Abstract Art in a Country Home: How to Make Clashing Styles Work Together

Whether you’ve recently moved in with your partner or a home that didn’t fit your original decor style, finding decor harmony isn’t going to be easy. But it isn’t impossible. You can find ways to add abstract art to a country home without ending up with a chaotic, hodge-podge mess.

How to Find Decor Harmony With Clashing Styles

A country home is warm and pleasant, while abstract art is bold and contemporary. But with the right approach, abstract artwork can help you express your individual style in any home.

Photo credit: Unsplash

Country homes have many distinct features. They include natural materials like stone, wood, and brick, beautiful terracotta tiles, and rough-plastered walls. Unless you completely renovate the home (and what a shame that would be!), you can’t just stick any old painting on a wall.

That’s why you need to work with the space you have instead of fighting against it. Take a look at the natural elements in your home and find decor that compliments them. For example, if you have exposed beams and worn paint, find an art piece that contains these beautiful features.

When decorating with clashing styles, you need to find a base you can stand on. Designers often use the 80/20 rule (80% one style, 20% another) because the ratio allows different styles to complement each other. If you have a country home, the country style should be your 80%.

But when you’re purchasing abstract wall art, pay attention to the colors of each painting. The painting itself should repeat the colors found in your country home, and the frame should mimic the type of food you see in your trusses and panes.

Even something as eclectic as abstract art isn’t guaranteed to be rainbow-colored or overly bright, which definitely wouldn’t fit in a country home. However, the most well-known abstract art pieces are multicolored, but that won’t be a problem as long as your home is filled with neutrals.

At this step, you have two options: use 4 colors in your decorating style or go completely neutral. If you go neutral, you’ll have more leeway with the colors in an art piece. If you use multiple colors, use abstract art to mute the space. Both styles look great in most homes.

Before selecting any piece of art, ask yourself, “how would a country boy/girl paint?” What objects would they paint? A few things come to mind: earthy hues, horses, farms, and cowboy hats and boots.

The 80% rule means your country design is dominating the rest of the space, so act like someone from the country is picking out the elements for you. Given the restrictions, a country boy/girl would probably find brown, white, and green-colored abstract art really appealing.

Barn doors were especially trendy a year ago, and that’s an easy thing to add to a country home. But, it’s actually better to look for trendy pieces in the design elements that belong to the 20%. Not only will you have more to work with, but it also adds some personality to the space.

The edition of an on-trend element will make the different design styles look fresh and current. Plus, it can make it easier to include technology in your home. A smart thermostat would look out of place in a pure country home but not in a house with abstract art and decorations.

Published in: Ideas | Author: Yanita