How to Mix Country Decorating Styles in the Home
"Country style" may bring to mind tin Esso signs, roosters and Coke bottles, but actually there are many different subtypes. New Traditional updates colonial Federal style. American Rustic evokes an 1800s log-cabin feeling. Items of your grandmother's from the 1920s through the 1950s indicate Vintage style. French Country is romantic and provincial. English Country conjures up dogs, gardens and flowered chintz. Tuscan style gives a feeling of being in the Italian countryside. Contemporary Country mixes the clean lines of modern style with items from Asian, Indian and Native American cultures. Mixing two or three of these styles doesn't have to be hard. Does this Spark an idea?
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Instructions
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Select a common background color such as white, off-white or black in all the fabrics you are mixing and matching. Repeat at least one of the main colors in all of your fabrics as well. Aim to use three to five different fabric patterns. Repeat each fabric approximately three times around the room. For instance, if you are using a plaid fabric for your window treatments, have a few pillows and a fabric-covered hatbox done in the same fabric and scattered around the room for balance.
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Vary the scale of the pattern and create a mix of small, medium and large prints. For example, coordinate a small-scale American gingham, a medium French paisley and a larger-scale French toile fabric.
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Select soft throws and toss pillows in a color featured in all of the fabric patterns you are mixing to serve as a common denominator between styles. Choose items with different or interesting texture, shape or trim. A basic yellow throw pillow can be a plain, smooth cotton square, but you might do better to use a rectangular one in a nubby weave with corner tassels.
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Choose pieces of wood furniture from each of the styles you are mixing, but stay consistent with the type of wood you are using. If you are trying to combine New Traditional and English Country styles, for instance, choose some of each of the two types of furniture but make sure everything is done in a medium-colored cherry wood.
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Keep some of your accessories true to each of the styles you are mixing. Collections and folk-art pieces are important in country décor. Create a wall grouping of folk-craft items, such as wooden decorations painted with dark-colored milky paints, and then display an assortment of pretty floral teacups elsewhere in the room.
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Balance opposite qualities such as texture, size and style carefully to combine types of country decor from different historical periods. Strive for an even mixture of rough textures and smooth ones, use pieces of varying sizes and use a good blend of both ornate items and simple ones.
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Tips & Warnings
Today's country style is warm but not cluttered.
It is easier to mix cultures than it is to mix eras.
Add at least one accessory from nature -- a plant, a shell or a bird's nest, for instance.
Strive for the warmth and sentimentality that come from old or handcrafted items.
Be careful of anything too "cutesy" -- if an item appears artificial (contrived or false) instead of more authentic, pass it by.
References
Resources
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