How to Decorate Your Home in an Old World-Style Theme

Use natural colors to create an Old World style.

Old World style evokes a feeling of old European estates of Tuscany and France. The style is warm and welcoming and uses a combination of rustic and natural elements to achieve the look. It is a relaxed and comfortable style that has a touch of elegance, making it ideal to incorporate throughout the formal and more casual rooms of your home -- the dining room and a den, for instance. If your taste leans more toward the traditional, than consider decorating with an Old World style.

Instructions

1. Choose paint colors for your walls, as they serve as the backdrop for any design style. Use colors that are found in nature to achieve the Old World look. If you prefer neutral tones, choose a creamy white or ecru. If you would rather feature colors on the walls, think sky blue, olive green, sunny yellow and burgundy. These hues bring the outside in, a goal of Old World style. Have a mural of the Tuscan countryside painted on a focal wall in a bedroom, kitchen or living room to make you feel as if you really are in the Old World.

2. Add natural elements to the design of your home. Add a tin ceiling and a terracotta tile back splash to a kitchen. Frame the ceiling of a living room with large wood beams. Use slate or wide planked wood for the floors.

3. Add furnishings that lend a natural feel to the design. Furnish a kitchen or dining room with a reclaimed wood table, flanked by reclaimed wood chairs or benches. Provide storage in a living room with an antique armoire that features carvings. In a bedroom, use a rustic, wrought iron bed frame.

4. Decorate with natural elements and colors and soft, rich fabrics. Hang a tapestry that features warm colors on a living room wall. Frame a fireplace with a large natural wood mantle. Hang deep red or green velvet curtains on the windows. Cover your bed with a toile comforter. Display wrought iron pieces, such as candlesticks, picture frames and decorative wall hangings. Place a velvet runner down the center of a dining table and hang a large wrought iron chandelier above it. In a kitchen, use plates that feature a red rooster pattern and display wicker baskets on the walls. Hang wrought iron pulls on drawers and cabinets.

References

• Accents of Salado: Tuscan Kitchens
• In the Tuscan Style