If you’re building a home in a rural setting, you may be tempted to build in what’s often thought of as the Country Style. While there is no one architectural style that fits this model, Country Style is often considered a mixture of Farmhouse, French Country, and Rustic styles, which blend together in ways that meet the needs of the owner.
Country Style Home Design Considerations
Building in both rural areas and in the Country Style do come with some unique challenges, layouts, and designs. Make sure you know what to expect going in, so you can make the best decisions for your new home.
1. The Basic Layout
The majority of Country Style homes are very efficient spaces designed around the needs of the user. The kitchen is often central to the design and layout of the home, and is considered the hub from where everything else takes place.
Open floor plans are very common, allowing people to see throughout a single storey at one time. This is ideal for entertaining, for families with young children, and for busy households where there’s often a lot going on at once.
The appearance is generally pretty straightforward; you won’t find a lot of decorative moldings or fussy fixtures in a Country Style home. Instead, things are designed for comfort and efficiency, as well as function. This is particularly true if you’re planning a Farmhouse style design, where function is at the heart of the layout.
2. Size and Scope
While a Country Style home can be built in many different sizes, they are generally around two-stories high. They’re often constructed on a slab, so you’ll have a walkout lower level rather than a basement, but depending on the area that you’re building, you may choose to have a full basement foundation.
Attached garages are common, as are a lot of outdoor recreational areas. This includes porches, decks, patios, outdoor living rooms, and other areas designed for indoor/outdoor living. Because the areas these homes are built in are often rural, the home may be built into the landscaping to help give it a more natural or organic appearance. For this reason, it’s common for Country Style homes to built into the sides of hills, or to have multiple levels that allow for the changing landscaping of the area. Building to the area, rather than excavating and leveling are the norm for this style of home.
3. Materials for Country Homes
Country Style homes don’t have a set list of materials, but it is very common for them to utilize natural materials that may be found in the settings they’re built in. This usually includes a lot of natural hardwoods, as well as fieldstone. Stone fireplaces, stone accents on the facades, and stone accent walls indoors are all very popular with Country Style.
Hardwood or stone floors are both often seen, as are interior walls that are either made entirely of wood or that are accented with wood. Wood paneling is very common indoors on both walls and ceilings.
The idea is to create a very unfussy interior design that focuses on a natural appearance that can complement the rural setting the home is built in. It’s also built for comfort, however, and wood has often been studied for its psychological benefits on people when used indoors. Having natural wood interiors has been shown to help relieve stress and increase happiness, which may be why so many Country Style homes often include a lot of wood in their interior designs.
On the exterior of the home, however, homeowners may want to consider using a different materials, such as steel siding designed to look like wood. This is due partly to the fact that most Country Style homes are located in rural areas where there is often a risk of fire, as well as other environmental and elemental issues such as high moisture levels, rain and snowfall.
By using a steel siding like log-look siding from TruLog, you can get the look that complements both your interior and the overall style of the home, but with added benefits. Steel siding is flame retardant, which makes it a safer material to use in rural settings. It’s also not affected by either rain or snowfall, and it’s also resistant to insect activity and mold. It doesn’t rot, and the finish can last for years without needing to be scraped or repainted. This also complements the relaxed atmosphere that many people hope to achieve when building a Country Style home or when building in rural settings.
Make the Most of Your Country Style Home
Country Style is unique in its ability to bend and conform to both its setting and to the needs of the user. Your home may be lavish and large or smaller and more minimal in design. Either way, as long as there is a focus on a natural interior with an efficient open floor plan and centrally-located kitchen, your Country Style home is sure to be a success. Make sure that you pay attention to your exterior materials, and consider a steel siding like TruLog to help you achieve both the look and the efficiency you need to create the ideal home for your needs.
