Do you love the classic look of a farmhouse as much as I do? We see it everywhere we turn!  Farmhouse style is more popular than ever and I don’t see that changing anytime soon! I am actually in the process of finalizing the blueprints for a farmhouse that we plan to build next year! I mean, farmhouses are timeless if you ask me! Today I want to share with you ten ideas for adding touches of farmhouse style to any home. The first five ideas are super simple to add and the last five are ideas that will take more effort but are totally worth it because they’ll add a whole lot of bang for your buck!

The first thing I think of when I think “farmhouse” is the classic white farmhouse with black shutters and roof! Even if you don’t have a white exterior, I think bringing whites and neutrals into a home gives it an instant farmhouse-y feel! Maybe it’s all the episodes of the Waltons I watched as a kid! They had a huge old farmhouse that was white on the outside and white on the inside! I think that show is what made me fall in love with white kitchens come to think of it!

In many of my past homes, I had darker colors on my walls brought whites into my home to brighten it up. Now I am all about having a WHITE pallet and bringing in the color here and there as the seasons change! Maybe I am boring, but nothing says farmhouse quite like WHITE and BRIGHT!

Here is an easy one! Flowers! Whether you prefer faux or fresh, bringing in seasonal flowers or greenery totally reminds me of Grandmas farm! It seems like every real farm I’ve ever been to has a vase on their kitchen table full of whatever is in season and one or two flower beds right out the back step!  To bring in the farmhouse touches I like to use a mason jar, a watering can or my grandmother’s ironstone pitcher to display them in! Also, try adding flowers to small spaces that maybe get overlooked. Every time I bring flowers home for the kitchen table, I like to add a few to the bathroom too!

My third idea for bringing farmhouse touches to your home is to add handmade items! Real farms from 100+ years ago didn’t all have store-bought household items. Even though Hobby Lobby does have many cute farmhouse style things, I try to add real handmade items to my home when I can.

Way back in the day, farmers had homemade curtains, homemade baskets, and beautiful pottery bowls and even handmade furniture! I love shopping local artisans shops to add a touch of “homemade” to my house! I don’t have to make everything myself, but adding a few homemade things, instead of knockoff farmhouse items, here and there really make my house feel more “homey” to me! One of the items my family and I love to use are these all-natural handmade soaps! They’re absolutely wonderful and they look gorgeous on display! They are hand made locally by a wonderful husband and wife team (who just happen to be my brother and sister-in-law)! I can’t recommend their products enough! You can find their products here at  BeeJoyfulSoap if you are interested!

This idea is also an easy one! If your home is NOT a farmhouse or is a newer build (like Mine) but you still want to bring in the look of farmhouse charm, I recommend adding vintage items and architectural salvage pieces wherever you can! There are so many cool ways to bring in the farmhouse style without doing any major renovations!

Adding chippy corbels, vintage side tables, and antique mirror or even hanging an old window up to add some texture to your space are all things that go a long way towards “farming” up your home! Yes…” farming up your home” is now a phrase! Haha!!! My home is full of tables and little things that I either pulled out of an old barn or out of someones burn pile! They may have been junk to someone, but to me, they represent a time gone by and I think they’re just beautiful!

 

My fifth idea that is super easy would be to add farmhouse signs! I love how custom you can get with signs! Pretty much every farm has a name and I just love the idea of having a farmhouse sign with your family name or homesteads name on it! And if your home doesn’t yet have a name, maybe it would be fun to have the whole family suggest ideas and vote!  I have a whole post on my favorite shops for farmhouse signs if you want to check that out here.

Now that you’ve heard my easier ideas for adding farmhouse style to your home. I want to share five ideas that are more involved and starting with the least involved. If you know me at all, you know I am going to tell you to chalk paint that nasty old scratched up table or chair that you’ve had in your garage (or wherever) and turn it into a beautiful piece of furniture again! LOL! But for real…there really are so many cool pieces of furniture that would be absolutely stunning and full of farmhouse goodness if they were just refinished or painted. I have chalk painted more chairs, tables, clocks, trays, and frames than I care to count! I have never regretted using chalk paint on a  single thing!

It’s such an easy and quick way to change the color and make a drab old piece look just how you want it to! If you already have a piece that is okay, but not your favorite, consider stripping it or sanding it down and refinishing it! This can be time-consuming but also well worth your time. A great example is this table I have. I loved the table because of it’s shape and size. I bought it brand new and each year I grew less and less in love with how dark the stain was. I finally sanded it down and I am so glad I did! It looked outdated to me before and now it just looks like a farmhouse table! I am so glad I didn’t sell it!

My next idea is to swap out your light fixtures!!! This is such an easy DIY and makes a huge impact on a space! We went with modern farmhouses “barn” style light fixtures for the cottage and these gooseneck ones for the loft and I think they are perfect for our space!

 

You know I can’t talk about adding farmhouse charm without mentioning SHIPLAP! Guys, maybe you love it or maybe you are sick of seeing it, but I for one am crazy about it! However, I prefer the rustic look to the perfect faux shiplap look for our home.

 

 

There are so many ways to implement the look of shiplap these days, that it makes it an easy addition to your home! I have seen everything from real shiplap to wallpaper shiplap that looks super cute! Our home has 1×4 planks for all the main floor walls and the loft has 1×6 planks on the walls and ceiling. I love how they have separated just a hair over the past year and how uneven they are. I wanted the cottage to have more of an old barn feel and look to it and I think using the pine planks instead of the ready-made shiplap gave it the look I was going for!

 

We are down to the last two ways to add a touch of “farmhouse” to your home! Okay guys, drumroll, please….. farmhouse trim and barn doors! Guys if you have a newer home and you want to add that farmhouse charm this is a great way to accomplish that. Replacing your window and door trim with a traditional farmhouse style of trim will totally change the look of your space!

 

Trimming out your baseboards, windows, and doors may seem daunting, but it will transform your home and if your planning on staying in this home a while, it just may be something that your willing to spend the time and money on! And if replacing all the trim is WAY too big of a project for you, how about replacing a builder grade door with a beautiful barn door!?

We shopped for weeks looking for farmhouse style doors when we were building our home and couldn’t find a single door we liked. We ended up making all our interior doors out of rough sawn pine 2×6 and we couldn’t be happier!

Well, how was that for a long list of Farmhouse ideas??? I hope that at least one of these ideas inspired you! I truly love sharing ideas and our journey with you. If you are new and haven’t read “Our Story” I would love for you to check it out here! Thank you for following along and I’d hope to hear from you if you decide to implement any of these ideas into your home sweet home!

XOXO

~Dena

” The Lord will send a blessing on your barns and on everything you put your hand to. The Lord your God will bless you in the land.” – Deuteronomy 28:8