From Rustic to Romantic, Cottage to Contemporary, modern country styles share the same heritage of comfort and warmth, but offer a wealth of different decorating options that makes it easy to update a country décor.
Keep It Simple
Whether you opt for the natural charms of the rough-hewn Lodge look, with its mix of materials like darker woods and wrought iron, or select the refined romance of the Cottage design’s softer accents, the newer way to express country is to say it softly. Comfort over clutter is the key: furnishings with clean, clear lines; a relaxed grouping of accents and accessories that express your lifestyle rather than a stylized image. It’s “less emphasis on nostalgia and recreating a
historic or traditional look, and a greater sense of today,” says Patricia Hart McMillan, author, with daughter Katherine Kaye McMillan, of Sun Country Style (Gibbs Smith, 1999) and author of Sun Country Elegant (Gibbs Smith, 2000). “Country is getting cleaner and less cluttered, more
contemporary.” It also means being free
to express an eclectic mix, says New York
City-based interior designer Patricia O’Shaughnessy, “a pretty combination of things without the heavy weight of formality, or the responsibility to having matching china and matching glasses.”
Accent Marks
Small touches, as well as bold sweeps of change, can make a distinctive—and delightful—design difference. Wallpaper and border patterns can add a textural note to a design scheme; reinforce a theme with traditional Toiles, updated Americana, leafy outdoor motifs and the like, or add a whimsical counterpoint. Small accent rugs and decorative pillows can easily transform a living room.
A change of bedding can revive a bedroom.
Fabrics are moving from room to room, breaking old patterns. “The crossover of fabrics from the living room to the bedroom is quite striking,” says Susan Sargent, founder of Susan Sargent Designs, a line of colorful pillows, rugs and other home accessories. “Silk pillows are just as liable to show up in the bedroom as the living room.”
As You Like It
Country today means breaking free of formulas. You can use just a touch of color in a new way to convey a whole new look. For instance, says Sargent, you can “take color and apply it to a more homey kind of product and bring it to a level where it’s fun to live with. Take a country type of shape [like] a funky old country love seat and put orange on it; that’s today’s country. You’ve given a comforting piece of furniture a contemporary sensibility.”
The silhouettes may be the same, explains Patricia Hart McMillan, but the colors are fresher, updated. “The point is, what I’m calling Sun Country can make use of almost any furniture style. But you can combine it with other things, mixing and matching furnishings from anywhere and everywhere, so long as they contribute to the overall sunny country look. You can take the French Provincial furniture and drop the traditional fabrics that were a part of the design ‘menu’ and use a gingham check or plaid or tropical motif.”
Most of all, country today is what feels right to you. “I go with a color I’m obsessed with and find a place to use it,” says Carol Bass, creator of Maine Cottage Furniture and author of a book on Cottage style to be published by Harry Abrahms in the spring of 2003. “Right now, and for many years, it’s been a rich and glowing ochre. I wash it on the walls of our dining spaces because it inspires lively and spirited conversation.” Country is also, Bass goes on to say, a “fresh and contemporary feeling with serene and clutter-free spaces” that are highlighted by new combinations, such as “the use of industrial materials like concrete, all the while having a few antiques and collectibles.” It’s about finding a connection to the past while living in the here and now.
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1. Carol Bass painted the walls of this bathroom in her home with stylized pomegranates in a passionate shade of red, the perfect foil for a clean-line, painted wood Mona cabinet from Maine Cottage Furniture.
2. The Country Cottage look sports an updated French accent in this bedroom, with honey-colored pine pieces from Thomasville Furniture’s Bridgehampton collection. A braided rug and bedding in soft, romantic pastels offer a dreamy complement.
3. Effortlessly displaying the hallmarks of the new country design, this Cravers’ Work Table with hooded pulls and a butcher block top combines form and function in one cleanly styled piece.
(From The Bob Timberlake Lodge lifestyle collection by Lexington Home Brands.)
4. Country kitchens are seeing red these days, beautifully. A play of patterns — plaids, checks and large-scale florals — from Waverly’s Williamsburg American Spirit collection shows how well strong color can work in a country setting.
Photographs: (1) Dennis Welsh; (2) courtesy of Thomasville; (3) courtesy of Lexington Home Brands; (4) courtesy of Waverly. |
