I wanted to come on the blog today to answer a question I get all the time! It’s such a good question & I feel like after making our 80’s tri-level into a cozy little home with farmhouse style I have some great insight & can give some good advice on how you can make any home into the farmhouse style that you love. We happen to have just moved into our dream farmhouse with tons of character that I am so excited to take you guys on the journey with soon, but not everyones dream is to live in an old farmhouse like we do now, but it’s true you can get that farmhouse vibe with these 10 things…

farmhouse sink

Honestly it’s so crazy how much a farmhouse sink adds that instant farm vibe to a kitchen. You can add a farmhouse sink to really any kitchen & it’s a huge start on turning your new build home into looking like a home that has been there years. We LOVE our farmhouse sink & I shared where we bought ours & a full review [here]. I think a farmhouse sink is a great place to start on changing your new home to that vintage farmhouse style you love.




shiplap

One major thing we did to our 80’s tri-level home to add charm was to add shiplap accent walls. It was an easy & affordable way to add lots of detail & character our home was lacking. We weren’t there long enough to do it in every room, but I’m sure if we stayed long enough it would have happened. Here is a full tutorial we did on how we shiplapped an entire room for less than $100 the easy way [here].

Classic tile 

This one is a great way to add that “this house has been here for 100 years” element. From subway tile to penny tiles, you can give your kitchen, bathroom, laundry room, & other rooms in your home a classic farmhouse vibe with tile. We chose subway tile in our kitchen with dark grout, but in the next house I might play around with more tile options.

Window trim

This one is huge & often overlooked! I didn’t get amazing photos of the window trim in our home, but we chose to do a thick chunky window, door, & floor board trim throughout our whole home. Old farmhouses always have the best thick trim so to make your new build look old, adding thick trim really adds a HUGE farmhouse element instantly.

Texture & Painted Furniture

Cozy blankets, burlap, wood grain, chippy paint, shabby pottery, linens, greenery, metal buckets, vintage patina, glass, & some painted furniture add so much dimension and character that screams farmhouse. I love adding crackle pottery with plants, chippy painted furniture, grainsack pillows, antique trunks, & so much more to every room. All of the texture & the painted furniture takes it from a plain white room to a cozy farmhouse. All of the textures from smooth glass to rough chippy paint gives the room a new perspective of an old farmhouse.

Slipcovered furniture

I ADORE the slipcovered furniture look & in our tri-level home I think it was a huge factor on making it look like a farmhouse. Why you ask? I think the slipcovered furniture look takes a modern piece of furniture and adds an antique vibe which in turn pairs really well with the farmhouse look. & slipcovered furniture is just amazing in my opinion. You can read my review on our slipcovered sofas & see where we got them [here]. Slipcovered sofas make a great blank slate for more cozy texture with pillows & throws as well which caters well to the last point.

Antiques & Vintage

In every room of our home I would say 80% of the furniture is antique or vintage. I like mixing old with new to create a lovely farmhouse inspired space. Adding antique elements with new transports any room to an antique farmhouse. You can also go the “faux antique” route if you are having trouble finding antiques and vintage. Stores like Painted Fox sell reproductions that are very convincing & really add the farmhouse vibe like scales, clocks, signs, lighting, & more.

 

Farm elements
Basically decorating with anything you would find on a farm. We have added farm elements to our 80’s home such as barn doors, farmhouse fabrics like grainsack, tobacco baskets, chicken nesters, farmhouse signs, barn wood & more. These elements are things that you would have found on an old farm & by adding them to our house it really gives a lovely farmhouse tribute in any home. You can find farmhouse elements like these at vintage boutiques, barn sales, & more. You can also find new reproductions of vintage farm elements at places like Painted Fox & more.

natural wood
wood furniture, wood countertops, & in our case, lots of wood flooring. Natural wood really brings that old time feel along with lots of warmth to any space. In our home we have lots of wood flooring in every room, but you can also bring in natural wood kitchen cabinets, wood dressers, wood trim, & so much more.

botanicals 

Ok. we can’t forget about botanicals. Adding natural elements to your spaces, especially real nature brings the outdoors in & adds the fresh farm harvest vibe. I like a mixture of faux greenery & real greenery. I blogged where I find my favorite faux greenery [here].

These are a just a few things you can do to your home to add that farmhouse vibe. I truly hope this post helps a lot of you who have new build homes, older modern homes, & even some farmhouses that you need assistance with decorating, & every other home add some farmhouse style to it. I get a lot of emails daily & lovely people coming in my store daily asking how to get the look & this is just a start. Thank you SO MUCH for stopping by my blog today & for sharing it with your friends & family, it means so much to me! Be sure to follow me on Facebook, Instagram, & Pinterest [also, I’m now on snapchat:lizmariegalvan]. xx

See how to make any room cozy [here]