Rustic interiors in House renovation project in California
California inspiration overview
Kitchen with bread smell, lace curtains, objects with soul and wooden shutters. This is the rustic style, ideal for all who dream of a rural oasis, even in the city center. This trend is associated with old manor houses or charming cottages standing just outside the forest. It brings to mind a warm, homely, cozy atmosphere, which – paradoxically – came to us from across the ocean.
Rustic style is extremely consistent, but its plasticity gives unlimited possibilities of arrangement and leaves room for creative aesthetes who want to combine it with other trends. Therefore, if you want to get inspired and enter the world of rustic style, we encourage you to take a look at the following arrangements.
- Rustic style tiles, wooden furniture and finishes.
Rustic style owes its name to the English word “rustic,” which means “rural,” “familiar,” “peasant.” The first rustic furniture was created in the United States at the turn of the 18th and 19th century. They were made of natural, cheap materials – usually wood. Therefore, it is necessary to remember that wooden elements in such interior are an absolute must have! Their surface should be full of cracks, hollows and knots. It is best when it is light – then it looks the most natural. However, it is not unfamiliar with mahogany or rosewood staining.
When introducing a rustic style into the interiors it is worthwhile to have lacquered furniture leached. This process consists in peeling off the top layers of wood, thanks to which the furniture gains a specific, raw appearance. A great idea, reflecting the unpretentiousness of the rustic style, is also to purchase furniture designed from the original tree branches. Chopped oak boughs can form the structure of dining room chairs or coffee table legs in the living room. However, when decorating rustic interiors, it is worth remembering that this style does not tolerate too fancy shapes of furniture – equipment should be simple, without elaborate decorations. In addition, wooden floors, copper rustic tiles and natural woodwork – windows and doors – are highly recommended.
- Rustic style – idyllic or minimalist?
Rustic style is usually very idyllic, referring to the decor of country cottages. There are many accessories and objects with soul, which remember past decades. However, nowadays not everyone is fond of very decorative decor, so they often turn to rustic minimalism. The inspiration on the left is a perfect example of this – it features a beautiful, wooden floor and a grand fireplace. Apart from them, a sofa set and two tables with wooden tops resembling tree trunks have been invited to the living room. The arrangement is complemented by soft fabrics – imitation leather, curtains and cushions. There is not much going on here, as for a rustic interior, but the whole makes an impression of a very cozy place. The second living room is in turn an essence of rustic trend – apart from wood and numerous accessories, there are also brick and stone. Colors? Rustic style is primarily earth tones, as well as white, fuzzy greens and blues. In addition, the rustic trend appreciates uneven, rough surfaces. A similar effect can be achieved by applying plaster on the walls with sweeping, semicircular movements. It is enough to cover the uneven texture with a chosen paint color.
- Rustic style kitchen
Kitchen is a space that is very often decorated in a rustic style – even if the arrangement of the rest of the house oscillates around other trends. In such an interior, simple, wooden furniture, as well as rattan and wicker prevail. Therefore, you can invite to it woven baskets and cobblestones. In addition, stone countertops or wall tiles imitating old tiled stoves are also appreciated. Kitchen rustic interior can be varied with a colorful element, for example, green cupboard painted in folk patterns. On its shelves, clay pots, centuries-old mills and decorative glass bottles will look beautiful. 100% of rustic style is also chopped ceiling beams and eaves decorated with garlic braids and bouquets of dried herbs. Rustic style is, above all, cozy, so the kitchen interior should be warmed up with embroidered tapestries, checkered tablecloths and curtains finished with lace. The floor can be decorated with trendy terracotta elements imitating stone staves.
