How to Get the Modern Farmhouse Living Room Look

Q. Who are you and how long have you been doing what you’re doing?

A. My name is Whitney Shehane and I’m the interior designer and selections coordinator for Stevens Custom Homes in Knoxville, Tennessee. I graduated from Watkins College of Art & Design with a Bachelor of Fine Art in Interior Design in 2014 and have been working as a designer ever since.

Q. How would you describe Stevens Custom Homes’ interior design aesthetic?

A. As a purely custom home builder, we cater to each client! We design homes for all tastes and aesthetics from highly traditional to uber modern and everything in between. At the moment in Knoxville, we are seeing a huge trend in the “modern farmhouse” aesthetic. If I had to choose what our “signature” style would be, it would be transitional with a nod to classic Southern influences.

Q. When designing a living room layout, how do you factor in the fireplace?

A. A fireplace invokes feelings to warmth, family, tradition and togetherness and therefore has a place in every type of design style. As the focal point and main event, the design of the living room should be centered around the fireplace.

Q. What tips do you have for creating a living room layout that’s inviting and livable?

A. For creating a living room that is inviting, I prefer to float the furniture off the walls (if the space allows) and to center all the furniture around the fireplace as the focal point. Floating the furniture off the walls creates circulation throughout the entire living area and makes the seating areas inviting and intimate.

Q. What are your go-to materials for modern farmhouse fireplace finishes?

A. There are a lot of ways to accomplish this look depending on how “modern” you want your modern farmhouse vibe to be. Very modern is usually shiplap, which can be done in different ways. The standard is obviously horizontal, but we oftentimes do chevron or vertical to change it up and modernize it.

Pairing painted brick with shiplap is also another way to modernize the look of a fireplace, which can either be painted white or a moody, dark color to increase contrast and interest.

If you’re more of a traditional “modern farmhouse” type of person, brick, stone and good ol’ horizontal shiplap are always beautiful together. We sometimes will also do floor-to-ceiling stone, but this is a much more traditional look and leans more towards classic farmhouse and not modern farmhouse design.

We almost always use a wood mantel of some sort. Whether it be a reclaimed beam wood mantel or a new beam, the wood really warms the space up. Without corbels is a more modern look while the use of corbels will take it more into the traditional realm, depending on what you enjoy.

Q. How can homeowners add a sense of history and place—must-haves for farmhouse vibes—in new construction?

A. Add elements that have warmth and history are essential in modern farmhouse new construction. Reclaimed beams, reclaimed wood mantels, architectural salvage pieces and salvaged doors are our favorite pieces to help warm up the space. The juxtaposition between the old and new architectural elements really help to add back the character that so many new homes lack and that farmhouses have in spades!

Q. What are some of your favorite finishes to use in modern farmhouse living rooms? Any go-to colors or lighting resources?

A. Rustic wood elements and highly contrasting colors (white and black) always play well together in a modern farmhouse application. Go-to colors are whites and blacks, with the whites leaning towards the warm spectrum to keep from being cold. Benjamin Moore’s White Dove and White Heron are some of my favorites!

As far as blacks go, Sherwin-Williams Caviar is always one of my go-to dark shades because it’s black without being stark and cold. If you’re afraid to go black, Iron Ore from Sherwin Williams is a beautiful charcoal that will also provide that high contrast. For lighting my always and hands-down favorite is Visual Comfort!

Q. Any other thoughts on fireplaces as a feature in new construction homes?

A. In many new construction homes, the fireplace is oftentimes viewed as expendable and aren’t given their due importance or consideration. My advice would be to make your fireplace a focal point and spend the budget, planning and thought that it deserves!

In historic homes, the fireplace was always the heart of the home, as it was the main source of heat and therefore the main gathering point. That mindset has not changed, but the way new construction homes are built has.

Placing importance upon the fireplace is a sure-fire way to bring warmth, history and a feeling of tradition into your home, regardless of when it was built.

Q. Are there any living room design mistakes that you see commonly made or that you try hard to avoid when designing spaces for your clients?

A. Creating living room designs can be quite difficult because you need to balance elements that are special, cozy and interesting without being too interesting. I always tell my clients to choose one or two things that will be the focal points of the room and let those be the "wow factors."

The most common mistake that people make is trying to make every single aspect of the design a focal point or this unique, special element. If you choose a couple of items to be the showstoppers and have everything else function as neutral design elements, it really lets the highlighted elements shine! If every aspect is over-designed, you cannot focus on anything and the design loses its luster, becoming visually busy and static.

Q. Any aspects of the "modern farmhouse" design aesthetic that you feel are overdone or that should be avoided?

A. I think that the idea that everything has to be rustic or cutesy with modern farmhouse design is way overdone. The key to modern farmhouse design is balancing modern, clean elements with rustic elements and architectural salvage pieces.

Avoid everything being wood-toned and rustic, putting lots of “farm” elements together (ex. old signs, livestock, tractor bar stools, etc.) and lastly making absolutely everything white. Balance these elements and you have modern farmhouse gold!

Q. If you had one piece of advice to share with someone wanting to revamp their space but afraid to start, what would it be?

A. It's like cooking, just jump in and have fun with design! We hate to see clients stress themselves out over design and expect everything to be perfect. My advice is to start with sites like Pinterest or Houzz and save lots of images. Then go through those images in an almost slideshow fashion and start looking for congruent elements that are showing up repetitively. From there, you can hone in on your design style as you notice elements you save over and over again!

To see what Stevens Custom Homes is building now, visit their online gallery. For more modern farmhouse inspiration, head to our Modern Farmhouse Fireplace Pinterest board.