Easy Changes with Big Impact - The Three Magic Elements

Find a few of your favorite pictures of a room with a farmhouse style and see if they fit this description.

• Predominant colors are neutral. Mostly whites and off-whites and maybe some blacks and grays.
• Surfaces have a more rustic finish - matte, textured, distressed, etc.
• You see references to nature. Probably plants or flowers (real or faux), and possibly some farm animal paintings or figures.

When making your next purchase or decor choice, check if it fits at least two of the elements above neutral color, rustic finish, nature-related items. If so, you are in the right direction.

Of course, this is not a rule set in stone. Your personal style is the most important element in your home decor. If you love farmhouse decor but can’t live without bold, bright colors, by all means, add your colors to it! For example, you could hang some vibrant paintings in rustic wood frames on your neutral-colored walls. If you have light walls, the colors will pop even more!

This article will show you simple and affordable ideas to achieve the farmhouse vibe in different rooms of your house, one DIY project at a time. You will also find some tips on how to complement each room with farmhouse accessories that are easy to find or make.

Remember to pin the images or bookmark each page to save the project instructions, so you know where to find this information when you need it.

Farmhouse Kitchen Decor

The kitchen is the heart of a farmhouse or any house for that matter. It is usually the favorite place for family friends love to gather to eat, drink, talk, celebrate, or just hang out. If you succeed in adding the essential farmhouse touches to your kitchen, working on the rest of the house will feel a lot easier. Where should you start? Here are some suggestions.

Lighten Up Your Space With Paint

If you are serious in your intentions to transform your kitchen, this is the ideal starting point. Colors play a fundamental role in interior design. They can make or break your dream-home project. Observe the walls, back splash kitchen cabinets, and furniture in your kitchen. Can you paint two or more of these sections in light, neutral, opaque colors? If so, go ahead!

Replace or paint your glossy backsplash

Shiny back splashes rarely work in a farmhouse kitchen. If replacing yours seems too laborious or expensive, try painting it. I did just that to mine and, after a year, they still look like new. Here is how to do it.

See post: Pat Rios | The Wood Spa | How I painted my kitchen backsplash 

Replace the Hardware of Cabinet Doors and Drawers

This is an easy one. Change the knobs of your cabinet doors and drawers. You won’t believe how much difference it will make. Great choices are dark, rustic finishes like wrought iron, pewter or oil rubbed bronze. You may need to drill holes to fit the new pulls, so take that into consideration when choosing the new hardware.

Sarah did that to her newly painted cabinets, and she used the perfect combination - cup pulls for drawers and round knobs for doors.    

See post: D Lawless Hardware | Redeemed Décor Kitchen Remodel

Create or Add Open Shelves Farmhouse Style

If you’re feeling brave and want to make a statement, remove some cabinet doors and create open shelves to display your dishes and vintage kitchen utensils that will add the perfect farmhouse character to the space. You will need to paint the interior of your cabinets, and the result is worth it.

Hometalker Robin created this built-in cupboard by removing the doors and painting the interior of some of her cabinets, and that section became the centerpiece of her beautiful kitchen. 

See post: All Things Heart and Home | "Built-in" Cupboard w/ a Microwave Cubby

The Kitchen Island

The kitchen island is the focal point in all Joanna Gaines’ farmhouse kitchen designs. If your kitchen has one, but it is now quite the farmhouse style, you can make it look more rustic by painting it with some neutral, non-glossy color and changing the hardware.

If you have a small kitchen but still would love a kitchen island, check out this genius idea by Hometalker Liz. She found the perfectly sized sofa table at Home Goods and re-purposed it into an adorable and functional kitchen island. All it took was adding some tulip bun feet to increase the height of the table and attaching a butcher’s block to its top. She shares all the steps on her post.

See post: Designing Domesticity | DIY kitchen island

Don’t be discouraged if your kitchen doesn’t enough space for an island. As you saw in the previous examples, there are many other things you can do to achieve the farmhouse look and feel.

Once you complete at least some of the projects above, you will be proudly enjoying a new farmhouse kitchen.

Farmhouse Entryway Decor

The entryway may not be an area where you spend a lot of time, but it is an important one when it comes to decoration. After all, it is the first place you and your guests step into when entering your home, and if done right, it will have the power to set the comforting farmhouse mood right away, even if you live in a busy urban area.