- Rustic style bedroom
Bedroom should be a cozy place, thus a rustic style will fit perfectly in it. The starting point of such an arrangement, around which you can later design the rest of its part, may be a bed. An impressive, simple and raw, or decorated with folk elements, should occupy the central point in the bedroom interior. In the case of Polish tradition, these may be Lusatian, Kashubian or Highlander patterns. The interior immediately looks more cheerful and colorful. In addition, a sea of soft fabrics should be brought into the arrangement – imitations of leather, embroidered cushions and bedspreads, woolen cushions or linen curtains. Keep in mind that materials should be as natural as possible! There is no place for artificial fibres. To make your bedroom feel warm after dusk, bet on flickering glow of candles. You can place them in age-old tins or glass jars. Atmospheric kerosene lamps will also look good here.
- Rustic style bathroom
Bathroom in a rustic style? Why not! Such interior can be arranged in a very simple way – the walls should be covered with tiles with glazed surface or raw, imitating stone. Fittings? Necessarily stylized – brass taps, porcelain washbasins decorated with folk patterns or those imitating stone bowls, will fit perfectly in such interior! In addition, do not forget about wooden elements – it can be window frames, finishing strips or bookcases imitating simple ladders. Moreover, you can add stylish touches such as enamel jugs, antique washing taps or decorative folk boxes.
- Rustic accessories
Typical accessories for rustic style usually refer to the old country lifestyle. These may include irons with soul, cast iron buckets, stoneware barrels, tin cans, old butter churns or mirrors in simple wooden frames. An old cuckoo clock will look great in the hallway, while oil paintings referring to the idyll trend will look great in the living room. An interesting solution is to introduce items created by nature to a rustic-style interior. It is worth putting by the fireplace a few large, water-worked pebbles, hang a bird’s nest on the wall or make a decoration from a natural tree root.
Some people say that returning to the roots is like returning to the destiny. People who like idyllic style will certainly appeal to this maxim. House arranged in a rustic style can be like a melancholy look into the past, in which you can find a huge dose of coziness and peace.
The original beach house in California – Dream Villas Vol.12
Welcome to the next part of your favorite series “Dream Villas”! Today I’m going to present you a project that makes you speechless – have you ever wondered how to combine impressive design with functionality, and on such a difficult terrain as hills over the ocean? Check out this original beach house in California!
A group of architects was given quite a challenge – to create a striking yet cozy house on a huge hill above the ocean. The surrounding terrain – despite its problematic structure – is a huge advantage here; just look at the views! However, such structures are generally very difficult to design, so how to make such a villa full of peculiar charm and perfectly harmonize with the beautiful nature in the background?
The villa has only been transformed. In the same place, on a hill, there was previously an old-fashioned house from the 1980s. The main factor for change here was great concern for the environment and the protection of land, and various construction innovations take advantage of the conditions and benefits of nature.
The materials used in the project create an unusual mix – the whole range of natural materials becomes very chic when exclusive details are added. As a result, both the interior and exterior parts of the house harmonize perfectly with each other. Also key here is the well-thought-out layout of rooms; one floor includes a home office and a gym, another includes bedrooms, and the living rooms are located on the next floor. All floors are cleverly hidden behind a hill.
The rooms inside focus primarily on exposing the views and beauty of the surrounding nature. The ocean – this is the element that neither owners nor guests can overlook. The interior design, on the other hand, is very clean, without unnecessary additions, minimalist – and therefore the best to expose the most important part – the exterior.
The outdoor part of house (garden and patio) was designed not to compete with the surrounding nature, but to be its element. This also makes the beach house appear much, much larger than the built-up part. Add to this the amazing views all around, the vastness of space and the close contact with nature – it is hardly surprising that oceanfront real estate are now very hard to come by.
- Fashionable wall cladding for interiors. New ideas for old materials
How is it that interiors are constantly changing, although we still use the same materials to finish them. Let’s look at the new embodiments of wall coverings.
One of the oldest materials for finishing walls is wood. In its old form it has already become a bit boring. Therefore, new embodiments and ways of finishing were invented. Plaster has also been used for centuries. Interestingly, nowadays aged plasters are popular, i.e. new plasters, but they look like old ones. Ceramics is also known for centuries. Thanks to modern technologies it constantly transforms and delights with its modern form and design.
