Early American Style - Rustic Color Palette

Early American: Soft Neutrals, Pastel, Primary colors

Early American colors are based on actual color tones of the period, generally ranging from 1660 to 1780, rather than the 'regional' color themes I wrote about in the previous color blogs. Interiors were painted with neutral tones like Harbor Grey, Georgian Green, Queen Anne Pink and Colonial Blue. Inspired by Robert Adam’s architecture and color schemes Colonial, Federal and Neoclassical Styles emerged. Pastel tones were integrated into this style, often seen in fabrics like curtains and chair covers. Folk traditions were popular and an early American style arose from this that ran parallel to the more formal tones of the Period interior. Bright colors like red, yellow and blue were made from natural pigments and are often best expressed on furniture, objects, cabinetry and stenciled boarders on an interior wall or door surround.

Country French Style - Rustic Color Palette

Country French: Earthy, Vibrant, Pastel

The French Country palette balances earthy colors of brown, mustard, red-orange and moss greens, with vibrant colors tones like Saffron, Cobalt, Marigold and Turquoise. Fabric, furniture and ornamentation are often decorated with these lively and expressive colors and stand in dramatic juxtaposition to time worn walls and floors. Alternatively, the suns washed colors of Southern France, including rosy tans, smoky blues and celadon greens, are suggestive of another era and lend to an aura of sophistication blended with the needs of daily activity. Charming and comfortable yet grounded with tradition and culture, the French Country Style is an exciting blend of wholesome meets vital.

English Country Style - Rustic color palette

English Country: Neutrals, Pastel

A neutral palette dominates this style. Soft blue and green walls accented by white moldings can imply a historic period style. While the English cottage relies on off whites and soft pastel tones, the urban home might require a more purposeful color application, mixing pattern and texture of fabrics with fresh color tones of lavender, peach or cream.

The Rustic Color Palette

I've always felt a great place to start thinking about a design style is to think in color... literally. Our color perceptions define our world, moods, the way we live, in a deeply profound way. The Rustic Style color palette has a distinct range of color tones and is essential in creating a successful rustic interior. By using the appropriate color tones, you can create a variety of design styles ranging from period and historic to regional to thematic. Color helps define our experiences within an interior and exterior environment. It affects us on a physical, emotional and spiritual level and can be calming and passive or expressive and vital.

To help understand the process of selecting colors, I’ve envisioned a series of individual palettes that vary from region to region but maintain the consistent tonal range of the Rustic Style color palette. These are…

Tuscan Style

English Country

French Country

Colonial American

Rustic Mexican

Tuscany is always a good place to start...

I think of the Tuscan Country color palette as having three notable tonal qualifiers - Earthy, Vibrant and Neutrals

Earthy tones of Umbers, Siena and Ochre are natural colors drawn from the earth and fields of Tuscany. Silvery green Cyprus trees complement worn terracotta tile roofs.

Vibrant tones are set in contrast like the yellow sunflower sits against the ruddy fields. Over time, these vibrant colors are captured by the hot sun and fade to an expansive palette of neutrals such as sage green and soft rose from natural clay.

I’ll explore other Rustic color palettes in upcoming blogs.

Gold leaf on stair rails

Hi, Can I gold leaf the steel rails on my stairs?  

Thank you, Pearl.

What is Rustic Design Style?

Rustic Style seems to be a compelling aesthetic in interior design today. Is it nostalgia, a sense of comfort in the impressions of history? The ravages of wind, weather and years of use that transform an ordinary table or coffee pot into an almost magical object, evocative of a distant time and place, of people and stories long forgotten. It is my hope to explore these ideas more deeply. Many of us have come to cherish these antiquated, sun-bleached surfaces, to prize the flaws, the chips and the cracks our grandmothers would have lamented. In this throwaway age, these traces of past lives appeal to our senses and revive our spirits.

It seems to me that Rustic Style is founded on the intangible ideals of generational memory and mythos blended with the very real world of folk art and design. This in turn is deeply rooted is an innate human desire to beautify even the most humble environment. Every society has it's naive building and craft traditions, but some stand out as especially rich storehouses of vernacular architecture and folk art. Over the next few blogs I hope to explore these ideas further by journeying through the rustic architecture, design and folk art of Tuscany, England, France, early America and rural Mexican cultures. If I can demonstrate how to recreate the environments one encounters, choosing and combining disparate cultural elements, then a well planned interior will be the result. Along this journey I hope to also discover the Rustic Style that works within the home.