Things You'll Need:
- Magazines that feature country decorating
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Step 1
Update your color scheme. Earth tones are important in country decorating, but you can renew those colors and retain country charm. Exchange forest green for sage green and sky blue for slate blue. Replace the crackled white look on cabinets and furniture for a cleaner, creamier appeal with antique white or lemon yellow.
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Step 2
Replace your fabrics. Large floral prints, prints with barnyard animals or farm implements are too dark and kitschy for contemporary country. Choose fabrics with checks and stripes for your upholstered furnishings. Use the more traditional prints in moderation as bench cushions and throw pillows.
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Step 3
Retain the country feel with painted furniture and antique quilts. A painted chest with a pastoral scene on the front, along with painted kitchen chairs and one or two footstools, add country charm to your design. Hang two or three antique quilts on a blanket rack for display. If you have a collection, use a cabinet with a glass front to store them. The folded quilts will add color and texture.
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Step 4
Replace the wreaths of dried flowers and pinecones with more artful arrangements. Place dried flowers in a contemporary vase or lay them in a wicker basket tied with a slender ribbon. Offset these accessories with small glass mixing bowls filled with colored stone.
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Step 5
Create smaller vignettes of interest with your accessories. Country decorating has included displays of multiple elements, several wooden bowls filled with pinecones and evergreen branches, large wicker baskets filled with logs and copper cookware hung in huge bunches throughout the kitchen. Reduce the size and impact of these displays. For example, if you keep logs by the fireplace, opt for a metal log holder in black or bronze, and place just a few logs in it. Place one small bowl with two or three pinecones on the side table, and fill it out with rosemary sprigs tied with ribbon. Reduce the clutter in your kitchen, displaying only a few pieces of your cookware.
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Step 6
Avoid overdoing the thematic design. Two towels with roosters on them are adorable. Roosters on all your towels, from kitchen towels to bath towels with soap dishes to match, is overdoing it.
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Step 7
Update your flooring options. The hewn planks of your hardwood floor hold a timeless appeal, but the braided area rugs are dated. Choose area rugs with graphic patterns in rustic colors, such as reddish orange, brown and mustard yellow.
