If you have ever watched a single home improvement show on HGTV, you know that the industrial farm look is so in. Like so in. No mater what your home looks like, it can stand to be improved with a nice subway wall tile kitchen backsplash and an apron sink. If it’s a bathroom that you want to spruce up, just throw a simple wood and exposed pipe sink in there, a nice bathroom floor tile in a geometric shape, and a floor to ceiling glass door. Wham, bam, thank ya ma’am. Just like that your home looks like it was featured on Fixer Upper or Property Brothers or any of those home remodeling tv shows that we accidentally binge watch entire seasons of in a single day.
You don’t have to be an expert home designer to achieve the industrial farm look in your home. Point in fact, Joanna Gaines, the designer side of the Gaines due that fuels the HGTV show Fixer Upper has no formal home design training. If you’ve watched enough of her episodes, you start to see a common recipe that she follows with every home she touches:
Three Tips for Achieving the Industrial Farm Look
- Test out a few subway tile sizes, and don’t be afraid to mix and match.
You’re industrial farm home will feature white subway tile once or twice, or possibly throughout the entire home. Subway tile is the the meat and potatoes of the industrial farmhouse look. But this isn’t a “one size fits all” sort of decision. You’ll be surprised how many subway tile sizes there are. If you want to create the illusion of spaciousness, you might want to look for larger subway tile sizes. The eye sees lots of bright open space and thinks “this room is so large.”
If you are trying to add a nice focal point or some texture to a room, consider smaller subway tile sizes. If the entire space has a lot of large features, it might make it look sort of plain. Using the smaller subway tile sizes helps bring balance and pizzazz.
Also, don’t be shy with incorporating more than one size into the space. This isn’t a “denim on denim” style faux pas kind of situation. Maybe incorporating a small glass subway tile in the shower and then a large white subway tile in the rest of the bathroom gives a pleasant mixture of texture. - Think neutral while choosing wall colors.
When you go with the industrial farm style, you’re you going to be using a lot of white. You’ll use some tan. You’ll delve into beige. You’ll know all about all 50 shades of grey (even if you know nothing about that brainless series). Even if you like color, you’ll want to reserve it for the statement pieces you have within the room. The industrial farm look involves understated wall colors. After you’ve painted the barn (pun intended) with a “bisque” or an “egg shell,” add colorful throw pillows or wall fixtures to give it the pop that you want.
As a bonus, if your color tastes change down the road, it’s a lot easier to get new throw pillows than it is to repaint the whole room. - Get creative with mixing material.
In an actual industrial farm look, there’s a lot of metal (because metal tools and equipment function better for longer than other materials). There is a lot of wood (because many farmers utilize the material they have naturally available while building their furniture and house hold goods. Industrial farm environments waste little and makes use of the available supplies for as long as possible. By nature, it’s a clean, simple look that incorporates multiple materials.
While choosing fixtures for your home, don’t be afraid to mix metal chairs with a wooden table. Embrace metal appliances with a butcher block counter top (side note: butcher block goes really well with the industrial farm look but many people are hesitant to use wood counter tops in fear that it’s difficult to disinfect. In reality, if you use a hardwood butcher block material, it is actually more sanitary!). You don’t have to get too matchy matchy with this look, get creative and have fun!
Do you have tips or tricks to add? Share below!