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Suggestion: please do the same for the “glam” style that is now pervasive in the mommy CZcams lifestyle vlog decorate with me sector. I feel like it’s a repeat of what happened with farmhouse: buying a bunch of cheap glass, gold, and white furs and then putting it everywhere in the house. send help!
It is like every single decor style was cheapened by mass produced items and everybody doing it and over doing it at the same time with cliche stuff, because they don't know any better.
The whole thing just SCREAMS "2017" in my opinion. Especially rose-gold, glass tables with candle centerpieces, crushed velvet (curtains and cushions), and mirrored furniture. It's _atrocious._
What I like about your channel is that you say what we're all thinking - ditch the Target farmhouse signs - but you're actually pretty gentle and kind about it. It's not the mean snark that's so easy to do on CZcams. Thanks for being different! I look forward to your next video.
I worked at a Joann's back when LLL signs were "new". We got so sick of stocking them, we came up with um, alternate versions. My favorite was "Puke, Cry, Die". Hey, we needed a laugh.
Ugh...Joanns stocks such tacky decor items. I wish they would go back to only stocking sewing and crafting materials. The selection of fabrics sucks because half the store is taken over by the decor puke.
people could also purchase vintage and second hand furniture, instead of an attempt at a "farmhouse bookcase" made by target, I think it would be great for people to find a wooden bookcase from a antique store or facebook marketplace. more sustainable, higher quality and usually more affordable!
That’s what I do! My townhome has nothing new, except a new bed frame! All of my pieces were from my grandparents’ house, or purchased from thrift stores. I’m doing a mix of Shabby Chic(because I love the colors), painted furniture pieces that I’m doing myself, and color! I don’t do trends, because I don’t want my home to look like everyone else’s.
Ironically, despite the fascination with things that look old, there's not a big market for furniture that really is old, which makes it a pretty good bargain. When I look on local buy/sell sites I can get lovely solid oak tables or buffets for a few hundred bucks, and chairs are practically given away. It seems to go pretty cheap at the local auctions as well. Not surprisingly, given the mid-century trend, those pieces are what people are spending on. But pieces from the turn of the century to the 50's are a good deal.
@@suewilliamsbrawn2600 no kidding! I just got some Duncan Phyfe chairs with roses carved into them and they look absolutely freaking adorable around our big wooden table and they were *so cheap* compared to anything in a big box store.
Kudos to you for going for emphasizing comfort and authenticity over mass-produced merchandise from overseas. My grandparents had a dairy farm, and their "decor" was practical, passed down, worn out and serviceable, not a "look." Back in the day, no one had money to "do up" their spaces, especially not farmers.
"From overseas"? The interesting thing with that small part of your comment, which is otherwise excellent, is that the majority of these items are commissioned by the companies selling them. For example, a big box Northern American company, takes a mockup of their concept idea to an overseas company and tells them, 'I want 100,000 items of this design to sell in our Canadian and USA stores and we are prepared to pay this amount per item'. It's their own idea, but they use an overseas company for manufacturing at low cost. It's not overseas companies pushing their products, it's these big box companies clever buying power and marketing.
@@TheSecretChateau Yes! Everything you say it true. I think... it's just the IRONY of all that stuff which is SUPPOSED TO LOOK as if we found it in a barn and it's old Americana (NOT!!) ... while in fact it was made last month in a factory in China. It's the absurdity of that. Of course it was commissioned by weird American 'designers' (I hesitate to use the word) ... and fools NO ONE!
@@andreaandrea6716 - And there I was, trying to avoid mentioning China, so as not to disturb the delicate silly sensibilities of those who are foolish enough to blame China for the loss of manufacturing jobs in their own country. 😆 Regardless of that aspect, it all comes down to clever marketing. It only takes one interior designer to use one welcome mat with the word 'welcome' emblazoned across it, for everyone to admire it, everyone to want it, for everyone to buy it, and for big box stores to order 100,000 of them, rub their hands in glee and put them out on the shelves. The trick to remaining individual is to avoid them altogether and seek out the uniqueness to be found antique, vintage and thrifting and upcycling.
@@TheSecretChateau You are absolutely right (about all of it). (It's a BIG subject and can fit into many different categories!). Making it UNfashionable for people to buy from China would solve a plethora of problems. We could also go back to our grandparents values and CONSUME LESS.
@@andreaandrea6716 - 🤗 Now, there I disagree with you... I'm more than happy to buy from China. I'm more than happy to buy items made in China. I just don't and won't buy kitchy farmhouse decor made in China. This is because I'm not into anything really farmhouse and I don't like signage in my home. But then, I dont buy from North American companies either, as I'm never exposed to them. 😊
Those signs with all the sayings......Ugh! They give me anxiety. I have a friend that has them all over her house and it feels like everywhere I turn someone is giving me instructions. “Be kind”. “ Live, Laugh, Love”. “ Dance Like No One Is Watching”. “Eat Drink Be Merry”. I feel like I can’t relax. I also hate being told what to do! 🙃
I agree. It killed me to see the "have a nice poop" sign in the bathroom and the "farmacie" in the kitchen 😁 I don't know what is worse...a sign stating the obvious or instructions or a sign which does not match the room
yes, omgoodness you cannot relax looking at the decor because it's so busy with all the words!! I grew up (80s) in the country and everyone had their favorite Bible quote on the wall in the living room or just something uplifting (only one small quote, that's it) and I don't even want to do that now because of all the words overloaded everywhere!
Nick! Your timing couldn’t be better! I am currently moving to an actual farmhouse out in the country and I am going to be using your guidance to make this house tasteful and not cheesy 🙈
I live in a 1912 farmhouse on a farm. The best advice is to first figure out what your farmhouse is - a cape cod, a Greek Revival, a folk Victorian, craftsman... and then make choices that honor it. I have been in many farmhouses that tried to be something they weren’t, and it is extremely uncomfortable. You don’t want to recreate the past, but you want to respect it if you want that timeless classic feel of a house that aged gracefully.
A good rule of thumb is to think before you buy anything for your house: "Is this frivolous, would it be entirely useless?" because actual farmhouses are neither frivolous nor useless AND if you have to SAY farmhouse, it's not farmhouse- ducks don't say "I'm a duck" they just quack. Simple pieces that incorporate natural wood and/or are obvious in their purpose usually go well with this style.
