Your kitchen sets the heartbeat of your home. It’s usually where people congregate during holidays, homework gets tackled and family meals are cooked. My goal is to create the most cozy and inviting space that sets the pulse for the rest of our home. Something about the charm of the farm brings warm vibes to my soul. When we first bought our ranchette, I knew I would douse our home with all things farm. I wanted to create an authentic experience for all who crossed the threshold. However, buying an 80’s fixer upper is costing money to create those Instagram worthy pictures. I need cheap alternatives while we slowly add the more expensive big ticket items. Here are five quick ways I created the farm charm in our kitchen using things I mostly already had around the house! You too can create a charming cozy farmhouse kitchen. Here’s how:
Five Easy Ways to Add Farm Charm
Step 1: Light and Bright Colors
A cornerstone of the farmhouse style is a light and airy color palette. Many people use variations of whites on EVERYTHING to achieve this look. You do NOT have to paint everything white to add farm charm to your kitchen. For example, I have wooden cabinets and would never dream of painting them any color, much less a white. “GASP!” I know, right? Don’t kick me out of the farm club just yet. I was able to bring in light colors in other ways as explained in step three. I’m just not a girl who can sustain all white. One, I have rowdy little ranch hands, who quite literally always have dirty hands. Second, I would feel like I’m back in my RN days of working in the hospital. YIKES, no thank you. Instead, I opted for a very light blue hint to our walls. I used Glidden’s Arctic Stone.
Farm Charm step 2: Intimate Seating
Next, we tackled the seating. In the kitchen, we kept the eating area quaint to achieve the cozy farmhouse feel. My hunt around the house led me to the table I use as my office desk. This little table perfectly fits and creates a more intimate feel for our family of four at dinnertime. Then, we paired the table with two antique Hitchcock chairs my mom found at an Estate sale in Dallas over twenty-five years ago. I also used two newer wooden chairs that were serving no purpose in our living room. First, I painted them white then gave them a light distressing. Okay, your turn: venture out on a scavenger hunt in your own home to find pieces you may be using for another purpose and bring them into the kitchen.
Step 3: Textures and Fabrics
The third step is the use of natural textures, metal and fabrics. This is a super important aspect of the farm charm, but a really easy one to accomplish. I brought a lot of items I was using to decorate in other areas of our home into the kitchen. The vintage bread box and spice sign were awesome finds at a local junk shop that cost less than $30 total and bring in the wood element. I had some white tea towels and used them as curtains in the window above the sink, an idea I got from one of my fav IG accounts @thorn_cove_abode. (Check out her account here) Scroll through the gallery below to see the other ways I added texture and fabrics for our farm charm in the kitchen. Now, go search your house for wood, tin or burlap, oh my!
Succulents in vintage tin can 
Wooden center island with woven apple basket 
Spice & Extracts Vintage sign found at our local junk shop for $10! 
Burlap sack I used as a planter basket for plants 
Tea towel for curtains make for a light airy feel 
Antique Majolica dishware I relocated to above the kitchen sink
Step 4: Bring in LIFE, AKA, Plants
Next, I brought in plants. Now, I’m not talking a jungle. I didn’t want to overdo it, but a few plants in creative containers helped bring life to our kitchen. After all, farms are all about life, right? I had some vintage inspired tins I used for succulents (see the gallery above) and a white metal pail I (again) found in the ever fruitful barn. Where does the cowboy get all of this stuff? Who knows, but our barn is fast becoming my favorite junk shop! I also had a burlap sack with cute blue polka dots (this is also in the pic gallery above) that tied in with our curtains so I dropped a plant into it as well. What creative containers for lively plants can you find in your home to add some farm charm to your kitchen?
Step 5: Add some Vintage to your Vignettes
The last step to pull together your farm charm in the kitchen is to add vignettes with vintage finds. Re-purpose old family pieces to be show-cased in the kitchen. My paternal grandmother used to have this cracker tin in her kitchen and it gives me great joy to now display, and actually use for salt crackers, in my own. The English biscuit tin was a piece always in my mom’s kitchen.
I created a simple vignette on the kitchen table using an old pizza stone as a base and added a wedding gift cake stand to add height to the plant. By the stove I have some dime store flower prints my maternal grandmother bought for .10 cents in 1940 for her mother for Christmas. What old family pieces can you find to put in your kitchen?
These simple steps I took have created a cozy inviting feeling in our kitchen. It hearkens me back to a more simple time and reminds me of the warmth my grandmother’s kitchen always had. I’m excited for you to create some farm charm in your kitchen! Want more easy fixes for your farmhouse? Check out this blog post HERE on how to update your light fixtures adding some farm charm!
~Happy Fixin’ Friends,
XOXO ChristyMarie