Source: Decoholic
It has been 1 year since I left my craftsman home behind in Redmond, WA, and moved to my modern design home in Newport Beach. While my Redmond house was my dream house 17 years ago when we moved in, my design style quickly shifted to modern with this new house. There is no way that I could go back to a more traditional design style even in a less modern home. However, it is key to listen to the architecture of your space in making design decisions and I know many of my followers have less modern homes and tastes so I am here to introduce you to modern rustic.
Source: Arhaus
Modern rustic is a great transitional style that works in everything from a traditional, craftsman to even a rustic mountain house. Where rustic style generally has overly stuffed leather furniture and dark wood, modern rustic combines elements of nature with wood, metal, and leather in a more streamlined profile. Here is a side-by-side description comparison followed by some pictures to help illustrate the difference.
Traditional Rustic | Modern Rustic |
· Chunky, overstuffed furniture · Dark, distressed wood with details like molding · Leather – generally dark and distressed or with other adornments such as grommets · Granite and other stonework · Often includes realistic nature such as animal taxidermy and lots of color | · Streamline, simple lines · Medium toned wood, live edge and often combined with metal · Leather – often caramel color and simple, often unstuffed usage · Quartz · Includes more abstract nature such as the tree wood prints below and colors are more muted |
TRADITIONAL RUSTIC
MODERN RUSTIC
Source: Amazon
Source: Farmhouse40
Source: Farmhouse40
Source: CDN Home Design
Source: Ebay
Source: France & Sons
So…which do you prefer? I just can’t help but think of the 1980s when I look at the traditional rustic images. I love the warmth that the wood and plants bring to the modern rustic design.
Some of my favorite places to source modern rustic furniture include West Elm, Pottery Barn, and Arhaus. While Pottery Barn and West Elm are owned by the same parent company, it has been interesting to see Pottery Barn evolve more toward modern design over the past year. Wayfair and Perigold have also recently added a modern rustic category to their search filter but I think they still have work to do to add more interesting and diverse items.
I previously shared a spotlight on a favorite designer Thomas Bina HERE and his furniture is a perfect example of modern rustic. The first piece of furniture I purchased for my new house was his console table below and it is still probably my favorite piece of furniture in the new house.
Here are some of my favorite modern rustic items that might be great options for your home! Top of my list is that fantastic wood clock, wall mirrors, or the asymmetrical bench.