Modern Farmhouse Living Room Ideas for a Cozy and Chic Space

From the countryside to suburbia, modern farmhouse living room ideas have held steady in popularity for decades. Sure, other interior design trends have risen to join its ranks. But, it certainly doesn’t look like the modern farmhouse style is disappearing anytime soon.

Despite its versatility, modern farmhouse design has a reputation for being overly feminine. While it’s true that some trends within the movement focus on delicate fabrics and soft color palettes, this is far from the case for the modern farmhouse aesthetic as a whole. Keep reading to learn how to curate a modern farmhouse living room that fits your personal style.

1. Cozy Fireplace Modern Farmhouse Living Room Ideas

While your HVAC system is likely your heating element of choice, nothing says “farmhouse” like a wood-burning fireplace. The fireplace should serve as your living room’s centerpiece–arrange furniture and decor around it. If you have a wall-mounted television, above the mantle is an excellent place to hang it.

If your home lacks a fireplace of its own, there’s no need to call up the local mason. Instead, consider investing in a mock wood stove. This appliance will fit perfectly into any modern farmhouse living room without the expense or permanence of a built-in fireplace.

2. Embracing Minimalism

In modern farmhouse design, minimalism is far from a dirty word. But how do you add the perfect amount of farmhouse style to an otherwise minimalist space? It’s all about texture.

Cast iron and shiplap-inspired finishes are a great way to add a rustic touch to fixtures and furnishings. Greenery, sculptures, and other decors will help bring the space together, but avoiding clutter is an absolute must. Keep wall hangings and other decorative items simple yet purposeful.

3. Achieving a Neutral Palette

A neutral color palette helps bridge the gap between sleek modernism and cozy farmhouse decor. Paired with white walls and large, bright windows, these colors add a contemporary touch that can keep your decor from feeling too trendy.

Of course, using neutral colors in your modern farmhouse living room doesn’t mean only using shades of brown and tan. Rich, dark colors look lovely as throw pillows, ottomans, or accent furniture–think navy, burnt orange, or forest green.

4. Warm and Inviting Brown Tones

In the natural world, there are few colors we see more often than brown. Whether wood grain or leather, these shades are ultra-warm and inviting while still fitting in perfectly with modern decor.

To keep your living room from feeling washed out, choose dark, rich brown tones over more muted shades. Avoid using too much brown without breaking it up with a contrasting color (white works extremely well).

By getting brown accents from organic materials rather than fabric or paint, you’ll also be adding plenty of interesting texture to your living space.

5. Stylish Black Accents

There’s no better way to add clean lines to your living room idea than with contrasting colors. In the case of modern farmhouse design, black is the shade of choice.

Painting a matte black accent wall can add impact to an otherwise all-white room. If you want to add even more depth, consider mounting wood planks to your accent wall before painting. If you choose to keep your walls entirely white, black furniture and fixtures will create a beautiful contrast.

Using black in your modern farmhouse decor is also a great way to blend in large appliances like TVs. If your space has other black elements, your flatscreen TV is less likely to stick out like a sore thumb.

6. Elegant and Serene Grey Tones

To bring out the modern side of your living room, try using a grey color palette. Even when combined with traditional farmhouse decor, these shades anchor the entire space in a contemporary style.

When leaning more modern with your color palette, look to other areas of your living room to bring in some farmhouse design charm. For example, vaulted ceilings and wooden beams go hand-in-hand with the farmhouse aesthetic.

A repurposed barn door or shiplap wall can add the perfect amount of rustic decor to a space. Cast iron fixtures will also ensure your farmhouse-inspired decor doesn’t get lost in the more modern color scheme. All in all, no detail is too small.

7. Comfortable and Spacious

The sectional might be a recent invention, but you’d be hard-pressed not to find this piece of furniture in most American homes. Built for friends and family to gather and unwind, sectionals often take up more floor space than any other living room furniture piece.

To incorporate a sectional into your modern farmhouse decor, focus on the overall shape and fabric. Choose neutral colors that suit your room’s overall color scheme. Textured fabrics like suede, leather, and canvas are always a great choice. Rustic throw pillows and blankets will provide the finishing touch.

8. Timeless Charm

Countless folks avoid farmhouse decor for fear of stepping into “shabby chic” territory. But there’s much more to this interior design style than burlap and lace. For example, leather is a timeless textile with authentic ties to the farmhouse aesthetic.

Adding a leather sofa, armchair, or another piece of furniture to your living room can completely transform the space. To really bring out the rustic feel, choose warm brown shades over cream or black. If you want to get really creative with leather in your modern farmhouse living room, look for accent pillows made of black-and-white cowhide.

