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Country Modern: A Balancing Act
Houzz Contributor. Hi There! I currently live in a 1920s cottage in Atlanta that I'll describe as "collected."
I got into design via Landscape Architecture, which I studied at the University of Virginia. I've been writing about design online for quite a few years over at Hatch: The Design Public Blog.
Houzz Contributor. Hi There! I currently live in a 1920s cottage in Atlanta... More »
In decor, "country" has been a loaded term for a long time. To me, it started to mean too much peeling paint, too many roosters on canisters, too many doilies, too many quilts, and too many whimsical birdhouse collections. NOT that there is anything wrong with any of those things; I'm just in a bit of a clean modern lines phase lately, probably because I'm tired of vacuuming paint chips off the floor and dusting tchotchkes!
However, designers are re-interpreting the country aesthetic lately - they are taking the "k" out of "Kountry Krafts". Modern country interiors, exteriors, and even landscapes are now mixing rustic elements with clean lines and modern finishes. Some of this is achieved through wood beams, through beautiful wooden antiques, through planks on the walls, through architecture based upon vernacular barn and farmhouse structures, through careful editing of the aforementioned tchotchkes, through farm tables paired with modern chairs...there are many more. Let's take a look at some examples. Oh, and if you are a country aficionado, please share how you've updated your country look with us in the comments section.
However, designers are re-interpreting the country aesthetic lately - they are taking the "k" out of "Kountry Krafts". Modern country interiors, exteriors, and even landscapes are now mixing rustic elements with clean lines and modern finishes. Some of this is achieved through wood beams, through beautiful wooden antiques, through planks on the walls, through architecture based upon vernacular barn and farmhouse structures, through careful editing of the aforementioned tchotchkes, through farm tables paired with modern chairs...there are many more. Let's take a look at some examples. Oh, and if you are a country aficionado, please share how you've updated your country look with us in the comments section.
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My neighbor's house was originally a dairy barn, it has a Samuel Mockbee-designed modern addition to the left, and a tin roofed front porch that protects bright red Eames rockers.
This contemporary structure fits right in with its bucolic surroundings. The house respects vernacular country elements in terms of its shape and the window selection.
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The farm table, hand-blown glass, wood on the chandelier, and beautiful beams add country touches to the sleek kitchen and open white space.
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An antique wash on the cabinets, warm oriental rug, farmhouse sink and hardwood floors give this laundry room just the right dose of country.
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This dining room could have wound up looking like a bright white, futuristic art gallery, but the wood table paired with metallic regency bamboo chairs and glass vases brings in a modern country aesthetic.
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White Planks! Rough-hewn Beams! An Antique Oar. These things make it country while the neutral palette and spare furnishings make it modern.
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A functional mudroom is a must in the country (it's also pretty much a must if you have kids). The unfinished floor and those tin pail light fixtures bring in the rustic element.
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| Antique botanical prints, fresh flowers, a large worktable and oversized basket are great pastoral elements. . |
Apple green paint will always recall the farm.
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Vintage fixtures hanging from thick rope and a picnic table in apple green fit right in on the farm; contemporary prints and white slipcovers keep it fresh.
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Country style never cowers from color. This barn-like door on an industrial track is a showstopper and makes one think of fields of sunflowers.
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The limited color palette here allows for the eclectic mix of vintage furniture without resulting in "kountry" overload.
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This light, open, barn loft-like space is perfect for an artist's studio.
Back in Laura Ingalls Wilder's day, Pa built the cabin out of trees and rocks from their land. Use of indigenous materials recalls these pioneer building days.
| Together, hand-hewn beams and industrial windows form a modern bedroom. |
I use this picture all the time; I cannot help from adding my dream country house to ideabooks. Perhaps its an unconscious Oprah vision board kind of thing.
I'll end this ideabook with a modern farmhouse, bedecked in barn red.
Here it is from another angle.
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Ideabook updated on May 26, 2010.
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I like the term 'Urban Farmhouse', unless it means something else (I still can't sort out 'contemporary' vs 'modern' let alone more up-to-date definitions). Rustic Modern?
When talking about modern architecture in general, it goes back to the roots which began with being able to engineer a house on a grid and International Style. Le Corbusier picked up and ran with this engineering - the engineering advances allowed for features like ribbon windows and much more free form open space (i.e. no load-bearing walls required) - so that's where modern architecture began. Mies is also a very easy go-to example. Then we get into the whole mid-century modern thing, Scandanavian modern, and today's contemporary architecture with its roots in modern...it's basically become a throw-around, wide-encompassing word I abuse like crazy ;)
AND when it comes time to put new siding on (unfortunately it will be awhile).....yeah, red vertical tin with black tin roof..... There was a picture in the March '10 Country Living that was very similiar.
I'm an Iowa farmer's daughter, living in a new house in the country....trying to make it look, well, Urban Farmhouse or Cottage or anything but a new.big.box ;) Thanks for all your inspiration.
Have you noticed how loaded remodelling articles can be, just in case you might prefer the before to the after? People paint 'dark, gloomy wood panelling' white, then they strip 'layers of paint to reveal the glory of the wood underneath'. I would love to see you run a competition pitting 'we cleared a warren of cramped rooms' against 'new walls delineate different functions to clarify the usage of space'! Please, Becky?
I feel like they DON'T put up new walls - it's always something bizarre that "delineates the different functions..." like light fixtures, or rugs, or whatever.
Though I shouldn't throw stones. I write about design so often that I often have deja-blog - I often can feel the same descriptions coming out of my fingers without even realizing it, making the same arguments again and again. Occasionally I'll look back on stuff I wrote years ago and it's practically verbatim to a recent clip - it makes me cringe with broken-record embarrassment!
I do like 'chafaux', how sad such a word is needed. McMansions should get an honorable mention.