Natural Materials in Home Decor
I‘ve always had an appreciation for using natural textures in home decor. Antiques, hand crafted furniture or decor and natural home building materials all add so much character! Certainly most of us have mass-produced or faux finishes in our homes, but the beauty of real natural woods, stone and other authentic materials provide an ambience that is really unmatched. And there is nothing like seeing beautiful craftsmanship in home building, decor and landscapes!
I enjoy admiring homes with exteriors made of real stone and aged shingles. Look at that awesome steep shingled roof, the copper dragonfly downspout and the stone around the rounded door too! Isn’t it adorable? No other house quite like this, I’m sure!
A few years back I was out looking at houses with my mom and we found this delightful timber and stone house that was built by the woman who owned it. Cute, right?
Can you imagine how much love was poured into building that house, timber by timber and stone by stone? The process of building your own home with natural materials must be so rewarding!
We’ve never built a house (that would be a DREAM!) but we have had fun building things for our homes from natural material straight from the source. My husband and I drove up a mountain once to select our own flagstone for our walkway, piece by piece, from a quarry.
In our last house we even designed a handcrafted cabinet with real bamboo trim. We actually went out to a really cool bamboo garden to hand pick our own bamboo for the cabinet. It was so fun to not only pick out the materials for our own cabinet but to be able to appreciate what went into creating that cabinet!
After designing the bamboo cabinet, I fell in love with bamboo! Now I want to plant bamboo in my backyard as a natural screen for privacy. Don’t you feel relaxed just looking at a bamboo garden? I’ve seen people use big troughs to plant it in so it is contained (it grows like crazy and we don’t have space for it to spread out). I can’t wait to hear the bamboo leaves gently blowing in the breeze in my own backyard! The perfect way to relax!
Just look at the awesome texture from this driftwood fence and metal arbor at a house in Cannon Beach, Oregon! It adds so much personality to this beach house.
I believe these carved wood numbers are made out of teak, aren’t they lovely? Once you see the layers of beauty in real wood grain it is hard to go back to embracing particle board or plastic! There is nothing quite like REAL texture.
My parent’s beach home was remodeled a few years ago with a lot of natural materials. I adore the beautiful colors in the slate shower and the added contrasting texture of the teak bench.
This carved wood bird on the stair newel post is the work of a local craftsman, not something you would likely be able to buy in a mass produced product catalog! And all the natural wood on the walls and steps and the slate floors create such a warm personal space to getaway from it all.
I love seeing what a craftsman can make in his own workshop! This cool Adirondack chair was at a local Portland, Oregon bamboo garden. I think it adds so much to the story of your home and the personality of your space when you know where your furniture originated and who made it.
Even though you might not actually know who made your furniture, it is fun to imagine where it originally came from. This is the French iron swan chair I recently found at an antique store. I believe it is a hand-forged — the craftsmanship is really beautiful! It is now a statement piece in my office. And the swans are just quirky enough to make me smile every time I see them!
An ordinary chair from an office supply store is certainly functional, but for me it is much more fun to have a chair that has a story to tell.
Do you appreciate natural materials and textures in your home as much as I do?
Yes, the one of a kind items that people use to decorate their homes are imaginative and beyond being merely unique. It’s the perfect way to make a statement…this is who I am…this is what I like…this is how I feel about my home. My favorite, of all the things you’ve shown, is the driftwood fence and gate. I know nothing of bamboo or how it might sound in the garden, but your description of it makes me want to know…
Agreed! They definitely make a statement and tell a story! I love that driftwood fence too.
My dad and my mom’s dad are/were both woodworkers, so they’ve passed along their appreciation for the beauty of woodgrain along with their love for the beauty of nature. In our house, we have LOTS of beautiful pieces lovingly made by Dad and Grandpa, and we use stone, metal, and glass in place of plastic whenever possible. There’s nothing like God-made materials! He is the ultimate Decorator!
I know! And isn’t it funny how we get all caught up in what’s in or “out”
when in nature there is just good natural design?
I love these pics! LOVE God-made materials too, and dream of the day I can build my own house too, and decorate it without mass-produced-from-a-catalog-just-like-everybody-else stuff. :)
So fun to be unique :-)
That’s it! I’m moving into that timber and stone house today! And setting up that adirondack chair on my back porch!
Fabulous!
Hahaha! Yes, that sounds good to me too!
