Welcoming, comforting and curated in every detail, are just a few of the typical characteristics of Country Chic style.
Particularly popular with interior designers, this style is capable of combining rustic and modern elements in an attractive way, creating a fresh and fashionable visual balance.
Country Chic, like many other decors out there, takes inspiration from elements from all over the world and that’s why it’s impossible to pin it down to a specific geographical area.
However, it’s pretty easy to list the feelings that this style should evoke: a country house where you can find peace, a weekend break surrounded by nature and the countryside.
Rustic, yes, but without forgetting elegance, provided particularly by the choice of pastel colours and the refinement of vintage furniture.
The fusion between tradition and modernity makes this style of furniture suitable for both city and country homes.
Combining rustic and chic might sound complicated, so let’s take a look at a few simple suggestions to make your home feel and look warm, welcoming and elegant.
What is Country Chic style
Let’s start with the definition of country chic, which is often confused with Shabby Chic but is quite different to it.
As we mentioned before, Country Chic evokes old farmhouses, especially American ones, with a simple and essential style, plus the addition of an elegant and modern touch.
To create this mix and make it more welcoming, untreated fabrics and raw materials with simple lines, neutral colours and unfussy decorations are often used.
The key colours for Country Chic are natural tones, ranging from warm and hearty to dark greys, always ensuring that a light and elegant visual style is maintained.
The rustic element is often highlighted by visible bricks or stones on the walls.
When choosing fabrics, the preferred choices are materials with a raw feeling like linen, jute and cotton, capable of interacting with other furnishing accessories and creating simple and elegant chiaroscuro contrasts.
When it comes to furniture, the key things to bear in mind are recycling and DIY, highlighting pieces of ‘arte povera’, bringing old family objects back to life and trying to personalise as many accessories as possible.
And now a few suggestions to create a perfect Country Chic home.
Country Chic: designing warm spaces
This is a key thing to bear in mind: Country Chic needs you to design warm and welcoming spaces.
The keywords here are authenticity and nature: beams and bricks in view, rough wooden floors, natural stones.
If your home is not architecturally suited to these kinds of elements, don’t worry because you’ll still be able to get a similar feeling by using specific colours, materials and upholstery:
- for your floor – if you can’t choose wooden flooring, you’ll need to pick ceramic tiles in a shade of grey;
- for the walls, you could opt for cement tiles in neutral colours;
- with regards to the natural stone, don’t worry, this is a very versatile style, and you’ll be able to use many different types of materials.
Country Chic: Combination of colours
Colours are another key element when designing your Country Chic home.
You should choose neutral colours for two different reasons: they evoke the rustic tones of the countryside and, at the same time, they look extremely modern.
Finding and harmonising colours won’t be easy. You need to focus mainly on essential base colours like white, light grey and beige, supported by darker tones reminiscent of nature, such as brown.
Remember that the environment will have to feel warm, elegant and relaxing, so we would advise you to do some tests first and take your time curating every single detail.
Country Chic: rustic and modern furniture
As the Country Chic name suggests, the initial idea for this style is to mix two contrasting elements to achieve perfect harmony.
A mix & match balancing rustic and traditional elements with more modern and refined furniture and accessories.
If you think that the structure of your house is already pretty rustic, you could opt for a more modern style of furniture to create a greater contrast.
Furniture with clean, simple lines that’s also very functional is key to this style.
Don’t get stuck on the idea of wood, as this style is also perfectly suited to other materials such as iron, bronze and aluminium that will provide balance to the aesthetic of the whole house.
The atmosphere should feel nostalgic, relaxing and comforting: stepping inside your home, people should feel the sense of well-being that the house projects.
You can also add Country Chic style decorative objects and accessories like chalkboards, aromatic herbs and wicker baskets, or you can use fruit crates as shelving units and old tin cans as lamps.
Finally, don’t forget to think about your choice of fabrics for curtains, cushions and pillow covers as they are essential to a Country Chic home.
All these elements underline the importance of the harmony that you need to create with different materials and contrasting elements such as rustic and elegant, modern and natural.