Thank you! Another thing that has always bugged me about farmhouse is the fact that not too long ago, real farmers and country people were often looked down on as poor, dirty and uneducated by more suburban people. My family couldn’t afford to go buy new decor. They would have loved to go out and buy beautiful decor, but it wasn’t possible. They were creative . They were the original “re-use and recycle” people! It was all about practicality.
I’m glad you mentioned “modern” farmhouse, because I was raised in a 100 yr. old farmhouse, and NONE of these commercial decor items were in our home. Everything was old, worn, mismatched and made with our own hands, which made everything beautiful and more appreciated. Also, less was definitely more in a true working farmhouse, cause you didn’t have time to deal with decor and “stuff”. You woke up early, ate & went straight to work. Thanks for sharing.🙏🏼❤️🥰
As someone whose grandparents had an actual farm house on an actual farm, one thing I would say is the style is typically very masculine. Masculine in the sense that everything kinda served a purpose and wasn’t there just to look pretty. I think the farmhouse aesthetic has gotten too pretty and kitschy and cute, which is why you can give so much of the decor at TJ Maxx and HomeSense.
On a similar note, both my grandmas grew up on farms and if there is anything I learned from them is that life on a farm is *practical.* Which is why I think the whole kitsch farmhouse thing is so unnerving because the excessive kitsch is so far from practical and therefore is itself inconsistent with farm life. The beautiful hand made, worn items or items passed down from prior generations were made/used out of necessity, then eventually became its own aesthetic. I think getting back to these principles - along with what Nick said - would make it a more appealing (albeit less accessible) style perhaps.
Agree. I don’t allow stuff in my farmhouse that’s not gonna be usable. The space inside of my home is valuable and i don’t have any time for pretty clutter. My mantle is for binoculars (lots to see out my windows) and for matches. Perhaps a bowl of nuts at Christmas time. My kitchen shelves (two of them) might have cook books on them but they’re books I use. If it collects dust, it probably isn’t too necessary for us. This is year-round life of course, not so minimal/practical during the holidays. I love natural materials from outside made into something beautiful for inside. I like white kitchen cabinets (not counters/walls/shelves) because I can clean them up easy after lots of kitchen work (whether I’m dealing with animals, vegetables, herbs, etc). Great video! Thanks for posting!
My parents built a craftsman farmhouse after I left for college and the modern farmhouse pieces they have are ACTUAL antiques from friends' farms and thrift stores. A 100-year-old tobacco basket, an antique cracker box for the dogs' toys, actual milk and feed conisters as planters outside, antique milk glass lamps that have been rewired. Like 95% of their decorations are old and/or handmade (usually out of repurposed things like the kitchen table is old scrap wood and salvaged hardwood flooring)
I knew a woman who did her whole house in farmhouse beautifully. She did mismatched secondhand wooden chairs painted matte white (no fake distressing) around butcher block table. All her decor was handmade or vintage. She even had a big sign in her kitchen but was an antique metal sign that hung in front of a restaurant.
Original signs are the way to go. So many unique and beautiful ones can be found in antique stores, the chipped and worn bits coming from real use and weathering. "Distressed" finishing on anything looks tacky and mass produced. Original finish that has worn naturally tells a beautiful, unique story of a lifetime of use.
I've been married 43 years and have lived in the original farmhouse the whole time. I never did understand where the idea of white everything came from. I grew up on a farm and nothing in that house was painted white either. Although I do like white. My style is more like what Nick is showing, collected overtime, meaningful pieces, original artwork. Thank you @NickLewis for being authentic.
Sun-faded gingham, linen, or cotton sack-cloth? Faded from being dried on the line over the years? Yes. Stark white? No. Only wedding dresses, christening dresses, and men's dress shirts for church were stark white and even the bobbin lace was ecru or off white from the threads being handled by nimble but work-stained hands.
Farmhouses are so beautiful. My in laws are farmers and have a beautiful old house, decorated in all antiques. But it kills me because she painted the whole house a really cool grey and painted every single piece of furniture white 😬 then they put in super light oak laminate flooring. It’s so cold in there, I can’t take it.
I actually live in an old farmhouse and I must have been living under a rock because until a few weeks ago, I didn't know that "farmhouse" was really a thing. We have a barn door but it is on our barn. If any piece of furniture starts to look "distressed" we either fix it or replace it. No farmhouse I have ever been in would have the faux distressed furniture I have been seeing on CZcams. Maybe I didn't know about "distressed' furniture because the retailers around here know better than to sell it? We do have one sign (Honey for Sale) and it is on our mailbox because we sell honey. An all white interior? Really? Great Episode!
I can't understand the "distressed" furniture, and it's so popular! These folks on youtube do a great job painting something, it looks beautiful.....then they grab sandpaper and start "distressing" it, to make it look old, used, & worn out. Why? Btw, "We have a barn door but it is on our barn." Lol! Love it :)
Can you imagine? White would show all the dirt and dust from dogs, kids, muddy boots, and etc. Everything would be orange from the blowing dirt around here.
Yes! About the barn door. Mine is also on my barn. I have never seen a barn door in an actual farm house. Kitch farmhouse just stresses me out with all that STUFF. I just looked around and the only words I have on anything is Mason on the jars that are holding food, and a coffee brand logo on my coffee cup (not the random word coffee) which is probably a little tacky as I got it free from the company but I am drinking coffee out of it and not using it for decor.
4:03 “Not a farm”, “Definitely not a farm” somehow cracked me up lol! Honestly you did a great job in this video. Farmhouse is a tough one, but your suggestions were really good
I looked up my childhood home on Zillow and it had been remodeled in Farmhouse with a giant hanging sign in the kitchen that says ‘Farmhouse” (just in case it wasn’t clear).
I love this take! It's always bothered me how inauthentic farmhouse was, but I understood the feel they were trying to go for. Organic farmhouse is a lovely idea.
Not really into farmhouse either (I’m more of a mid mod girl myself) but you’re right, farmhouse is very inviting and quite cozy. I just wish it wasn’t so overdone and kitschy. People who live in actual farmhouses must cringe!