Shiplap Wall

All hardcore Fixer Upper fans know this. Shiplap walls are the superstar of any farmhouse decor. As it is not the easiest DIY project to tackle, it can be intimidating to do it in an entire room, or even on one big wall. If your entryway is not large, it is the perfect spot to invest some time and effort to install some shiplap. One little wall will be enough to cause a great impact.

This is how I turned our little entryway into my Farmhouse dream. The real shiplap wood is quite expensive, so we used plywood for this project. I personally love the rustic finish the plywood gave to the walls.

See post: Pat Rios | The Wood Spa | Shiplap Walls Made of Plywood

The Entryway Bench

If your entryway has enough room for this pretty and functional item, you are in luck. An old, vintage bench is another simple but powerful addition to your farmhouse entryway, and it won’t cost you a fortune.

There are real treasures for incredibly low prices in thrift stores, on Craigslist and online yard sales. They will not be in perfect condition, but that is when you can practice your DIY talents.

Many pieces can be turned into an entryway bench. Blanket chests, church pews, old trunks, narrow coffee tables…

Check out how Jenni restored this little church pew and made it the loveliest piece for her farmhouse style home.

See post: Jenni Ingram | Mini Church Pew Makeover

Farmhouse Bedroom Decor

The soothing colors and textures of the farmhouse style convey the pleasant and peaceful feeling we all want to have in our bedroom. It deserves every minute you will take to make it heavenly.

Liz shared how she created her beautiful farmhouse bedroom in a low budget, just by adding some of the classic Fixer Upper favorites - shiplap, a painted iron headboard, and some farmhouse accessories.

See post: Hoosier Homemade | Farmhouse style bedroom decor

Remember, you don’t need to have a shiplap wall to make the perfect farmhouse bedroom. Check out this delightful bedroom Jessica-Sara made by using the right colors, bedding, curtain, and rustic-finish furniture and accessories. 

Once again, have in mind the three magic elements: neutral colors, rustic finishes, nature.

See post: Jessica-Sara Morris | Farmhouse Bedroom Upgrade | Part One

Farmhouse Bathroom Decor

Once you complete your farmhouse makeover in two or three rooms of your house, you will be itching to do the same in every other room. How about undertaking your bathroom next?

Donna made a jaw-dropping farmhouse bathroom in her house with some renovation and a lot of creativity. Even if you can’t replicate all her amazing ideas, her project will inspire you to think of what could work for your space, and your budget. I love her motto, “Just add junk!”. That is exactly what she did.

Don’t be surprised if the most stunning items you see in her pristine bathroom look like they come from a junkyard!

See post: Funky Junk Interiors – Donna | Make Your Own FARMHOUSE Bathroom…Yourself!

Affordable Farmhouse Decor

Shop Smart At Unexpected Places

Farmhouse style has been hot for a while now, and because it is so popular, you may find a lot of items are overpriced, especially if you’ve been searching for them in antique shops and home decor stores. Fear not. You can find cheap and adorable farmhouse accessories in the most unexpected places. Did you know Walmart is one of them?

Debbie spends hours searching on Google and visiting shops for the best deals in farmhouse accessories and she shares all her amazing findings on this post.

See post: Debbie @ Confessions of a Plate Addict | Finding Farmhouse Style...in Unlikely Places!

DIY Farmhouse Decor

Haven’t found or couldn’t afford that particular farmhouse item you were looking for? Roll your sleeves and do it yourself!

These three Hometalkers give you step by step instructions on how to make these Farmhouse treasures with a short list of supplies and a few bucks.

Allison gave an old French dining set a total farmhouse makeover using only one material: paint.

See post: Allison Kohmann | How to Turn Your Table Into a Farm Table

Look how Zane used chicken wire and a wooden photo frame to make this unique rustic-chic wall art. 

See post: Zane Redfern | Farmhouse Chicken Wire Frame

Finally, do you know any farmhouse style lover that doesn’t dream of having a barn door in their house? I don’t.

Stephanie built her own barn door in 30 minutes for less than $10. If you are up for the challenge, click the link below to read her post.

See post: Gathered in the Kitchen | DIY Barn Door Under $10 in 30 Minutes

I hope all these ideas got you excited to start working on your farmhouse dream home right away. Remember to pin, save and share this article with all the farmhouse style lovers in your life.

And if you have any other ideas for other projects, please share them with us. We can always use more inspiration!

Written for the Hometalk community by: Pat Rios | The Wood Spa