How to dress the bedrooms of a country house

Captivated by this timeless style, we're still big fans of rustic decor in country houses and even city homes. Why? Perhaps because of its authenticity, warmth and relaxing atmosphere.

So how should you dress the bedrooms of a country house? This is a key question, because textiles are essential here when it comes to highlighting traditional or updated rustic decor.

First of all, let's go over the keys to today's country house style. What does a decor or interior need to be classed as rustic or country style? Let's see...

What is country house style?

Village houses and rustic-style homes tend to share these features:

• They are houses that blend well with their surroundings.
• They are cosy, authentic, warm homes.
• Traditional building materials predominate, along with natural materials in the furniture: clay, adobe, stone, wood, ceramics…
• They get plenty of natural light thanks to their large windows.
• Floors are usually stone, handmade terracotta, encaustic tiles or wood.
• Country houses are full of wooden furniture and antiques.
• They usually have fireplaces or wood-burning stoves.
• They often have an outdoor space.

With that in mind, when decorating or renovating a rustic house, ideally you should keep all the traditional structural, architectural and decorative features.

Keep the traditional features

For example, if the house has a fireplace, keep it and restore it so it can be used. If that isn't possible or you'd rather not, leave it as a purely decorative feature. It will take you back to the old country homes!

Keep or restore, if possible, wooden beams or stone walls. These features instantly bring you closer to country house style and lend themselves to rustic decor.

If the windows aren't very large, enlarge them and fit them with systems that prevent heat loss. Good insulation is essential to keep the house cosy and warm during the winter!

What kind of furniture should you choose for a country house?

As for furniture, keep or use traditional wooden pieces to decorate the rooms, unfinished or unvarnished, where irregularities, imperfections or knots can be seen. This is crucial!

The typical furniture of magazine-worthy country houses includes dressers, chests of drawers, writing desks, sideboards, four-poster beds…

In the kitchen, ideally you should also have taps, sinks and other fittings in a retro or rustic style. If you can't keep these pieces, nowadays they are sold as classic vintage items.

Put the prettiest pieces of your tableware on display, along with copper or stainless steel pans and pots. In the past they used to be hung around the cooking area. Fancy recreating that?

Bathrooms and wallpaper

In the bathroom, it is a good idea to install a large traditional stone or ceramic washbasin, with an old-style tap and a large mirror.

Ideally set it on a rustic wooden vanity unit; if not, create a stone countertop to rest the basin on. You'll see how lovely it looks!

In the bathroom and in some of the bedrooms you can use romantic or Victorian-style wallpaper to emphasise the rustic character of the country house.

You don't need to paper every wall: one is enough!

Dressing the bedrooms of a country house: textiles

Fabrics and textiles are an essential part of simple rustic country houses and modern country houses alike. Textiles play a key role and should help to highlight the structural features or the wooden furniture.

That is why neutral, light and pastel shades are usually used. However, in recent years earthy tones and greens have also become popular for decorating rustic homes.

As for materials, textiles should be 100% natural. The most commonly used are linen, cotton and wool. However, plant fibres such as jute or esparto can also be found in rugs or accessories in these country homes.

Use natural fabrics in light or pastel shades to dress beds and sofas. Curtains, cushion covers, blankets, throws, bedding, tablecloths, tea towels… All of these should be mainly linen or cotton!

When it comes to prints, traditional check patterns are a thing of the past. Stripes have replaced them, but the most popular in this type of home are botanical motifs: sprigs of herbs, leaves and flowers.

Here are some examples of floral prints from our bedroom bedding collection:

Here are more examples of bedding designs perfect for a rustic-style home, whether more modern or more traditional. Do you like them?

• Summer Floral duvet cover.
• Lavanda fitted sheet.
• White Peonies cushion cover.
• Azahara duvet cover.
• Beige linen curtains in a natural style.

The designs in the Raíces collection in particular are ideal for decorating rustic homes. You can also go for unprinted bedding in light or earthy colours. Take a look at our Basic range.