19 invitingly rustic interiors to dream about on chilly days
What makes an interior ‘rustic’? Surely not just a country location–some of the most sophisticated interiors we've ever seen are in country houses, after all. There is a certain ruggedness to the aesthetic: plenty of natural materials like wood, stone and linen, and simple, unpretentious furniture such as vernacular antiques. As Alexandra Tolstoy says of her Oxfordshire cottage (one of our favourite rustic interiors), which is filled with solid wooden dressers, brass beds and squashy armchairs, “They’re not grand things. It would be completely incongruous to have expensive, special pieces in this house." Browsing through some of our favourite interiors of this ilk, we find similar things cropping up again and again: painted furniture, often with folk motifs, tongue and groove panelling, laid-back block-printed textiles, and original features that are allowed to sing. Scroll down for our favourite rustic interiors, and click through to each house to find out more.
Tom Griffiths1/18This 17th-century Suffolk farmhouse has the most beautiful interiors by Maria Speake of Retrouvius, who has worked on the house not once, but twice – for both its previous owners and the current inhabitants. Thanks to what Maria fondly calls the ‘wonk and wobble’ of the house, handmade was the only way to go for the beds. These had to be designed to allow for the uneven floors and for easy dismantling to fit up the twisting enclosed staircase: ‘We had bought a medieval bed, then modelled the others on that – keeping things as plain as possible.’ In the spare room, a vintage Welsh blanket on the bed picks up on curtains featuring 1940s striped silk panels on a new silk background.
Michael Sinclair2/18From a dilapidated Yorkshire farmhouse in a spectacular setting overlooking Semerwater, the interior designer Jonathan Reed has carved out a warm and welcoming home that feels a one-off, thanks to his appreciation for hand-crafted details and the people who have created them.
In the old servants’ kitchen is a Mouseman table made by Robert Thompson’s Craftsmen. The stone fire surround, carved with Jonathan and Graeme’s initials, pays homage to the Dales tradition of adding a lintel above the front door when a house passed to new owners.
Dean Hearne3/18French illustrator and designer Marin Montagut is something of a darling of the design world, known for his whimsical designs and equally whimsical shop in Paris’s 6th arrondissement. Unsurprisingly, the place where Marin dreams up many of his creations is equally otherworldly: a quaint 19th-century cottage in the Normandy countryside that is both weekend home and studio. ‘Almost everything I design for the brand begins here,’ he explains. Hidden behind a creaky old gate and resembling something that could have sprung from the pages of a children’s book, it is the stuff of fairytales. Painted furniture (often found in flea markets) is a staple of his interiors, and contributes a cheerful, laid back feel.
Alexander James4/18More painted furniture adds to the rustic feel of interior designer Louise Jones' farmhouse in Surrey. Walls in Papers and Paints’ ‘Mineral Red’ by specialist decorator Scott Davis set off the painted antique Swiss armoire and Delft plates below a 20th-century Châteauneuf-du-Pape grape hod. Antiques associated with farming are a clever design idea for this kind of interior.
Christopher Horwood5/18Warm yellows are definitely having a moment in interior schemes, and they work brilliantly in a cosy cottage scheme. This hallway in a Sussex cottage by Lucy Cunningham is painted in Edward Bulmer’s warm ‘Cinnamon’. It's the perfect foil to the flagstones and beams that create so much character.
Martin Morrell6/18Perched above a tidal pool on a remote Hebridean island, this traditional old farmhouse, recently restored by the model and writer turned interior designer Saffron Aldridge and her business partner Scarlett Supple, is deeply in tune with the landscape outside. Scarlett and Saffron took great pains to find the right organic materials to set the interior in its environment, with wood and stone predominating, and textiles that are generally organic in hue and texture. This space off the entrance hall is warmed by an Esse wood-fired stove. Arts and Crafts leather chairs and a built-in three-sided bench provide comfortable seating.
Kate S Jordan | Styling: Brittany Albert7/18When Tara Mangini and Percy Bright, founders of American design studio Jersey Ice Cream Co, first viewed their timber-framed farmhouse in a remote westerly corner of Upstate New York, their plan was to renovate it and move on. What they had not bargained for was the way that the rural setting would get under their skin, leading to a new way of living and working aligned to nature and the shifting seasons. For the interiors, they took inspiration from the farmhouses of Gotland in Sweden, using vintage furniture, Swedish flatweave rugs, and understated block prints. In this bedroom, gingham bedding, rough linen curtains, and folk furniture give a sense of modern rusticity.