Remember: High-quality faux leather can be just as luxurious and durable as the real stuff.

9. Adding Vintage Touches

Since farmhouse decor pulls so much of its influence from life in the rural 1900s, it should come as no surprise that antiques play a major role in this trend. While many people purchase replicas of these items to use in their home decor, hunting down and repurposing real antiques is the best way to add authenticity to your living room design.

Old barn doors are one of the most repurposed items in modern farmhouse design. Other fun vintage decor includes old chandeliers, wooden shutters, and candlesticks.

Of course, there’s nothing wrong with recreating vintage items for use as decor. But if you enjoy the challenge of finding the right decor as much as you do the final product, the hunt for the real thing is definitely worth it.

10. Balancing Tradition and Modernity

In design, modern decor refers to a specific style. In contrast, contemporary design refers solely to trends used in the current moment. By nature, contemporary design is ever-changing.

Using contemporary decor lets you blend popular items from both the modern farmhouse movement and the design world at large. Contemporary design elements may include unique lighting fixtures and up-and-coming art trends. You may even find design-focused smart home features.

11. Embracing Rustic Elements

Blending the modern and farmhouse aesthetics might wash away some of the latter’s rugged side. But repurposing natural materials into furniture, fixtures, or regular old decor is a simple way to bring a little more rustic charm into your family room.

You can use live-edge wood to create shelving, a coffee table, or a mantle. Riverstone is a popular alternative to traditional brick and can completely change the look and feel of your fireplace.

Mounted taxidermy makes excellent wall decor (if you don’t hunt, many antique dealers carry vintage specimens). Pair these pieces with antique hunting or farming memorabilia to complete the look.

12. Bright and Airy

If you take a look at modern and farmhouse design trends independently, you’ll notice both rely heavily on white. After all, white is an all-purpose color that goes with practically everything, all while making your space feel more open.

You’ll find white walls in almost every modern farmhouse living room. White-washed shiplap and distressed furniture are two ways to utilize this simple color palette while also adding texture to your living room.

If the all-white look isn’t your thing, try painting your walls off-white while keeping your doors, window frames, and trim a stark white. This slight contrast can add depth while drawing attention to architectural details like wainscoting or exposed beams.

13. Cozy and Functional

When decorating a small space, there’s little room (no pun intended) for error. To maximize your room’s visual space, stick with neutral furniture and white walls. If you want to add a bit more dimension, consider creating an accent wall with shiplap or a contrasting paint color.

You can add to the farmhouse look with throw blankets, wall hangings, and ceiling fixtures. Consider using natural textures like sun-bleached wood, antlers (real or faux), and fur (again, faux is fine). By focusing decor efforts upward, you can bring in plenty of charm without imposing on your limited square footage.

FAQs

What is modern farmhouse design?

As the name implies, the modern farmhouse movement is a combination of modern designs and farmhouse trends. Modern design focuses on sleek lines, simple colors, and sheer functionality over form. On the other hand, farmhouse design is based on the rustic, well-worn aesthetic of rural homes in the 20th century. Though quite different on the surface, these two styles meld together surprisingly well.

Why is farmhouse decor so popular? Will it go out of style?

There isn’t just one reason why the farmhouse style has been so popular for the past couple of decades. Trends like shabby chic have existed since the early-1990s. More recently, shows like HGTV’s Fixer Upper have spread the farmhouse trend to an even wider audience.

If you worry about the trendiness of farmhouse decor, a modern farmhouse is the perfect aesthetic for you. Since this design trend combines the classic farmhouse style with a more contemporary style, you won’t need to worry about your living room looking dated in a year or two.

Is there a semi-permanent alternative to shiplap?

Within the modern farmhouse interior design movement, nothing is quite as beloved as shiplap. Shiplap is a type of wood board traditionally used as barn siding. Some home builders, especially in the South, use shiplap as a drywall alternative.

Because of its connection to old barns and farmhouses, shiplap is a staple of contemporary interior design. But not everyone wants (or can) to mount shiplap along their living room walls.

Shiplap-patterned wallpaper gives a shiplap look without the cost of installing real wood planks. Some of these wallpapers even feature 3D texture that looks and feels like real shiplap.

How do I incorporate technology (TVs, stereos, gaming systems, etc.) into my farmhouse decor?

You do a lot to make your home look its best, but there will still be times when function must come before form. Fortunately, melding modern technology with farmhouse-inspired decor is surprisingly easy.

Whenever possible, opt for black devices. While silver or chrome will clash with your modern farmhouse decor, all-black appliances will blend in seamlessly.

Invest in furniture that hides your tech devices when not in use. Proper cord management will also prevent clutter and ensure your tech devices don’t encroach on your picture-perfect home decor.