I love all styles, but one style that has gotten me particularly excited lately is the popular modern farmhouse look. All that rustic wood has the potential to look so amazing in our spaces. Now, I live in a Victorian house and my furnishings consist of black tufted leather, French chairs, bold chandeliers, gold, silver, and copper accents, and furry pillows—just to name a few. Because of what I do, I naturally think of adding in a chair to bring in that modern farmhouse look.

I had this fun little chair in my storage and I felt that underneath all the cheap white paint it had the potential for bringing in this farmhouse look. I was right!

I achieved this look by removing the paint using a stripper, sanding it down, and finally bleaching it in the sun. (Don’t worry—I’ll be doing a post soon on bleaching chairs, so I won’t go into the details of that right now.) This is what I achieved after a final sanding and waxing. Can you believe how beautiful this wood is? The curves and carvings of the chair provide depth, as I couldn’t quite get to every crack and crevice.

When you have a rustic chair, you can pair just about any fabric with it. Of course, a linen or burlap looks nice and provides a clean, neutral look. Cowhide works just as well, too.

What about a floral? This is my newest favorite fabric and I can’t get over how fresh and fun the flowers look with the wood.

If you want to go with the popular blues, a rustic frame works! I love how it dresses down the formal fabric and makes it feel more comfortable.

But why be conservative? Go with an animal print in different shades of blue and see how it changes the look!

And finally, a bold colored kantha quilt from India just sweeps me off my feet paired with the rustic frame! What a fun look if you have bold colors in your space. The bottom line is that there are no rules to follow here!

Do you like the farmhouse look? You don’t have to go “farmhouse only” in your space. The key is introduce it in small ways.  And by the way, when trying to decide on the right fabric, do what I did in these pictures above. Test out different fabrics in your space. Your gut will tell you which one is best. You might be pleasantly surprised with what fabrics go so well with rustic! Good luck!