Country Primitive
Decorate Your Country Home by Gloria Daniels
It matters not if your “country home” is a city apartment, a summer beach house, or a north woods cabin. The country look is universally understood and easy to achieve.
The look and ambiance of country decorating is relaxed and casual. It is a welcome feeling of “come right in, put your feet up, and make yourself at home”. Country decorating is all about comfort and creating a retreat from the hectic pace of today’s rushed and tense atmosphere.
The look of country is nostalgic. Not long ago, country decorating was known as “Early American”. The look was comprised of pine, plaids, stars and stripes, along with the colors red, white and blue. Pine is still the favored wood for furniture in country decorating, but wicker furniture is equally at home in the country decorating scheme.
Listed below are some of the characteristics of country decorating
- Upholstered pieces are soft and overstuffed inviting everyone to stop everything; plop yourself down, and relax. No country decorating scheme would be complete without at least one rocking chair, preferably with an afghan or old soft quilt thrown over the back of it.
- Braided, hooked and rag rugs are used to decorate wooden, painted or stenciled floors. Quilts and primitive paintings add great details to the country decorating scheme.
- Accessories include practical items from earlier days. These run the gamut from pewter candlesticks and kerosene lamps to wrought iron door hinges and rug beaters.
- In the kitchen you will see butter churns, egg baskets, and cookie molds. Canning jars are used for storage containers, as are wicker baskets. The kitchen table is set with stoneware, pottery, and blue enamel was used for cooking utensils.
- Walls painted in neutral colors help aid the feeling of peace and harmony. Often they are stenciled or speckled with sponge painting. These techniques remind us of the itinerant painter who traveled the country plying his trade in exchange for room and board during the pioneer days of this country.
- Fabrics are most often natural such as cotton, linen and wool.
- Window treatments are simple using tabbed draperies or cafe style curtains.
If you have family heirlooms you treasure and old family pictures and portraits you enjoy displaying, then the country style of decorating will fit right in with your possessions.
As with any style of home decorating, flowers, candles and plants always add a sense of tranquility to the home. A sprig of wild roses in your beach cottage, some branches of evergreen in your rustic log cabin, or some lilacs from the florist for your country apartment in the city, will all add scent and a sense of harmony as you decorate your country cottage.
Bring all these ideas together and you can’t help but create an ambiance of peace and harmony for you to enjoy in your home.
About the Author
Gloria Daniels has worked in many areas of the home decorating field and has been helping clients decorate their homes creatively for over 20 years. For more help and hints about planning and organizing your home visit her website http://www.home-decorating-room-by-room.com/. While there take advantage of her free online home decorating workbook to help you develop your creativity and create the home of your dreams.
Primitive Country Decorating Ideas – Toolbox
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Vintage Cannister Set $24.95 The Vintage Canister Set is a set of 4 natural metal canisters that include metal lids with handles. Each features an old fashioned product label. They nest inside each other for easy storage. The largest canister has a label that reads “Red Rooster Brand Flour”. It is 10″ with a 5-1/4″ diameter. The next size is 8-1/2″ tall with a 4-3/4″ diameter, the label is for “Sunbonnet Brand Sugar.” The 3r… |
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Primitive Recipe Box with Star $22.97 This recipe box is the perfect addition to your country kitchen. It is painted black and distressed with a stenciled burgundy star and removeable lid. 5-1/2″ x 8″…. |
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Tablecloth – Sturbridge 60 x 84 Wine $34.95 Sturbridge Wine 84″ Table Cover 60″ Wide x 84″ Long… |
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American Primitive – Volume 2 – Pre-war Revenants 1897-1939 $19.98 … |
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35th Anniversary $8.99 … |
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American Primitive, Vol. 1: Raw Pre-War Gospel (1926-36) $11.78 Ignore the low fidelity of this 26-track compendium, and you have one of the most interesting gospel compilations ever released. Most of these songs were recorded among a variety of “race” labels between 1926 and 1936, mostly for Paramount and Vocalion. Copious liner notes provide the needed details for each track, along with an essay by label chief/folk legend John Fahey. Soundwise, some of these… |
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RoomMates RMK1276SCS Country Stars and Berries Peel & Stick Wall Decals $10.97 You get four sheets of appliques equaling 40 pieces total. This design is part of the new home Deco series that makes decorating fun and easy. Just peel and stick. RoomMates work on any smooth, dry and clean surface AND are re-usable. Crafty, artistic, designer, decoration, home interior, warm, homey, memories. Proudly made in the USA. Sizes are approximate…. |
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Zenith Country Cottage Toilet Paper Holder $19.99 The Country Cottage Bath Tissue Cabinet provides protective and decorative toilet tissue storage, great for every bathroom in the house, from the guest bath to the master and especially useful in bathrooms with pedestal sinks and little storage! Made of wood with a crisp white finish, this toilet paper holder features a hidden section behind a door that stores 4 rolls of toilet paper, while … |
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Country Style Silicone Dipped Candle Light Bulbs (Pkg of 10 Bulbs) ~ 7 Watt $7.10 Once you use these light bulbs you’ll never go back to conventional bulbs again. These bulbs have a dramatic country look and add down-home charm to electric candle creations, accent lamps or country style lighting applications. Steady-burning 7-1/2 watt clear bulbs are hand dipped in a translucent silicone coating that produces a flexible, tapering, flame-like appearance. Light travels throughout… |
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Pururamabo $2.99 … |
