Rustic interior design is a popular way to decorate a home these days, but pulling it off for an apartment can be a little more tricky. This is because rustic design contains themes that are rough and natural, with wood typically playing a large role. This of course means that when decorating an apartment with rustic design elements, you can only go so far since you can’t completely remodel the entire thing, such as install wood panelling on the walls of the floor. That said, there are many great rustic interior design ideas that you can use, so let’s take a look at five popular choices.
1. Wooden Table and Chairs
Having a good old fashioned wooden table and chairs is a great start for any rustic concept interior design project. This timeless classic can instantly make a room feel more natural and down-to-earth.
The best thing is that wooden table and chair sets come in all kinds of different sizes and shapes. You can even go for darker woods if you aren’t interested in the more common lighter shades. Just try and keep the entire room colour coordinated if you can. A few items can stand out a bit, but you don’t want a random mish-mash of different colours and styles of wood. Fortunately, tables and chairs usually come asset, meaning that you won’t have to worry about that.
2. Wooden Bookcases
While you may think that all bookcases are made of wood, this isn’t necessarily the case. Also, some wooden bookcases have laminate covering, which doesn’t really fit the rustic theme you’re going for. Instead, get a bookshelf that’s pure wood, with no laminate covering. It can be painted if you would like, but in many cases, it would be more rustic to just get a type of wood that’s already the colour you want.
One of the key things to remember about wooden bookcases when it comes to rustic design is that they are relatively large objects and will have a big impact on the feel of a room. This makes it very important that the material that they’re made of meshes well with the other rustic interior design options you’ve chosen for the room. For example, if your bookcase is of a different wood type/shade than your table and chair set, it will make the table and chairs stand out more. This may be desirable in some cases, but not in others. It just depends on what you’re going for.
3. Earth Toned Furniture
Just because you’re going with a rustic theme in your apartment doesn’t mean that every piece of furniture has to be made of wood. However, you should still strive to make sure that all of your furniture fits the theme or else it won’t mesh. In this case, you should consider getting non-wooden furniture like sofas, recliners, and footstools in neutral colours and earth tones. This will help them fit in with the wooden pieces of furniture without you having to sacrifice comfort.
It should be mentioned that there are types of furniture that are part wood but have a comfortable cushion to sit on, such as a teak wood sofa set. This style of furniture is a great way to play up the wooden them if you want, while still offering the comfort you desire. This style of furniture is especially great for apartments where your ability to use wood is more limited.
4. How to Use Glass
Since rustic is essentially the opposite of synthetic, you want to cut down on your use of glass and plastics if you’re going for a rustic theme. That said, using glass intelligently can actually highlight your rustic interior design, and make it feel more authentic.
One way of doing this would be to have a glass/wood coffee table. Generally speaking, the surface of this style of coffee table will be glass, while the rest of it is made of wood. This sort of “hybrid” approach merges the two seemingly clashing styles while highlighting the natural rustic elements of the room by creating contrast.
The same idea can be applied to windows as well by surrounding them with earth tone drapes, or wood panelling if that’s an option. The key is to always balance the synthetic look of the glass with the natural look of rustic colours and textures. This will help you to create a look that really draws the eye without being a distraction.
5. Rustic Interior Design Room Planning
When it comes to rustic interior design, less is more in most cases. It’s for this reason that you want to maximize your apartment space by creating an environment that feels comfy, not cramped. This has a lot to do with the fact that back in the day when the rustic design was basically the default way that homes were built, most rooms weren’t very large, creating a space that felt both comfy and natural.
To accomplish this kind of design choice, you should take into account what items you need in a room, and what you don’t. You can fill space by adding more furniture but you need to know when to stop and let it be. This really comes down to personal preference, but you should be able to tell when a room just feels right, so don’t be afraid to experiment.
Rustic Interior Design Doesn’t Have to Be Hard
As you can see, transforming your apartment with rustic interior design choices isn’t difficult, but it does take some planning. Have an idea of what you want, see how it plays out, and don’t be afraid to make changes. Since you won’t be doing drastic renovations unless you own the apartment complex and are looking to make a property investment, you don’t have to worry about things getting too complicated.
Just remember that rustic interior design is all about changing the feel of your apartment. If your design choices don’t make you feel anything, then you may want to try again or change some things up. In the end, make sure you settle on a design that you’re satisfied with and everything will turn out great.