We sure do! My shelves are lined with actual canning preserves and fruit till after the winter months! But you will not find one tacky farm house sign in here
Cringing and yelling at the CZcams videos. What makes everyone think that we don't like nice things? I have one small sign on a beam because I found it years ago. It says Ragdolls and as a Ragdoll rescuer, I was living with 5 Ragdoll kitties at the time.
Can you do a video on fast furniture (like fast fashion). I mean a lot of Target furniture is going to end up in a landfill sooner than later. Just a thought.
@@philipksick6810 my son works at a second hand charity shop and they won't take a lot of the cheaper ikea and other fast furniture made out of particle board now because they find it falls apart just moving it from the drop off to the warehouse to the store floor.
Nick, I am so impressed that I had to watch twice. Great points all. I went to my husband with the screen shot of the barn door medicine cabinet and smiled and said, “don’t you love this?” He said, well, I agreed to whatever you want, but I’m not sure....” He was genuinely relieved when I burst out laughing. I definitely like your improvements to “farmhouse” which I think is what “Early American” was to the 1950s. I mean, I’m 61, so I grew up with mid-century modern the first time, but “rich people” had brand spanking new fake antiques “Early American” and I loved it and lusted after it as a kid. After all, on I Love Lucy, Lucy moves to Connecticut in the last season and buys Early American. But nobody revives it! And I doubt anyone will revive farmhouse either.
Thank you! I live in a small farmhouse on a 6 acre hobby farm that has been in my family for decades. I feature useful and beautiful things I have collected from my family. It means so much to me.
I have a few farmhouse elements around the house, because I was drawn to a few pieces. I have on sign, that I’m sure you’d find tacky but was a gift from a friend. It says “wicked chickens lay deviled eggs”....I have 30 chickens and the sign actually sits above the counter where I keep the fresh eggs. The barn door thing you don’t care for, I have a few because I didn’t want a door swinging into a room(sometimes to save space but the one is just because I liked it). I can’t help but chuckle when I watch your videos and see things that I kind of like and stuff I actually have! And I grew up on a farm!😂😂 Then again, I decorate my home with family pieces and curated vintage/antique pieces from the ‘30s-‘60s! I love your videos!
Edith, you earned that sign and your farm doors are practical for you. These examples are not cheap or kitsch. It sounds like you are doing what you love which is what this is all about and not try to fit some cookie-cutter mold. Own it girl!
I think that sign is awesome! One, it was made by a friend for you. Two, you actually have a farm so it's authentic to you.! I bet your house is beautiful and cozy.
@@msviv3122 thank you! Very nearly everything in my home is second hand or a family piece. I just like so many different styles it gets difficult to squish them together in a cohesive way!
I think a lot of “farmhouse” is actually just trying to replicate what a lot of rural Southern families had (because many of our families are hoarders, let’s be honest) which are random items repurposed and passed down. For instance, I have sitting in my living room currently holding magazines a wooden crate from the 1930’s that once housed “Hercules black powder”. It has a cute little stamp of Hercules with his Golden Fleece on the side. My great grandpa used it to store tools in his garage and we’ve repurposed it over the years and it has a beautiful age and patina. My mom has a nearly 200 year old wooden bread bowl that was passed down. Now it’s used to style a shelf but back in the day generations of my family used it to knead dough so much they wore a hole in the bottom and patched it. The problem is, if you don’t inherit this stuff, it’s really freakin’ expensive to buy so people started mass manufacturing fake ones and they just look really cheap and tacky.
I live in rural eastern Kentucky so you can only imagine how much of this I see. I’m so glad people have gotten over Rae Dunn I don’t like it at all and with everyone fighting over it it’s even more ugly. But the farmhouse that is awesome is things handed down. I have a crock my grandmother made butter in and a cast iron corn bread (the kind that makes sticks that looks like corn) that was hers also. I also have a cast iron iron that you heat on a stove to press clothes. Things that don’t fit my style but so important to history. That would be amazing to have that bread bowl you have.
This ! In my family we inherite hand-made wood furnitures from my family who used to live in the country side. A big table, benches, cloak, a chest for the bread or flour I think, the 3 feet chair to get the milk of the cow (idk know the name in English) and so one. This is pretty expensive if you want to buy this...
When I think FarmHouse I think my Aunt Martha and Uncle Paul's Pig Farm. the side entrance with the laundry/mud room, the Big Kitchen with the mini bathtub sink, the separate freezer and fridge side by side and the Giant White enamel stove, the walls were bead-board up to the chair rail and a shelf instead of crown moulding for bowls and platters. blue and yellow were Martha's colours, I remember the blue lino floor, the yellow walls above the chair rail, breakfast was always a bright and sunny event. the closest she got to kitch was a coo-coo clock Paul brought back from Germany when he served in the Army. no live laugh love signs, just gingham cafe curtains in the kitchen windows. not even any ceramic roosters....
*YES* . Nick, thank you for addressing the farmhouse *KITCH* . The one thing I hated most about "farmhouse" were the signs *everywhere* . (Dylan moment). I love a mix of vintage and rustic, but if Hobby Lobby threw up in your home...BYE.
Yes and unfortunately that’s what all the mommy lifestyle vlog channels did for several years and ruined the style.... now they are all in sync switching to “glam” and doing the same thing with that - buying a whole bunch of stuff from tj max and putting it everywhere in the house and calling it glam.
You’re spot on with the signs and sayings. Drives me bonkers. I really think “farmhouse” is a stand in for “country”. There is kitch country, French country, European country, and now modern country. Those plaster examples are what I would consider modernized European country. It’s beautiful. I’m not sure why we all have to say farmhouse. It seems to be diluting true farmhouses. Everyone repeat after me; “modern country”. Great video Nick. 👍🏻
Thank you!!!! I really like some of the farmhouse vibes but I don’t want my house to look like home goods or just like all the lifestyle “decorate with me” channels on CZcams. This really hits all my hesitancies and helps me takes the next steps!
I live in a 120 year old farmhouse, and even I don't have those tacky signs. I am pretty sure we all know where the pantry is, where the laundry room is and so on. I do have a small "coffee" sign above my coffee maker, I found it at dollar tree and I mean it's coffee, my life blood. My kitchen was never all white, it was yellow, like the sun puked in my kitchen (brass hardware, light yellow walls, yellow oak cabinets, golden oak hardwood flooring - I bought the house a little over a year ago, and did I mention I really don't like the color yellow?) and I am in the process of fixing that with navy and light blue and a little white paint, and black hardware. When I get done it will still have the comfortable farmhouse vibe, be more pleasing to the eye, and you can drink your coffee in the morning and watch the cows from my big kitchen windows.
