Rustic Elegance Decor: Blending Chic Glam With Country

Style Spotlight: Rustic Elegance

What is Rustic Elegance?

Decorating a home using a mixture of contrasting decor styles can create a unique and fabulous one-of-a-kind space. One of these hybrid styles gaining traction is known as “Rustic Elegance”, but what is it, and is it right for you? 

The term refers to a style that’s homey yet chic, and comfortable yet a touch glamorous. Rustic Elegance incorporates high-end, often solid wood, furniture while using rustic elements to create an upscale look in your home while keeping a casual, relaxed vibe. The interior design blends the high style and classic aesthetic of quality antiques with the modern desire for comfort and convenience. It employs intricate detail work, earthy colors, and natural materials. If considering a rustic chic look for your home, here are some tips and ideas for achieving the look in every room.

This elegant, handmade Alpine Bedroom Set puts a fresh, rustic twist on Craftsman style with a rich finish and neutral bedding. Sealing the deal is the wide shiplap walls and exposed rustic beam.

Favor a neutral color scheme

Usually, a room with rustic elegance will have minimal color since the rustic pieces will demand attention on their own. Rustic elegant decor tends to go heavy on white and warm grays. Layering neutrals keep rustic chic spaces dynamic and interesting without relying too heavily on any specific color palette.

Pops of color should be limited and purposeful. This aesthetic embraces nature, so look for comforting, earthy colors. Greens and pale browns are common and they favor warmth, so it doesn't feel too cold and stark. Contrasting colors may come in handy if you can match a color shade.

Use accent colors in a focal art piece or rug to tie everything together. Other ideas for incorporating color in the spirit of Rustic Elegance include bouquets of live or dried flowers and throw pillows or blankets.

Add rustic warmth to the room with elegant wood grains, selective metals, and natural textures

One of the defining characteristics of an elegantly rustic home, whether it's cottage or coastal, is the use of natural materials. A variety of shapes, textures, and colors from natural materials ensures that pieces are unique and not cookie-cutter. Earthy colors, natural materials, organic forms, and weathered accents can give even the most contemporary rooms a rustic, elegant edge.

The key to giving your home a rustic chic twist is incorporating hardwood items and making them a staple in the home. Nothing says rustic like weathered wood, especially if it’s authentic barn wood. Specific species or woodgrains that could complement the Rustic Elegance design include Oak, Hickory, Walnut, and Quartersawn White Oak.

Warm metals, such as copper, gold, and brass, work particularly well, though there’s no need to abandon cooler metals entirely. We recommend choosing duller finishes, such as oil-rubbed, antiqued, or hammered.

Other chic natural textures to consider include jute, ceramics, glass, rattan, wool, leather, and stone.

Select simple yet elegant furniture pieces to act as the focal point

The emphasis tends to be on having fewer pieces, but on having every piece be very deliberately chosen. Consider the room from all angles; at any point, are other furniture pieces or decor choices blocking the chosen focal piece?

In keeping with the natural theme, rustic furniture is handmade. It's generally simple in design and shape, letting the materials stand out instead. Look for quality construction and premium materials, particularly those with an interesting texture like reclaimed wood. Streamlined tables and chairs allow the eye to focus on the material rather than the shape it takes, exuding an effortless elegance that draws intrigue without screaming for attention.

Depending on the room, fireplaces, large dining room tables, or statement-making bed frames are common choices for Rustic Elegance design.

In this Donahue Dining Set, we used a robust pedestal table with a modern-chic dining chair. Using classy, natural upholstery helps tie in rustic and elegance into the same furniture piece. 

Furniture examples:

• An oversized, weathered dining table
• Large armchairs covered in genuine leather
• A reclaimed hardwood coffee table
• Distressed wooden trunks or chests

Be selective and strategic when accessorizing

It’s easy to get carried away when you’re decorating. However, if you use too many pieces in one room, the space could wind up looking cramped and overwhelmed. Rustic chic style in today’s homes is much more successful and effective when one considers quality over quantity in the pieces themselves.

Try to keep a good balance between the rustic and elegant aspects. Focus rooms around a single show-stopping element or one-of-a-kind furniture pieces that will draw the eye to the focal point. Rustic and elegant spaces have everything you need in them, but they don’t have unnecessary clutter and there aren’t items without a purpose in the room.

Most rustic chic accessories should have a practical use

One way to naturally practice restraint when accessorizing is to limit yourself to essential, carefully curated items that further communicate the rustic elegance of the space. In your bedroom, this may mean woven throw blankets or a carved wooden lamp. In your rustic living room, you could opt for coasters, bookends, and coat hooks that all speak to the organic, chic theme. 

For a prime example of accessorizing in the spirit of rustic elegance design, look to the Go Green Earthware collection from Emerson Creek Pottery. These stoneware pieces encapsulate many characteristics that define this style: hand-crafted and hand-painted, natural materials, long-lasting quality, and conveying beauty through organic shapes and subtle details.

Most rustic chic accessories should have a practical use

As every photographer knows, the room's lighting shifts our perspectives. Cool lighting feels energizing, clean, and contemporary, but risks feeling stringent and unwelcoming. Therefore, rustic elegance looks its best when well-lit with natural light and warm, soft light sources. This means:

• Consider opting for curtains made from translucent materials that lets light strewn through from the outside
• For nighttime, you’ll want multiple light sources rather than relying solely upon an overhead fixture. As previously mentioned, lamps that incorporate natural materials can be a great way to further incorporate rustic elegance into the environment
• Seek out bulbs soft white or Incandescent light bulbs
• Candles and fireplaces are a great way to add warmth (both visually and literally) to the space in a way that is highly conducive to your rustic chic vibe

Cozy, laid back, comfortable, and welcoming—the Casselberry Reclaimed Living Room Set showcases a mix of textures and materials such as barn wood, leather upholstery, and a stone fireplace.

Embrace “negative space” to add airiness and purpose

Mirrors along with translucent or transparent accent pieces add visual dimension while embracing the levity of Rustic Elegance. This can include vases, light fixtures, or candle holders. 

Think of Rustic Elegance as a soft elegance with a rustic edge. It exudes both luxury and comfort while beautifully highlighting natural materials and a sense of connection to the past. Whether you want a look that’s raw or refined, masculine or feminine, cozy or classic, Rustic Elegance can help you attain that look.

Complete your rustic elegance decor with furniture from Countryside Amish Furniture

As is true of any decor style, rustic elegance starts with your choice of furniture. Countryside Amish Furniture offers thousands of different designs, from live edge bed frames to breakfast nooks, all of which can be customized to your specific needs by our Amish craftspeople. While the majority of our pieces would feel right at home within a rustic elegant space, the following categories are particularly fitting and amongst our most popular: 

Shaker-style chairs | Shaker bedroom furniture | Farmhouse dining tables | Rustic farmhouse bedroom furniture | French Country dining sets and furniture 

Browse our site, explore the many hardwoods and stains from which to choose, and watch the video below to learn how to order custom-made furniture for your rustic elegant home.

Bailiegh Basham is Lead Sales & Marketing Strategist at Countryside Amish Furniture. She's been a team member since 2014. Bailiegh is deeply passionate about furniture design and home decor.