In almost two years isolated indoors, many of us felt a great need to communicate with nature. During this period, some people even opted to renovate their home, bringing a little more of these references to the natural to the interiors. And is there a greater reference to nature than the rustic style ? Commonly featuring organic materials – such as wood and stone – and untouched natural finishes , this style will bring the desired freshness to any environment and help bring the countryside into the home, even if you live in a studio in the big city.
If that’s what you’ve been looking for, great: we’ve brought here 10 rustic interiors to inspire your next project or renovation. Check out:
1. Studio Cottage, by Sun Min and Christian Taeubert (China)
Fashion designer Sun Min and architect Christian Taeubert teamed up to revitalize an abandoned house (pictured above and in the opening photo to the text) in inner Beijing in hopes of counteracting rural depopulation in China.
The design has retained the building’s original beams and stained plaster walls, while a wooden platform has been inset and decorated with handcrafted fabrics to create an elevated seating area.
2. Kyiv apartment, by Olga Fradina (Ukraine)
Interior designer Olga Fradina combined rustic materials like rattan, bamboo and sisal with a dark background to create a relaxing atmosphere in this apartment, located atop a five-story Soviet building, which was designed to host meditation and tea ceremonies.
Except for the vintage armchairs by Swiss architect Pierre Jeanneret, all furniture was custom-made by Fradina herself using simple geometric shapes reminiscent of mid-century designs.
3. Casa Areiam, by Aires Mateus Architects (Portugal)
Powder white sand, heated by underfloor heating, spills into the living areas of this hotel in Comporta, creating a continuous connection with the beach beyond.
Featured at the Venice Architecture Biennale, the hotel is part of a complex of four buildings with traditional wooden moldings and thatched walls and ceilings, which are left exposed to incorporate local textures into the interior.
4. Gallery House, by Neil Dusheiko (UK)
Rough terracotta tiles and oak shelves filled with art and ceramics help create a warm feeling in this kitchen extension, which London-based architect Neil Dusheiko created for his father-in-law. The traditional Victorian property in Stoke Newington has been renovated from “dark and damp” to light and airy, with triangular skylights helping to direct the light inward.
5. Rural House, by HBG Architects (Portugal)
When HBG Architects converted this community oven in the Portuguese village of Aldeia de João Pires into a holiday home, the studio decided to leave the building’s bush – hammered granite façade exposed inside.
Here, the rough edges of the stone contrast with the simple lines of the wood-paneled kitchen and the custom staircase with its concrete steps, which extend to form a dining table on one side and a fireplace for the wood-burning stove on the other.
6. West Village apartment, by Olivier Garcé (United States)
Collectible furniture with handcrafted details help complement the rustic features of this pre-war West Village property, which interior designer Olivier Garcé turned into an art and design showroom during the lockdown.
In the living room, a vintage rocking chair by Axel Einar Hjorth flanks the fireplace next to a carved stone chair and a three-legged coffee table topped with pink enamel lava stone, both created especially for designer Ian’s project. Felton.
7. Returning Hut, by Xu Fu-Min (China)
Designed as a rural “paradise” for a shopper tired of city life, the Returning Hut in China’s Fujian province promotes connection with the surrounding environment through its massive double-height windows.
Elements of nature can penetrate its interior. A large rock perforates the suite’s floor to frame a submerged bathtub, while a cross-section tree trunk serves as a dining table, along with Hans Wegner’s classic PP68 chairs.
8. Amagansett house, by Athena Calderone (United States)
Pieces of hemp rope are strung between the wooden beams of designer Athena Calderone’s Long Island home, softening the building’s clean, modern architecture while holding a sculptural Rogan Gregory pendant lamp in the dining room.
Here, a homemade farmhouse table is surrounded by 1960s Sapporo Italian chairs, and a custom Green River Project walnut wood console is paired with two fluffy white benches courtesy of artist Ethan Cook.
9. Country House in Empordà, by Arquitectura-G (Spain)
The Spanish studio Arquitectura-G has exposed the original brick walls of this country house, made up of decades of adaptations and extensions spread over three different levels, in order to make it a cohesive whole.
Built-in furniture, such as seating and fire pits, help to tie the different rooms together, while the bright brown tiles emphasize the texture of the original terracotta floors.
10. Holly Water, by Out of the Valley (UK)
Sliding glass doors allow the interior of this Devon cabin to open onto a porch with a copper tub, offering views of the surrounding cornfields.
The patio is paneled in larch wood and the kitchen cabinets in oak, helping to create a smooth transition between the two spaces, while a layer of clay plaster gives the interior walls a tactile, organic finish.
