Country Takes A Walk In The City

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COUNTRY TAKES A WALK IN THE CITY

By Gabriele Campbell, ASP, CID                           www.campbellinteriordecorating.ca

Country style has taken on a new persona. It no longer means small check cotton prints, dried flower wreathes over the doorway, and wooden characters found at flea markets. A mix of country with a little city thrown in is a twist on the traditional idea of country style.

It merges the need for casual simplicity and durability with the desire for stylish comfort and urban chic.

Blended styles have found a new forum in today’s homes, and their popularity is growing. The look is unique, personal and totally unpredictable.

Achieving this look doesn’t require a whole new household of furniture. “Urban country” makes use of the heritage pieces you inherited from your grandparents and puts them right beside your more contemporary pieces.

The rules of design still apply – proportion is the key. If you are blending styles, make sure one style is more prominent than the other. The number and scale of the pieces you combine should follow the 70-30 rule. One style dominates while the other is the accent.

Pulling it together:

Take an antique wooden table rich with dents, scratches and the patina of age, and surround it with upright leather chairs. Lay the table with your best linen napkins, china and crystal. The floor below is wide plank hardwood, and the window treatments are a large floral print in cotton or linen on wooden rings and poles.

In the living room, mix a contemporary leather couch with two wicker accent chairs.  Throw in seat cushions covered in cotton toile and finish it off with a refurbished country coffee table. Display the black and white pictures of long ago family vacations and grandfathers in uniform in frames of brushed chrome or crisp black.

Make a vignette with an Eileen Grey chrome and glass table juxtaposed with an antique chair covered in large scale gingham.

The combinations are endless, as endless as your inimitable ability to mix your furnishings and accessories to create a personal statement in your home.