BINGO! Thank you! Farmhouse IS overdone this day and time. It went overboard. My pet peeve is SIGNAGE, words, words words on the walls, tabletops counters and placing BATH, KITCHEN etc in that room DUH! smh.
I DO live in a farmhouse/cottage on a 60 acre farm. I do not want farm house style, not even modern farmhouse. I have a few pieces I couldn't bear to part with when I downsized from 3500 sf to 1100 sf. They are transitional/traditional. I have dogs and chickens, and lots of garden mud. My favorite color is green, I don't like a lot of clutter, but I'm not a minimalist. (I have a few curated collections and a huge number of books.) Due to having such privacy I don't even have window treatments, which I love. I struggle with wanting some elegance along with the mud. Suggestions, Nick? Love your channel!
From my own experience with my family home on a working tree farm - a ton of 18th and 19th century furniture, loads of wallpaper (Bradbury & Bradbury or Adelphi if you want high end), and old family photos, paintings by friends, and antique & heirloom china everywhere. And books. So many books
This video came at the perfect time; I live in Texas with a mom enthusiastic about farmhouse and gave me lots of farmhouse furniture, but I need it modernized!
I needed this!! My new house has farmhouse vibes and while I love it, I'm struggling with how to decorate it because I've never gotten fully into the farmhouse thing.
Same! My little house is an adorable little farmhouse and that’s why I’m watching Nick’s videos to figure out what I want to do that doesn’t have that kitschy fake farmhouse look that I see everywhere. 😄
Maybe check out Farmhouse Vernacular channel? Paige and her hubs do a lot of what Nick was saying! They don't stick to nothing but white - they use lots of deep jewel tones that look gorgeous in their little old farmhouse, and they decorate mostly with things that are really antique (or at least vintage), or things that are authentic to the period the house was built (at Christmas, Paige got fake garland at Michael's but it felt wrong, so she returned it and cut evergreen branches from her own trees instead, and fashioned a garland based on historical research). I've never seen a sign in the house.
Sitting on an ingolf chair in my pale coloured kitchen feeling so called out right now 😂. In my defense, it did come with 3 acres... He’s not wrong though..
Thanks for doing this video. I’ve never been into the kitschy farmhouse style, but I do have some timeless pieces (high end windsor chairs and a few actual antiques) that I mix with light neutrals and art pieces from our global travels. It’s not really minimal, more like curated. Yeah, that’s it, everything is carefully selected. That’s probably the key - everything should be important. If you’re using the word “haul” to describe your decor purchases, you’re probably doing it wrong.
Personally, I think that Farmhouse is what "shabby chic" morphed into with the advent of Joanna Gaines. It was with shabby chic that everyone started painting antique furniture white and fake distressing it. I have always hated fake distressing. Especially when you can put in the time and effort and find authentic painted pieces if you put your mind to it. It's not a quick fix, but like you said, it's much more authentic. Also, I think the difference is that Farmhouse is inherently more rustic, whereas shabby chic was ultra feminine and ruffle-y. But they both became overwrought and manufactured. IMHO.
I moved into a 1895 farmhouse and I love nostalgia. So I have teal appliances 50's style. I visit antique shops & find decorations, like my cedar chest & an antique iron, I use as a door stop. I love your Ideas & I also don't like signs with words. 💖💖💖
"not personally the biggest fan" You are the master of the understatement. Good save of the style. Love the ad. Trying to decide if you were getting revenge for them not having called you back for that interview, by kinda making it look like you were peeing on their shoes...(I do like the second pair and actually plan to take a look at the site. I hope noone ever pees on my Vessis)
After many years of living with the ever popular design style known as "Divorced guy with their friends random, castoff furniture" I decided to renovate and decorate. Not having a clue, I went to CZcams and watched too many videos of hyper-enthusiastic 20 somethings showing me designs that made me want to give up. Then I came across your videos and as soon as I saw the room you were sitting in, I knew I had found the right place. You have shown me that my style is modified Farmhouse. No tacky/cheesy signs for me. Thanks for helping me find my style.
I think Marie Antoinette started the whole farmhouse aesthetic with her Petit Trianon estate. I totally understand how it feels inauthentic if people adopting this style have never worked or lived in a farm. Just look where it got her lol. Love this video Nick by the way! Well done. 👌
This is exactly what I've said about inauthentic "Kountry" farmhouse! Marie Antoinette was beheaded for this crime. 'Course I say about playing dress-up with pre-torn couturier blue jeans and pink sweat shirts as well
@@susanprendergast7384 - Marie Antoinette was not beheaded for the crime of building Petit Trianon lolol. She didn't! She was beheaded for treason. It had zero to do with her farm. Petit Trianon was a working farm btw. It produced cereals, milk, cheeses, eggs, etc that were used by the aristocracy at court.
@@TheSecretChateau Not entirely true. First of all the Petit Trianon wasn’t built by Marie Antoinette, it was built by Louis XV and when Louis XVI was crowned he gave it to Marie Antoinette and she redecorated. The farm you all are talking about is the Hameau de la Reine and maybe my favorite part of Versailles. She did build it and would spend a lot of her time there living out her bucolic dreams. It was really the first gentleman’s farm. She was be headed for all of her excessive spending while people were starving. Building and redecorating all of these estates was one of the things that got her into that trouble, so it did lead to her demise.
@@moregardening5014 - Thank you for your comment, 🙂 but I'm not in disagreement over the history of le Petit Trianon. I've worked on an archaeological dig of the botanical garden the site was actually built on, so I know it very well. However, you're missed my point. Regardless of who built the Petit Trianon, Marie Antoinette was most certainly NOT beheaded over it, as Susan Prendergast so definitely states in her above post. Further, you've written in your post that Marie Antoinette did build it and you've also written that she did not build it. If you are unsure about this, I can direct to you to information on the subject if you'd like. 😊 Bonne soirée - restez en sécurité.😊
@@TheSecretChateau If you did indeed know it very well, you’d know that she didn’t build it. I’ve been to Versailles many times and have studied France, French, and world history since I was a little girl. I didn’t have to google it because I have always been enamored with the Hamaeu de la Reine and it’s part of the reason I have my own farm now. I didn’t say she built it. I said “building and redecorating all of these estates”, the redecorating was referring to the petit Trianon which I stated further up in the comment. The perception by the public of blowing all of their tax payer money on frivolous things while they were starving absolutely was the cause of her capture and death. They were executed for treason that’s true, but the treason that was cited was them blowing through the coffers of the French while men women and children were starving on the streets.