Melissa,
I really love some of these images. I’ve always admired the stack stone walls in England, made by hand by the farmers. I have had a small sample of the joy of selecting your own stone from a quarry and truly there is something satisfying about not only the process but the history/story it gives a home. Great post.
Karen
I wish I could have everything of natural wood, but one thing is for sure: I have lots of things that have a history (in my family or not) , or things made of wood that was previously another thing, I have some wood painted white, but I also have a lot of wood in the natural color. Real wool carpet. Handmade ceramica. glass vases that were from my mother. My daghter sleeps on the bed that were my greatgrandmother´s. I live in a big city, if we can´t have enough nature outside, we should definetly bring it inside!
I love your blog is very inspirational!
Ditto to every thing you wrote!! I especially love the stone and timber home hand built by owner herself. Plastic totes and protectors have their place, protecting from moisture, but aside from that we are huge fans of handmade and natural materials and a whole lot of nature in our home and landscape. I love the idea of the bambo garden in a farm trough. Oh my gosh, that would be amazing!!! Even the bit of industrial look you’d get with the trough would provide fabulous contrast in texture. I hope you do it. You are going to do it? Yes?
I very much agree with your post – which was full of lovely pictures by the way – and I have filled my home with so much wood that I’m kind of known for it now to the point where if I shop with friends and there’s anything wooden around, they will automatically assume I’m going to get it. And I do ha ha. The timber and stone house is a dream!
I love to use antiques and things that have a history. Most of the things in my house have been passed down from grandmothers, great aunts, or from second hand stores. It’s easy to go buy new but so much fun to make something odd work in your own home. I love the houses that you featured.
I do love things made of wood. That room in your top photo is beautiful. My husband likes to build things, and most of the things around here have a story. I would looooooove to have a stacked stone fireplace on our porch. But, my love for wood inside the house varies with the seasons. We have all wood trim and doors in a natural finish , and a foyer totally wood clad (http://www.talkofthehouse.com/a-small-entryway/). I love it in the fall and winter, but man I am so tempted every spring to paint all of our natural wood white. Please keep me away from the paint!
I love decorating with unique, personal items that have some meaning behind them. Those are the pieces that take a space from ordinary to extraordinary! I will definitely be building a driftwood fence like that in my dream beach house…some day! And I love your swan chair…I remember when you first found it. I purchased a unique round side table with similiar swans at a resale shop last year and it is one of my favorite pieces. So different than any other piece in the room which adds character and interest.
I love balancing natural textures with modern elements in a room! Makes a room so intriguing.
I love bamboo gardens! One of my neighbors has a bamboo garden so large it conceals a full half side of his house! I get so jealous every time I drive by… I love that rustic fence! I’ve never seen one like that, it’s so cute!
I really love the chair made from recycled painted boards. What a wonderful look. I must figure out a way to duplicate! Thank you for the beautiful pictures.
Love! The driftwood fence is my favorite. We use natural materials wherever we can…thanks for all the great inspiration!
I love natural materials in my home. I am such a nature girl that I wouldn’t be happy doing anything else. Love these pictures, especially the log cabin.
Will you be doing Fall Nesting again this year?
YES! So glad you asked. I will definitely be doing Fall Nesting this October! I’m so excited this year to NEST!
I love decorating with special “found” pieces, whether it’s something handed down to me from a parent or it’s found at an antique sale or garage sale. When I look around my home right now, I can pick out each piece and still remember where I found it. It might have to be painted or fixed up a bit, but I love to buy things that were intentionally made to be used for one thing – and then use them for another. It makes my home so much more interesting rather than just looking like everyone else.
Melissa,
I would very much love to know if you have any information at all about your swan chair… I purchased a hand-forged iron bed about fifteen years ago, and have since wondered about the artist who created it. The bed, like your chair, is adorned with swans, and is very similar in style and detail. I have a feeling that the two pieces may have been produced by the same artist. If you do know anything at all about the origins of the piece, I would so appreciate the shared knowledge.
Thank you.
Wow, wouldn’t that be so cool if they were by the same artist? I still have found any more info, but if I do I’ll let you know! Maybe we can solve the mystery! I’d love to see a picture of your bed!
Don’t plant bamboo in the open ground!!!!!! We just paid a vast amount of money for someone to use heavy equipment to pull up our out of control bamboo! It had taken half our back yard and several feet of our neighbors yard. Plant it in huge galvanized tubs used to water cattle and horses.
Do you have an original link or anymore info on the timber and stone house? I would love to see and learn more about it. Dreamy!