic home decor is somewhat different.
Much of the European rustic home furnishings are somewhat less around wood. The architecture itself is more often masonry than the log cabin design of the American frontier. Here too, the idea is to keep things very simple and reserved.
To find the essential core in rustic country home decorating, then, one must compare these styles and find their common point. In all three variations the central theme is nature. Whether it is in the raw log construction in frontier furniture, the more refined woods of the modern style, or the mason work in European rustic architecture, nature is always present. The rustic styles are about making use of the natural materials at hand and showing how remarkably versatile nature can be in simple beautiful ways. With this in mind, one can easily combine the rustic country home decor for new variations, or work out whole new styles based on these concepts.
Please continue to our next article to discover more about rustic French country decor.