25 years ago we bought a heavy farmhouse looking table, super sturdy and heavy and 4 years ago after raising 5 kids through it, we refinished the table in a dark walnut (keeping some of the imperfections made by my kids) so now it's a mix of fancy and not kitschy. Love my table, and am getting cream coloured chair covers to match the built-in bench we're using on one side (holds most of my kitchen appliances).
What is especially inauthentic is the way people bring barn decor into the house-as though farm wives had no pride in their homes and actually wanted to live in a barn! No, farmers live in houses, animals I’ve in barns. Dont get confused.
An amazing video! I love the comfortable and rustic elements of farmhouse. If you focus on those characteristics and try to go more Scandi or transitional it REALLY helps. Spot on
We once lived in an authentic 300 years old French farm house. The key architectural elements were preserved but the house was full of modern appliances, tons of glass and clean lines. It was epic!!
im so glad you mentioned swell entertainment's video. as someone who has been around actual farms, farmhouse used to feel humble so the new version feels gentrified
I absolutely agree with you! I love a tastefully done farmhouse decor, and have tried to do that in my own house (I live in a small village in Germany). I have never liked those stupid signs, yes we even have them here! I think it's better to only have a few pieces that mean something to you than to overload your walls with cheap anything. We have done our walls with some oil paintings of the German countryside that were done by my husband's great-grandfather.
@7:35 Every local artist, just fell in love with you. As a potter watching (mostly listening really) this while installing the shelves for her first studio, I needed that bit of encouragement. Starting my own business is the scariest thing I have ever done.
My favorite farmhouse combination that I've seen was mixed with a heavy dose of Zen. It also embraced the bulkier, rustic side of farmhouse, with big robust furniture. And she was a weaver, so where there might have been a piano in a fancy Traditional living room, she had a nice sturdy Scandinavian floor loom that always seemed to have a project in progress on it.
This was a great video idea. I love when people/designers say they don’t love certain things but also give people the good elements and ways to make a style better/more authentic. 💕
Great advice! I am not into farmhouse at all, but for over 30 years I have collected vintage blue green Ball jars, with their original aluminum lids. I just like the color and display them in my kitchen with some old copper trays. I was beginning to think that I should get rid of them, but I really love them. I actually dug my first jars out of the dirt basement of a real farmhouse I was living in. After watching your video, I will keep them.
I enjoy old school farmhouse. When looking for ideas on Pinterest I search European Farmhouse. I don’t get all the signs. I’ve enjoyed going to flea markets for years and I decorate with things my grandmother had passed down. I’ve never like the Kitchy farmhouse.
Hey Nick! Love your videos!! Could you do a vid about bathrooms? I just bought a flat and I need to remodel everything (fun but stressful af), but i'm really lost about what to do with my bathroom!!
the plaster walls really take me back to my family constantly renovating our old house growing up and the walls were always lath and plaster just bc it is what they actually used back then so it makes sense that plaster walls would feel really authentic and rustic. back to what you said about this stuff feeling or looking old bc originally it just was actually really old. and plaster just hits that nail on its head.
YASSSSSS! Love this...i try so hard not to do the cheesy farmhouse...i almost went down that road (only in the design and planning phase on my computer.....nothing was bought haha) but really decided it wasn't for me. My style is definitely more the scandi and mid century. Another great video!
Thank you for the video, it was super helpful. I'm buying my grandma's 100-year-old farmhouse and I'm having such trouble deciding how to decorate it because every time I google "farmhouse decor" to try and get ideas, I just get fake farmhouse stuff and it feels so inauthentic and borderline disrespectful to the history of the house. Now I have some ideas of how to keep it traditional, simple, and comfortable, but still beautiful.
I love this! We are slowly moving in to a new house and it is beautifully remodeled and my husband and I have heirloom furniture that is over 100 years old and still beautiful. We were worried it wouldn’t mesh but it totally does and makes our home truly ours!
Challenge accepted and victory! You did it! And in such a nice, diplomatic way! My favorite part "strip away all the kitschy crap..." said in such a kind, gentle way that the word "crap" barely registered. I laughed so hard I had to back up a few times to hear it again lol :) Laughing aside, this video was filled with really excellent advice. Awesome job!
I laughed at your mention of barn doors in the "farm house". No actual farm would ever have those inside its house in the years before "farm house" became a decorating trend.
For your viewers and for you, just in case you haven’t watched them already: watch Fairyland Cottage ( Ireland) , the Cottage Fairy, White Cottage ( real farmhouse in US ) , Madeleine Olivia, ( modern cottage, with lovingly restored/ reclaimed traditional elements, UK) . That’s where people actually live in rural spaces, make things or preserve traditional things others have created, and actually own that farmhouse/ cottage style. They aspire to lead an authentic, hand-crafted, local, environment friendly, most times spiritual way of life. You can’t copy paste that into the city. Lovely to watch for the real blend of trad with mod.
Thank you very, very, very much! Your idea of a farm house is sooooo up to my likings. I love it. It is classy, it is really cosy, not overdone. It has the styles’ vibe. Not matchy-matchy. 🌷
Thank you Nick! I lived in a 1928 farmhouse that my grandparents built on their farm. It just Was farmhouse. No need for cow pictures because they were right out the window. Your talk today makes me so happy I enjoyed the quilts, tools, dishes and the big red barn. I can see why many people would feel so comfortable in a farmhouse. Your suggestions are all wonderful!
Hi Nick, would you consider doing a video on how to properly do a gallery wall? Would especially love some tips for a hallway gallery wall! Love your channel and how accessible you make interior design.
This was a great video. The comments were wonderful too. When I finish watching and then reading the comments I feel like I have a new family. As an old retired social worker I’d like to offer that your videos are an antidepressant and should be viewed immediately after having watched or read the news .