Christopher Horwood8/18For a bohemian take on English country style, look no further than artist Catherine Cazalet's Warwickshire cottage. Layers of textiles in various patterns characterise the interiors, plus plenty of art on the walls and characterful objects at every turn. As a place to while away a long winter evening, it's just about perfect.
Dean Hearne9/18This Victorian farmhouse designed by Bodil Blain has pleasingly rustic interiors, with walls upholstered in a Colefax & Fowler plaid, sisal rugs, and lovely painted folk furniture. We love the idea of lining your walls in fabric for an extra cosy, padded feeling.
10/18What could be more rustic than a good boot room, designed for muddy boots and wet dogs? Dark green gloss paint on bespoke cupboards makes for a sophisticated version in this Cheshire house designed by Rita Konig. A mixture of open and closed storage means household mess can be easily tidied away. We love the practical yet aesthetically pleasing terracotta tiles.
Mark Anthony Fox11/18A good hallway setup can be the next best thing to a boot room in a country house, as this one in Lucy Cunningham's Hampshire cottage shows. The bench is from John Cornall Antiques, painted blue by Lucy (more painted furniture!). It sits in front of Robert Kime ‘Karabak Sand’ wallpaper and is decorated with a Les Indiennes cushion.
Mark Anthony Fox12/18While working on the statelier interiors of a 19th-century former vicarage on the edge of Bath, designer Anna Haines also took on the renovation of this small stable in the grounds, which is now a delightful place to accommodate guests. Along the back wall, Anna added an unfitted kitchen. This corner houses an oiled oak sink unit with Merchant & Mills curtains – the perfect solution for a rustic kitchen. ‘We wanted this room to feel like it might have always been this way,’ explains Anna.
Lucas Allen13/18A brass bed and tongue & groove panelling are excellent components of a rustic interior, especially when combined with gingham bedding and vintage furniture. This is one of the lovely rooms in Plain English founder Katie Fontana's Cornwall home.
Dean Hearne14/18Alexandra Tolstoy has owned this cottage in Oxfordshire for 20 years, and has made it into a beguiling blend of perfectly preserved English tradition and Central Asian colour and pattern. The English and Welsh antiques that fill the house were mostly found at a nearby shop, and suit the cottage’s unassuming style. “They’re not grand things,” says Alexandra. “It would be completely incongruous to have expensive, special pieces in this house
The house is entered through the large kitchen, where cabinets designed by Emma Burns occupy one wall, and an antique farmhouse table sits in the middle. Emma brought in joiner Chris Bell to create units an inch shallower than the existing ones, which helps the kitchen feel larger.
Brent Darby15/18Cottages were originally modest workers' dwellings, and they can be incredibly beautiful when they hark back to such roots. This 18th-century Carmarthenshire cottage had been uninhabited for four decades when current owner Dorian Bowen discovered it and sensitively brought it back to life.
He has used antiques of local origin throughout: this South Wales pot board dresser was sourced from Carmarthen market. Dorian has dressed the piece with pewter plates, metals jugs, original utensils, stoneware confit and earthenware pots. To the left sits a carved wooden dough trough and a butter churn.
Michael Sinclair16/18Attics always make for charming rooms, their quirks only contributing to an appealing sense of rusticity. Textile designer Natasha James has created a magical space in her country house in Yorkshire, combining Cole & Son's ‘Sweet Pea’ wallpaper with two of her own Tasha Textiles prints – ‘Honfleur Reverse’ on the armchair and eiderdowns in ‘Jaipur’. The kilim rug came from Natalia Violet Antiques.
Paul Massey17/18Rich with history, this 16th-century Cotswold millhouse has warren-like rooms and secret nooks that have been enhanced by its owners’ collections of antiques and vintage textiles, along with colourful accents. A rustic antique bed combined with a vivid patchwork quilt make for a deeply inviting scheme.
Michael Sinclair18/18Though over 300 years old, this Northamptonshire house had lost much of its character until its owners enlisted the help of trusted decorator Robert Young, who restored a sense of its past with a mix of antiques, folk art and rich distemper walls.
In the bathroom pigmented and aged distemper was used to create the look of limewashed walls by DKT Artworks, which blended the colour on the panelling to match a Georgian sample. The chair is Swedish, c1800.
