Essential Guide to Farmhouse Living

What IS farmhouse style? What defines it? How do we get the look? Do you have to live on a farm? Let’s start out by saying that farmhouse style is more of an attitude or a way of life than a style these days. Once farmhouse style was distinguished by 3 key elements… rural location, functional porches and formal and informal living space!

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Now, let’s talk about Farmhouse living!

Farmhouse style originally developed out of necessity. It was born out of geography. Farmers needed places to live and farmhouses reflected the land, building material and goods in the rural area.

A farmhouse usually included a transition area from the outside to in… hence the farmhouse porch. The front of the home was the “formal” area where guests were welcomed. Although usually quite simple, it served to meet the formal social norms of the day. The back of the house usually had the kitchen and a bedroom. Or if the home was two-stories, the bedrooms were there.

Today, farmhouse style is a way of life that reflects a love for the land and it’s bounty and keeps a close connection between both. It loves simplicity and has a do-it-yourself attitude. Recycling, upcycling and renovating are all in the wheelhouse of farmhouse style! Although unpretentious and very welcoming, there is a great sense of style about farmhouse living!

Living the Farmhouse Lifestyle

If you are looking to live the Farmhouse Lifestyle here is a great place to start.

Farm to Table

Start a garden! Grow things that your family enjoys and will eat. Going back to our roots of growing our own food will help you form a connection with the land along with many other health/mental benefits.

We spend a great deal of time in our gardens growing and tending food for our families. We then spend tons of time preserving and cooking with everything that we have grown. Nothing tastes better than a home grown tomato!

If you aren’t up for gardening quiet yet buy from farmers as much as possible. When you have extra preserve it by freezing or canning. The more you do it the easier it will become and soon you will wont even think before you start preserving those tomatoes that have been sitting on the counter a little too long.

Entertaining and delicious food go hand in hand. We can never make one dish or if we do we double it, because you never know when you’ll have unexpected guests or relatives for dinner. And you can rest assured, a slow cooker or cast-iron skillet is almost always involved in cooking comforting and soul-satisfying food.

Kindness

Treat our guests/friends like they’re family. As the saying goes, “There are no strangers, just friends we haven’t met yet.” And we extend this kindness to everyone, forming lifelong connections and opening our homes and hearts.

The most powerful gesture of kindness is often a simple handshake, where a good, firm grip still goes a long way here. In our home we give hugs, it doesn’t matter if you just met us or if you have known us for years you will get a hug when you arrive and a hug when you leave.

Teach your kids to be kind, starting at a young age. We work with our toddlers everyday to teach and promote kindness. They each have their own bucket filling jars that they collect “bucket fillers” to show and remind them that they are being kind. You can read more about bucketing filling in my # Ways to Promote Kindness post.

Our motto is Treat Others The Way You Want To Be Treated!

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Life a Simple Life

It is often said the physical clutter is mental clutter and we couldn’t agree more. And with busy lives we don’t need more mental clutter. Simplify it!! The next time you want to buy something take an extra second or two and really think about if you need it. How long do you see yourself owning it. It is amazing how many things we throw or give away each year.

Your home is supposed to be a place for you to go and rejuvenate, recharge, reconnect and rest. Make your home work for you. Now this doesn’t mean go out and buy all new furniture and decor, work with what you have. Reflect on your daily activities. Is there something that you use everyday that can be placed in a more convenient spot? Could the couch be moved to help with traffic flows in your home?

Make it so everything has a home and become intentional about putting things back in there “home” after they are used. You will be surprised at how much cleaner and organized your home will look and feel just by doing this.

There you have it 3 simple ways to start living the farmhouse lifestyle TODAY!! Remember all good things take time, making little changes here and there will make a HUGE difference in a year, I promise. Start small and work towards those goals, I know you can achieve them.