Equally at home in a wooden cabin, farmhouse kitchen, or Western ranch, rustic home decor brings the outside in with natural materials and earth tones. Here’s how to pull together all the rustic decor pieces in your space — like a warm leather club chair, wool throw blankets in a Southwestern motif, and a distressed coffee table — with the right rustic wall decor to match.
1. Create a Western Vibe
Leaning into the rustic ranch look? It’s not complete without a skull wall mount — the ultimate rustic Western wall decor. Now somewhat of a home decor staple, this piece is just as at home in a rustic cabin as a luxe loft. To fit a variety of design styles, variations of the deer buck exist to fit every style, from luxe gold stag heads to the traditional skull and antlers and even the more whimsical jackalope. In this space’s otherwise luxe and modern bedroom, the bull skull mount adds an unexpected rustic element to the room that pulls the design together.
2. Hang a Sliding Barn Door
Sliding barn doors have long been synonymous with rustic design for their industrial elements paired with solid wood planks, often worn and reclaimed from a prior life as walls in a barn or floors in an old home. The style of door also saves space in rooms where a swinging door would be more difficult to open, and their eye-catching look adds instant character to an otherwise plain room. Even if you can’t replace a door in your living space with a sliding barn door version, you can still incorporate its rustic charm into your home by mounting a vintage door directly on your wall as art. In this charming space evokes a barn door with its rustic wood panels and metal sliding hardware, but the addition of a geometric mirror panel adds extra functionality and style.
3. Explore Texture With Woven Textiles
Since rustic style is all about playing up natural materials, textile art is right at home in a rustic living room. Consider woven wall hangings in different materials and colors to complement your living space. In this space, wood walls, layered rugs, and woven pillowcases in a Southwestern motif already play up the rustic feel. A pair of woven wall hangings made of yarn and rope fibers in complementary colors hung above the couch add a bohemian flavor to the already rustic living room. Other textile wall decor options include Kilim or Oriental rugs hung on the wall, faux fur hides for the ultimate textural element, or macrame art.
4. Think Outside the Box (and Beyond the Frame)
While a photo or art piece in a rustic frame is an easy way to incorporate wall art into a rustic-style home, getting creative with the objects you choose to hang in your space will make your home stand out and express your personal style. Do you have a collection you’d like to display? Use it as wall art. This space adds a creative touch of country charm by hanging four cowboy hats in an arch over the master bedroom headboard. With this approach, what may have been previously shoved in a closet can become the focal point of a room. There are plenty of creative ways to hang hats — but the idea shouldn’t be limited to headwear. Try a collection of vintage movie reels, old wooden toys, or whatever fits your personality.
5. Highlight Reclaimed Materials
Rustic doesn’t have to mean log cabins with plaid blankets — although we’re all about that look, too. Any design that emphasizes natural, unrefined pieces qualifies as rustic — especially anything that uses reclaimed materials. For the creative DIY decorator, a quick browse around a reclaimed materials warehouse results in a wealth of ideas, from a five-panel door used as a headboard to a paned window frame hung on the wall and used as a photo frame or sprayed with reflective paint to become a mirror. Art made from reclaimed wood gives off a rustic vibe, from repurposed pallets to painted or stained wall decor, like this rustic blue geometric piece in an otherwise modern and eclectic space.
6. Create a Rustic Gallery Wall
Many standard wall decor ideas can be customized to fit into a rustic home. A gallery wall, for instance, easily incorporates pieces in a variety of styles, colors, and textures. To really amp up the rustic feel, go beyond framed art prints to incorporate small 3D elements, from hanging wooden or wire baskets holding treasured artifacts to metal or wooden letters interspersed with framed prints or photos in various sizes. The gallery wall in this space, for instance, combines rustic elements like the letter “N” hung inside a floating frame with other more modern pieces.
7. Spell It Out With Typographic Wall Art
Add a personal touch to your rustic wall decor with metal or wooden letters — the city you live in, the first letter of your last name, or a favorite quote or passage. Many flea markets sell old typesetting letters or pieces of antique signage. In this space, an industrial metal “Music City” sign paired with a framed photo collage of an old pickup truck and historic buildings creates a rustic vibe.
8. Repurpose a Ladder as Shelving
If you’re a fan of the leaning ladder shelf trend, opt for the OG model — an antique ladder propped against the wall. In this upstairs landing of a space turned into a jam room (see the tiny guitar amp in the corner), an oversized American flag and vintage wooden ladder combine with navy blue poufs and a natural jute rug to create a laid-back, relaxed rustic feel. This example holds a few books, but leaning ladders are also perfect for storing folded blankets, newspapers and magazines, or even hanging shoes.
If you need more permanent shelving, consider using reclaimed wood planks as floating shelves. This idea combines wall art with functional storage, and gives the room a rustic feel. You could even use floating shelves to hold a variety of framed art prints and other objects that fit your personal decor style.
9. Use Antiques as Wall Art
Nothing gives off an authentic rustic feel better than real objects that have been worn down over years of use. Check out local flea markets and antique stores — the only limit is the space you have available and your imagination.
Look for pieces that can be easily mounted on the wall, like a large vintage wall map for an industrial loft or old farming tools like a tractor seat or wooden pitchfork for a modern farmhouse. Use the age and type of antique to help your space evoke the vibe you’re looking for — the antique wooden airplane propeller in this industrial space, for instance, adds a preppy feel with a rustic edge.
10. Incorporate Music or Movie Posters
A niche within vintage wall art, movie or music posters offer a great opportunity to quickly share your personality with guests while decorating your space. This space, for example, plays up the “music city” theme with a framed print resembling a bluegrass band concert poster. A vintage Western movie print in a natural wood frame would be at home in a rustic ranch, while National Park prints hung with large binder clips give a rustic feel to a cabin in the woods. The print colors, content, and style of frame each offer an opportunity to customize poster wall art to best fit your overall rustic style.
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