Farmhouse Interior Design: Style, Colours and Ideas

What is farmhouse style?

A farmhouse was a place of work, so everything in it had to be useful, hard-wearing and easy to mend. That is still the heart of the style. Furniture is solid wood and shows its years. Walls are boarded or panelled. The kitchen table is the biggest thing in the house, and the things you use every day stand out on shelves and hooks where you can reach them.

The style has no founder and no date. It grew out of country homes, and it borrows from other plain traditions, such as the furniture of the Shakers, whose guiding principles were simplicity, utility and honesty. A newer, plainer version, modern farmhouse, spread in the late 2010s: the American television series Fixer Upper, which ran from 2013 to 2018, is largely credited with it. In Britain the look overlaps with the country kitchen and its range cooker. The Aga was invented in 1922 by the Swedish physicist Gustaf Dalén, and reached the United Kingdom in 1929.

The farmhouse look in five signs

A big wooden table. Scrubbed, marked and large enough for everyone, with chairs that need not match.
Wood with some history. Old pine, oak and elm, with its knocks and its patina left alone.
Boarded walls. Tongue-and-groove or flat boards, painted cream or white.
Useful things on show. Jugs, bread boards, pans, baskets and a dresser full of china.
Soft, old colours. Cream, wheat, sage and duck-egg blue, with checks and stripes.

Farmhouse colours

Cream on the walls and boards, the brown of old wood, then the gentle colours of the fields: wheat, sage and a pale blue. Red appears in small amounts only, in a checked cloth, an enamel pot or a bowl of fruit.

#EEEADACreamWalls, boards and cupboards.
#D8B868WheatDried stems, baskets, a blanket.
#84987ASagePainted furniture, a door.
#C0D8EADuck-egg blueChina, a chair, a stripe.
#785A3EWorn oakThe table, beams, floorboards.
#B03A30Apple redA check, a pot, a few apples.

Farmhouse materials, furniture and lighting

Woods: Pine, oak and elm: scrubbed, waxed or left bare. Reclaimed boards and old beams where you can find them.
Fabrics: Linen, cotton and wool. Gingham, ticking stripe, small florals and plain grain-sack cloth.
Other materials: Enamel, stoneware, cast iron, copper and galvanised metal. Wicker baskets. Brick, flagstones and terracotta tiles.
Furniture: Plain, solid and freestanding: a plank table, ladder-back and spindle-back chairs, a bench, a dresser, a painted cupboard. Shaker-style doors suit the kitchen.
Lighting: A metal or enamel pendant over the table, and lamps with linen shades elsewhere. A rule designers use: a light over a dining table is half to two thirds of the table's width.

Farmhouse room by room

A farmhouse kitchen

This is the room the style was made for. Give it the largest table that fits. A rule designers use: each person needs at least 60 cm of table edge. The dining table calculator checks the table against your room. Hang one or two pendants low over it, 75–90 cm above the top (the pendant light calculator gives the height). Add an open shelf or a dresser for the china, a deep ceramic sink if you are fitting one, and a jug of flowers.

A farmhouse living room

A deep sofa in a loose linen cover, a wool blanket in a check, an armchair by the fire or the stove, and a basket for logs or throws. The coffee table can be an old trunk or a low bench.

A farmhouse bedroom

An iron or wooden bedstead, white cotton sheets and a patchwork quilt. A painted chest of drawers, a rag rug by the bed and a jug on the windowsill.

Farmhouse style on a budget, in a rented flat

Farmhouse furniture is second-hand by nature, so this style is kind to a small budget.

Start with the table. An old pine table and four chairs that do not match often cost little second-hand, and set the tone at once.
Put the useful things out. Stand the wooden boards against the wall, hang the pans, fill a jug with spoons.
Add checks. Gingham or ticking cushion covers, a checked wool throw, a striped tea towel on the oven rail.
Use baskets for storage. For logs, shoes, toys and laundry.
Keep flowers in a jug. Whatever is in season, from the garden or the market.

None of this needs a nail in the wall. There is more in how to decorate a rented flat without painting.

What to avoid

Signs with slogans. A room does not need a board that says "Farmhouse" or "Gather". The table says it.
New furniture made to look worn. Buy the old piece. It is often less costly, and it is real.
Everything matching. A set of six identical chairs looks like a showroom. Mix them.
Gloss and chrome. The finishes here are matt: wax, limewash, enamel, iron.

Farmhouse vs traditional, and farmhouse vs coastal

Farmhouse vs traditional

Both keep old things and warm wood. Traditional style is the formal one: dark polished furniture, velvet, gilt frames and symmetry. Farmhouse is the working one: scrubbed tables, cotton, enamel, and nothing too good to use.

Farmhouse vs coastal

Both are relaxed and like painted boards. Coastal is cooler and lighter, in white, sand and blue, with linen and woven grass. Farmhouse is warmer and heavier, in cream, sage and brown, with wool and worn wood.

TraditionalClassic European design, as in older homes.

CoastalThe seaside, brought indoors.

All 14 styles, side by side

Farmhouse questions

What is farmhouse style?

The comfortable, practical look of a country home. A big wooden table, solid furniture with some history, boarded walls, cotton and linen, and soft colours such as cream, sage and wheat. Useful things are kept on show: jugs, boards, baskets and china.

What is modern farmhouse style?

A plainer, newer version of farmhouse: white boarded walls, black metal lights and window frames, pale wood and fewer ornaments. The American television series Fixer Upper, shown from 2013 to 2018, is largely credited with making it popular.

What colours are farmhouse?

Cream and warm white, with wheat, sage green and duck-egg blue. Brown comes from worn wood, and a small touch of red, as in a checked cloth or a bowl of apples, lifts it.

What is shiplap?

Shiplap is wooden boarding whose edges are cut to overlap, first used to clad the outside of buildings. Indoors, any wall of flat horizontal boards painted white is now loosely called shiplap.

What is the difference between farmhouse and traditional style?

Farmhouse is informal: scrubbed wood, cotton, checks and a kitchen table at the centre of the home. Traditional is formal: dark polished wood, velvet, symmetry and a drawing room.

Editorial notes

Written by the Snuug team and checked on 11 November 2026. The dates and names come from the sources below. A number with no source beside it is a designers' rule of thumb, not a study. The picture and its colours are Snuug's own pixel art.

What is farmhouse style?

The farmhouse look in five signs

Farmhouse colours

Farmhouse materials, furniture and lighting

Farmhouse room by room

A farmhouse kitchen

A farmhouse living room

A farmhouse bedroom

Farmhouse style on a budget, in a rented flat

What to avoid

Farmhouse vs traditional, and farmhouse vs coastal

Farmhouse vs traditional

Farmhouse vs coastal

Farmhouse questions

Editorial notes

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