The term rustic has always seemed like a bit of a backward compliment. It’s the sort of word you’d use to describe the birdhouse in your friend’s garden which has been lovingly, but haphazardly, cobbled together by their 3-year-old. But over the last year, a new wave of interior design trends have washed in and, in turn, well and truly reclaimed the stylistic potential of rustic—a rustic redux, if you will.
This new look centres on a handful of materials that offer a certain earthy softness to any interior: bamboo, rattan, linen and jute, specifically. These four trends happily fall under the nu-rustic banner, and design-savvy individuals have embraced them in all number of iterations this year. While these styles have historically had a more bohemian appeal, it’s been interesting to see how people have been harnessing natural colourways and textures to counteract the coolness of clean-lined modern schemes.
Case in point: Camille Charrière uses rattan chairs to soften her marbled dining room table, while Francesca Saffari opts for a brown linen throw to complement a brushed gold headboard. The finished effect is multilayered and eclectic and creates the effect of an interior that has been built up over time. And that’s is the interior dream, right? I recently forwent my urge to keep a contemporary black-and-white Berber rug in my study and instead experimented with a square jute rug from Etsy, and I have to say that it’s one of my favourite homeware purchases to date. So if you fancy adding a little rustic charm to your home, scroll down to see and shop the trends that will get you there.
