Country Style Living Room Furniture:
How To Create Great Country Living Rooms

Country style living room furniture is all about

• relaxation,
• warmth, and
• informal living.

Today's country living room furniture aims to recreate the ease, closeness to nature and unaffected simplicity of original country style living rooms.

What Makes A Country Style Living Room?

A basic set of Old-World style country living room furniture might consist of:

• sofa(s),
• (easy-)chairs,
• table,
• plus maybe a cupboard,
• buffet/dresser, or
• armoire

None of these have to match exactly. They just need to have enough in common (see below for ways to accomplish that).

Historic European farmhouses mostly combined living and eating in one room, so country living rooms had a dinner table but no low coffee tables (those were 'invented' by city folk in the late 19th century).

Another important piece of country style living room furniture used to be the grandfather chair - a wingback chair reserved for members of the older generation, to smoke a pipe, read the paper, comment on the state of the world, or snooze in.

My grandmother had one in her kitchen. I don't think I ever saw her smoke a pipe in it (or anywhere else, for that matter), but in the fading evening light she used to light a small gas flame on the stove (no candles here, she was a modern grandmother ;-)

Then my little sister and I would climb into her lap, and she would tell us stories of times gone by. Sometimes we would sing together. I still remember the songs. It was the best bit of the day.

Country Living Rooms: Get The Look

When you're looking for country style living room furniture, it's best to focus on the following characteristics:

• Furniture that is, at least partly, made of wood or similar plant materials (wicker, cane, straw).

• Hard lines are kept at a minimum.

• The wood can be natural or stained, but high-gloss paint might look out of place on country style living room furniture.

• Sofa(s) and seats are covered in cotton, linen, wool or leather.

Country style living room furniture does not generally contain elements like

• Garish colors,

• Obvious man-made/synthetic materials,

• Modern shiny metals, glass tables, highly polished surfaces,

• Elegant, shiny wovens (like silk).

Create a Style
That Hangs Together

If you have some pieces of country style living room furniture where the styles, wood or fabrics don't match, you could try any of the following tricks to create a 'unified' look:

• Keep a mismatched table covered with a cloth that echoes other elements in the room (e.g. wall color, upholstery fabrics). Or, of course, paint the table.

• Cover mismatched seating with cushions in one color, fabric and style.

• Use color to 'unify' wooden furniture - if the wood is not very precious, give it one or several coats of paint. Rub off or sand for a distressed look.

• Slipcover one or several seating elements

• Cover the sofa with a blanket or quilt, and other seating with cushions in matching color(s).

The nice thing about country style living room furniture is that you really can't go far wrong.

There aren't many 'rules' to break - your own comfort is the deciding factor. So follow your heart - and maybe do something your grandparents would never have dreamt of doing with their country living rooms.