“It looks old because it is old.” THANK YOU!!!!!! It drives me crazy to see all of these “recreations” when there are actually a ton of antiques and vintage items that have so much more personality. And sometimes the real old thing actually costs less than the fake one. It’s a no brainer in my mind.
Thanks again to Vessi for sponsoring my video - so proud of this Vancouver company! Click Vessi.com/nicklewis and use code 'nicklewis' to get $25 off of your Vessi shoes!
Congratulations!! A sponsor!! I'm sure it won't be long before Article comes knocking...!
Please do a video how to get RID OF GLAM!!! How much longer is the glitter overkill look gonna last?
Why does he pee on his shoe in the ad?!?!
Haha it was water from a bottle! 😂
@@Nick_Lewis , I figured as much but the angle sent my mind to all the wrong places 😉
My family keeps chickens and even we don’t need a sign to remind ourselves that we have eggs😂
:) :)
I should hope not 😆
But what if a guest comes over and they’re curious if you have eggs?!
Lololol
Dont like that but hay I lovecold signs. Ones that say antiques and my house is and electic mix and i will put in whatever the heck i want to
Suggestion: please do the same for the “glam” style that is now pervasive in the mommy CZcams lifestyle vlog decorate with me sector. I feel like it’s a repeat of what happened with farmhouse: buying a bunch of cheap glass, gold, and white furs and then putting it everywhere in the house. send help!
Don't forget clumping and gluing a bunch of glitter to a canvas 😂
Omg yes! Glam style is my pet peeve lol.
@@diywithdani same!
It is like every single decor style was cheapened by mass produced items and everybody doing it and over doing it at the same time with cliche stuff, because they don't know any better.
The whole thing just SCREAMS "2017" in my opinion. Especially rose-gold, glass tables with candle centerpieces, crushed velvet (curtains and cushions), and mirrored furniture. It's _atrocious._
What I like about your channel is that you say what we're all thinking - ditch the Target farmhouse signs - but you're actually pretty gentle and kind about it. It's not the mean snark that's so easy to do on CZcams. Thanks for being different! I look forward to your next video.
I try to be kind as well as sassy! Being just nasty is too easy on CZcams.
He has a great sense of style .... I love it.
I worked at a Joann's back when LLL signs were "new". We got so sick of stocking them, we came up with um, alternate versions. My favorite was "Puke, Cry, Die". Hey, we needed a laugh.
Omg thats awesome!
Ugh...Joanns stocks such tacky decor items. I wish they would go back to only stocking sewing and crafting materials. The selection of fabrics sucks because half the store is taken over by the decor puke.
Wow I laughed out loud, thank you for this 😂
I bet. I told my daughter I am going to make a sign for my bathroom that says "shi++er."
Makes me think of good old Uncle Eddie! 🤣
people could also purchase vintage and second hand furniture, instead of an attempt at a "farmhouse bookcase" made by target, I think it would be great for people to find a wooden bookcase from a antique store or facebook marketplace. more sustainable, higher quality and usually more affordable!
Very true - instead of buying everything new that LOOKS distressed. Buy old that actually IS a little rustic!
YES YES YES 🙌 I think going thrift/vintage shopping and hunting for unique pieces is more fun and rewarding!
That’s what I do! My townhome has nothing new, except a new bed frame! All of my pieces were from my grandparents’ house, or purchased from thrift stores. I’m doing a mix of Shabby Chic(because I love the colors), painted furniture pieces that I’m doing myself, and color! I don’t do trends, because I don’t want my home to look like everyone else’s.
Ironically, despite the fascination with things that look old, there's not a big market for furniture that really is old, which makes it a pretty good bargain. When I look on local buy/sell sites I can get lovely solid oak tables or buffets for a few hundred bucks, and chairs are practically given away. It seems to go pretty cheap at the local auctions as well. Not surprisingly, given the mid-century trend, those pieces are what people are spending on. But pieces from the turn of the century to the 50's are a good deal.
@@suewilliamsbrawn2600 no kidding! I just got some Duncan Phyfe chairs with roses carved into them and they look absolutely freaking adorable around our big wooden table and they were *so cheap* compared to anything in a big box store.
Kudos to you for going for emphasizing comfort and authenticity over mass-produced merchandise from overseas. My grandparents had a dairy farm, and their "decor" was practical, passed down, worn out and serviceable, not a "look." Back in the day, no one had money to "do up" their spaces, especially not farmers.
"From overseas"? The interesting thing with that small part of your comment, which is otherwise excellent, is that the majority of these items are commissioned by the companies selling them. For example, a big box Northern American company, takes a mockup of their concept idea to an overseas company and tells them, 'I want 100,000 items of this design to sell in our Canadian and USA stores and we are prepared to pay this amount per item'. It's their own idea, but they use an overseas company for manufacturing at low cost. It's not overseas companies pushing their products, it's these big box companies clever buying power and marketing.
@@TheSecretChateau Yes! Everything you say it true. I think... it's just the IRONY of all that stuff which is SUPPOSED TO LOOK as if we found it in a barn and it's old Americana (NOT!!) ... while in fact it was made last month in a factory in China. It's the absurdity of that.
Of course it was commissioned by weird American 'designers' (I hesitate to use the word) ... and fools NO ONE!
@@andreaandrea6716 - And there I was, trying to avoid mentioning China, so as not to disturb the delicate silly sensibilities of those who are foolish enough to blame China for the loss of manufacturing jobs in their own country. 😆 Regardless of that aspect, it all comes down to clever marketing. It only takes one interior designer to use one welcome mat with the word 'welcome' emblazoned across it, for everyone to admire it, everyone to want it, for everyone to buy it, and for big box stores to order 100,000 of them, rub their hands in glee and put them out on the shelves. The trick to remaining individual is to avoid them altogether and seek out the uniqueness to be found antique, vintage and thrifting and upcycling.
@@TheSecretChateau You are absolutely right (about all of it). (It's a BIG subject and can fit into many different categories!). Making it UNfashionable for people to buy from China would solve a plethora of problems. We could also go back to our grandparents values and CONSUME LESS.