Interior designers point out new applications of the same materials thanks to their appropriate modifications. Much depends also on the contractor’s skills, who is not afraid to reach for new, innovative products or to make wall coverings according to different solutions than before.
- Trendy wall cladding: old but new wood
Nowadays one of the most trendy finishing materials for walls is old wood – original, coming from dismantled houses, barns, farm buildings. The damage caused by many years of exposure to nature is impossible to imitate. The silver-grey shade of the old wooden planks is appreciated by many designers. Wood can also be treated in an original way – stained, oiled, leached, painted with transparent paint. It all depends on the effect we want to achieve.
The age-old wainscoting now takes on new forms. These can be wall panels made of veneered wood or glued fragments of wood forming three-dimensional mosaics. Vertical or horizontal corrugated panels made of narrow wooden strips look interesting. Such a cladding can be made both on the wall and on the ceiling.
- Concrete: trendy wall coverings – decorative slabs and plasters
In interiors stylized as old, including industrial, loft, the original finish of walls is important. Quickly such an effect can be achieved by making a wall cladding of plates of architectural concrete. We can find slabs that are extremely simple and modern in form, and those that look aged, destroyed.
A very original effect can be created by making a decorative plaster with a concrete finish, for example like the concrete in a factory hall or train station. In that case we will be sure that our wall is unique. This is made possible by modern formulas with modifiers, which allow to achieve an interesting decorative effect.
- Wall coverings imitating reality
Technology of creating faithful photographic images on ceramic tiles, wallpaper or facing plates from other materials allows to introduce into interiors nature rendered extremely faithfully. One of the most popular motifs are plants, natural rocks with an original grain, wood with a beautiful arrangement of grooves and knots.
Very often such materials have large dimensions and show on a single panel the pattern in a large format. Using such technology it is possible to create, e.g. patterns imitating marble or other natural stones. What is interesting, selected frames are cleaned from imperfections, dirt, so that the stone imitated for example on a ceramic tile is actually perfect.
- Shiny planes
Interiors may be optically enlarged by using mirrors or glass walls that only symbolically set boundaries. Shiny surfaces are very fashionable. It is also possible to create them by making a cladding of ceramic tiles or mirror tiles. When the pattern on the ceramic tiles is three-dimensional, an interesting play of light will appear on the walls. Light rays reflecting in different directions will illuminate the interior.
- Quartz sinter: trendy wall cladding
This material gains supporters due to easy processing and very large formats. Slabs with a thickness of about 3 mm are created by pressing under great pressure granulated rock material, and then sintering at a very high temperature. Thin and lightweight slabs can be used not only as wall cladding, but also on furniture fronts – cabinets, tables, countertops. In this way, more surfaces in the interior can be finished with the same material. Most importantly, this material is distinguished by its great durability. Cladding made of quartz sinter will maintain a beautiful appearance for many years. Quartz sinters imitate natural stones. They also have stone patterns that are not found in nature.
- Trendy wall coverings – what’s trending today?
We are fond of using natural materials and this also applies to wall claddings. Therefore, also in this case, we like to use natural wood, which we sometimes obtain in a non-standard way, for example, from old barns. We also like grooved wall panels. Those should preferably be crafted with a good carpenter. Mirrored and glass elements, optically enlarging the space, are also currently fashionable. Following the trend with fascination for loft style of interiors, architects often use the effect of “vivid” rubbed walls. However, we do not mean stucco here. It is rather aged plaster, which we know from old tenement houses.
Another current trend are sinters, for example quartz and conglomerate materials. These may be large-format ceramic plates. The use of this type of cladding has several advantages. They emphasize the transition of materials from the floor to the walls. They hide buildings in a smart and aesthetic way. Moreover, they emphasize minimalistic character of interior and make it calmer, which we put special emphasis on.