19 cosy, rustic interiors for chilly days
The best rustic interiors find a perfect balance between rough and comforting. This design style highlights the authentic beauty of natural materials, celebrates unfussy tastes and simply makes us feel at home.
Sarah Stewart-Smith tells us to 'start with what the house can give you'. This basic concept lies at the heart of rustic design.
Other designers have echoed that sentiment. 'You really have to listen to a house like this,' said designer Harriet Anstruther of her farmhouse. 'There are no straight lines, and there is nothing that doesn't have a hole or a chip or a bird in it. But if you spent your time worrying about spiders and symmetry, you wouldn't live here.'
Stripping a house back to expose its original features, whether that be classical cornicing or ceiling beams, is often a more effective way of creating hygge in your home than filling it with fur throws and candles (although that works too).