@@andreaandrea6716 - 🤗 Now, there I disagree with you... I'm more than happy to buy from China. I'm more than happy to buy items made in China. I just don't and won't buy kitchy farmhouse decor made in China. This is because I'm not into anything really farmhouse and I don't like signage in my home. But then, I dont buy from North American companies either, as I'm never exposed to them. 😊
Those signs with all the sayings......Ugh! They give me anxiety. I have a friend that has them all over her house and it feels like everywhere I turn someone is giving me instructions. “Be kind”. “ Live, Laugh, Love”. “ Dance Like No One Is Watching”. “Eat Drink Be Merry”. I feel like I can’t relax. I also hate being told what to do! 🙃
This is too funny
I agree. It killed me to see the "have a nice poop" sign in the bathroom and the "farmacie" in the kitchen 😁 I don't know what is worse...a sign stating the obvious or instructions or a sign which does not match the room
yes, omgoodness you cannot relax looking at the decor because it's so busy with all the words!! I grew up (80s) in the country and everyone had their favorite Bible quote on the wall in the living room or just something uplifting (only one small quote, that's it) and I don't even want to do that now because of all the words overloaded everywhere!
Giving me instructions 😂 😂 I love it! 💀
FAMILY... uh yes
Nick! Your timing couldn’t be better! I am currently moving to an actual farmhouse out in the country and I am going to be using your guidance to make this house tasteful and not cheesy 🙈
I live in a farmhouse and want it to look like a farmhouse but not cheesy.
I live in a 1912 farmhouse on a farm. The best advice is to first figure out what your farmhouse is - a cape cod, a Greek Revival, a folk Victorian, craftsman... and then make choices that honor it. I have been in many farmhouses that tried to be something they weren’t, and it is extremely uncomfortable. You don’t want to recreate the past, but you want to respect it if you want that timeless classic feel of a house that aged gracefully.
@@stillwatersfarm8499 that’s fantastic advice! Thank you so so much for that!
@@doihavetohaveachannel8289 yes! I’d like mine to look like a farmhouse as well without looking cheesy or like it’s *trying*... almost like a costume
A good rule of thumb is to think before you buy anything for your house: "Is this frivolous, would it be entirely useless?" because actual farmhouses are neither frivolous nor useless AND if you have to SAY farmhouse, it's not farmhouse- ducks don't say "I'm a duck" they just quack. Simple pieces that incorporate natural wood and/or are obvious in their purpose usually go well with this style.
Thank you! Another thing that has always bugged me about farmhouse is the fact that not too long ago, real farmers and country people were often looked down on as poor, dirty and uneducated by more suburban people. My family couldn’t afford to go buy new decor. They would have loved to go out and buy beautiful decor, but it wasn’t possible. They were creative . They were the original “re-use and recycle” people! It was all about practicality.
So my collection of old salsa/food tins fit right in 😂
I’m glad you mentioned “modern” farmhouse, because I was raised in a 100 yr. old farmhouse, and NONE of these commercial decor items were in our home. Everything was old, worn, mismatched and made with our own hands, which made everything beautiful and more appreciated. Also, less was definitely more in a true working farmhouse, cause you didn’t have time to deal with decor and “stuff”. You woke up early, ate & went straight to work. Thanks for sharing.🙏🏼❤️🥰
As someone whose grandparents had an actual farm house on an actual farm, one thing I would say is the style is typically very masculine. Masculine in the sense that everything kinda served a purpose and wasn’t there just to look pretty. I think the farmhouse aesthetic has gotten too pretty and kitschy and cute, which is why you can give so much of the decor at TJ Maxx and HomeSense.
On a similar note, both my grandmas grew up on farms and if there is anything I learned from them is that life on a farm is *practical.* Which is why I think the whole kitsch farmhouse thing is so unnerving because the excessive kitsch is so far from practical and therefore is itself inconsistent with farm life. The beautiful hand made, worn items or items passed down from prior generations were made/used out of necessity, then eventually became its own aesthetic. I think getting back to these principles - along with what Nick said - would make it a more appealing (albeit less accessible) style perhaps.
Agree. I don’t allow stuff in my farmhouse that’s not gonna be usable. The space inside of my home is valuable and i don’t have any time for pretty clutter. My mantle is for binoculars (lots to see out my windows) and for matches. Perhaps a bowl of nuts at Christmas time. My kitchen shelves (two of them) might have cook books on them but they’re books I use. If it collects dust, it probably isn’t too necessary for us. This is year-round life of course, not so minimal/practical during the holidays. I love natural materials from outside made into something beautiful for inside. I like white kitchen cabinets (not counters/walls/shelves) because I can clean them up easy after lots of kitchen work (whether I’m dealing with animals, vegetables, herbs, etc). Great video! Thanks for posting!
Yes exactly thank you for saying this makes so much sense
I agree it was all dark wood and utilitarian
My parents built a craftsman farmhouse after I left for college and the modern farmhouse pieces they have are ACTUAL antiques from friends' farms and thrift stores. A 100-year-old tobacco basket, an antique cracker box for the dogs' toys, actual milk and feed conisters as planters outside, antique milk glass lamps that have been rewired. Like 95% of their decorations are old and/or handmade (usually out of repurposed things like the kitchen table is old scrap wood and salvaged hardwood flooring)
I knew a woman who did her whole house in farmhouse beautifully. She did mismatched secondhand wooden chairs painted matte white (no fake distressing) around butcher block table. All her decor was handmade or vintage. She even had a big sign in her kitchen but was an antique metal sign that hung in front of a restaurant.
I can get behind this for sure!
She did it right
This is what I have always understood "real" farmhouse to be 😅
Original signs are the way to go. So many unique and beautiful ones can be found in antique stores, the chipped and worn bits coming from real use and weathering. "Distressed" finishing on anything looks tacky and mass produced. Original finish that has worn naturally tells a beautiful, unique story of a lifetime of use.
Authenticity is key.. I actually love minimalist farmhouse.. my sister did it beautifully!
I've been married 43 years and have lived in the original farmhouse the whole time. I never did understand where the idea of white everything came from. I grew up on a farm and nothing in that house was painted white either. Although I do like white.
My style is more like what Nick is showing, collected overtime, meaningful pieces, original artwork. Thank you @NickLewis for being authentic.
