Antique kitchen items are at home in a country kitchen.
Country style is symbolized by things such as antique rocking chairs pulled up to a blazing fire, a lace curtain billowing in the breeze, brightly colored quilts stacked on a primitive bench and old crocks lined up on a vintage sideboard. The essence of country style is comfortable, cozy and welcoming. Country style is not about where you live. You can capture it in a city apartment as easily as in a rural farmhouse. Does this Spark an idea?
Living Room
Create a focal point by hanging a colorful quilt above the couch. It can be new or vintage, but be sure to use a hanger designed specifically for quilts. Group a collection of antique spools on one side of the mantle and balance it with a bouquet of hydrangeas in a pottery vase. Realistic-looking silk or dried flowers work well and last indefinitely. Put a vintage steamer trunk to use as a coffee table. Place an antique plank-bottom chair next to the fireplace or in a corner. Arrange a group of primitive dolls on the seat. Hang muslin tab curtains in your windows. Install wide-plank pine floors and dot them with braided oval rugs. Choose traditional furniture such as camel back sofas and wing chairs upholstered in toile or homespun materials. Install crown molding and stencil a border below it. Paint the walls in warm earth tones, authentic colonial colors or pale shades of country blue.
Bedroom
Choose a bed in a traditional design such as a sleigh bed or four poster. For a more casual look go with a painted iron bed frame. Coordinate sheets in country prints such as faded florals, hearts and stars. Use the sheets with quilts in the same color palette. Stencil a border around your door and windows in the same print as your bedding. Hang wooden shutters at your windows and pair them with crisp, white tieback curtains. Display a collection of vintage Teddy bears on a window seat upholstered in blue ticking material. Craft bedside lights from canning jars or crocks. Tuck a wicker rocker and wrought iron floor lamp in a corner for a reading area. Hang pajamas and robes from a vintage clothes tree. Paper your walls in calico prints or paint them a creamy white that allows the colors in the room to take center stage.
Kitchen
Vintage Hoosier cupboards are good stand-ins for traditional built-in cabinets. Large jelly cupboards can act as roomy pantries. An antique pie safe is a convenient place to store kitchen linens. Antique butcher blocks and farm tables make handy islands. Display vintage kitchen items on open shelves above tile or sealed-wood counters. Grow herbs in pottery flower pots on the windowsill. Stencil a country motif on your cabinet doors and hang cast iron pots above your stove. Hide the refrigerator and dishwasher behind custom cabinets built to look like antique cupboards. Install a farmhouse sink. Paint wood floors in a muted checker board design.
Bathrooms
Instead of buying a ready-made vanity, give your bathroom a vintage look by converting an old dresser to do the job. Install a claw foot or soaking tub, either vintage or new. Cover the floor with black and white octagonal tiles and the walls with bead board painted white. Dress the windows with vintage tablecloths sewn into curtains. If you have the space, bring in an antique armoire to hold linens. Hang towels on a quilt rack or roll them and place them in a large basket. Put in a pedestal sink with porcelain fixtures. Hang a curtain under it to hide cleaning products. Replace an ordinary mirror with a large antique one in a weathered gilded frame.
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