Sun-faded gingham, linen, or cotton sack-cloth? Faded from being dried on the line over the years? Yes. Stark white? No. Only wedding dresses, christening dresses, and men's dress shirts for church were stark white and even the bobbin lace was ecru or off white from the threads being handled by nimble but work-stained hands.
Farmhouses are so beautiful. My in laws are farmers and have a beautiful old house, decorated in all antiques. But it kills me because she painted the whole house a really cool grey and painted every single piece of furniture white 😬 then they put in super light oak laminate flooring. It’s so cold in there, I can’t take it.
@@mbs8001 I get that. Someone will come along in the future and strip all the paint off these beautiful antiques. 😁 and they will love them again.
Exactly. That is what I recall about farmhouse(country) too. I don't know who came up with that white, black. gray aesthetic either.
@@mbs8001 She watched too much Joanna Gaines.
The sponsorship commentary 😂😂😂 "They never called me back for a job interview, but the shoes are still great."
🤣😂 got me cracking
I actually live in an old farmhouse and I must have been living under a rock because until a few weeks ago, I didn't know that "farmhouse" was really a thing. We have a barn door but it is on our barn. If any piece of furniture starts to look "distressed" we either fix it or replace it. No farmhouse I have ever been in would have the faux distressed furniture I have been seeing on CZcams. Maybe I didn't know about "distressed' furniture because the retailers around here know better than to sell it? We do have one sign (Honey for Sale) and it is on our mailbox because we sell honey. An all white interior? Really? Great Episode!
I can't understand the "distressed" furniture, and it's so popular! These folks on youtube do a great job painting something, it looks beautiful.....then they grab sandpaper and start "distressing" it, to make it look old, used, & worn out. Why?
Btw, "We have a barn door but it is on our barn." Lol! Love it :)
Can you imagine? White would show all the dirt and dust from dogs, kids, muddy boots, and etc. Everything would be orange from the blowing dirt around here.
I might not even be surprised if people were to mistake your 'honey for sale' advertisement as decor nowadays, I hope you get to sell your honey.
Yes! About the barn door. Mine is also on my barn. I have never seen a barn door in an actual farm house. Kitch farmhouse just stresses me out with all that STUFF. I just looked around and the only words I have on anything is Mason on the jars that are holding food, and a coffee brand logo on my coffee cup (not the random word coffee) which is probably a little tacky as I got it free from the company but I am drinking coffee out of it and not using it for decor.
4:03 “Not a farm”, “Definitely not a farm” somehow cracked me up lol!
Honestly you did a great job in this video. Farmhouse is a tough one, but your suggestions were really good
lol me too
“I don’t hike-hike because...hiking sucks.” Spit my coffee out and made my day!
Two huge thumbs up for color. In the words of Nick Lewis, "I don't need to name my rooms."
Yes!!! Ugh, so tacky. Who doesn’t recognize their kitchen or bathroom that they need it labeled?
I looked up my childhood home on Zillow and it had been remodeled in Farmhouse with a giant hanging sign in the kitchen that says ‘Farmhouse” (just in case it wasn’t clear).
I love this take! It's always bothered me how inauthentic farmhouse was, but I understood the feel they were trying to go for. Organic farmhouse is a lovely idea.
Glad you enjoyed it!
I live in an apartment and I have a roof garden with 2 ducks. Fresh egg every morning. It's the nearest I can get to living on a farm 🍳🤣
Not really into farmhouse either (I’m more of a mid mod girl myself) but you’re right, farmhouse is very inviting and quite cozy. I just wish it wasn’t so overdone and kitschy. People who live in actual farmhouses must cringe!
There are some good reasons why people like it! Just yeah, no more cheese!
Most of the farmers I know do.
We sure do! My shelves are lined with actual canning preserves and fruit till after the winter months! But you will not find one tacky farm house sign in here
We do!
Cringing and yelling at the CZcams videos. What makes everyone think that we don't like nice things? I have one small sign on a beam because I found it years ago. It says Ragdolls and as a Ragdoll rescuer, I was living with 5 Ragdoll kitties at the time.
This is great! This FINALLY explains why I love authentic feeling farmhouse but hate Hobby-Lobby farmhouse.
It's like decorating your house in complete "Beach" style when there isn't a body of water for miles and miles and miles
Yes! Or why does everyone turn their guest bath or powder room into a beach? 😄
You will have to pry this sea-glass from my cold, dead hands! ;-)
Wish fulfillment, I think. When you don't actually live by the beach, just pretend you do!
@@megelizabeth9492 same with farmhouse
I think it's even worse when the beach is right outside the windows
Can you do a video on fast furniture (like fast fashion). I mean a lot of Target furniture is going to end up in a landfill sooner than later. Just a thought.
Interesting idea! Thanks Sue!
A lot of it ends up at Dirt Cheap stores. We’ve gotten so many Threshold and Project 62 ottomans and chairs for $10-20 there.
OMG Yessss
Oh yes! There is a version of fast for furniture too that needs to be addressed.
@@philipksick6810 my son works at a second hand charity shop and they won't take a lot of the cheaper ikea and other fast furniture made out of particle board now because they find it falls apart just moving it from the drop off to the warehouse to the store floor.
Nick, I am so impressed that I had to watch twice. Great points all.
I went to my husband with the screen shot of the barn door medicine cabinet and smiled and said, “don’t you love this?” He said, well, I agreed to whatever you want, but I’m not sure....” He was genuinely relieved when I burst out laughing.
I definitely like your improvements to “farmhouse” which I think is what “Early American” was to the 1950s.
I mean, I’m 61, so I grew up with mid-century modern the first time, but “rich people” had brand spanking new fake antiques “Early American” and I loved it and lusted after it as a kid. After all, on I Love Lucy, Lucy moves to Connecticut in the last season and buys Early American. But nobody revives it! And I doubt anyone will revive farmhouse either.
He must have thought he dodged a bullet there!
That is one of my favorite I Love Lucy episodes!
Thank you! I live in a small farmhouse on a 6 acre hobby farm that has been in my family for decades. I feature useful and beautiful things I have collected from my family. It means so much to me.
I have to say, your ideas even made me like farmhouse a bit more. Great work!
Awesome! Love this!
I have a few farmhouse elements around the house, because I was drawn to a few pieces. I have on sign, that I’m sure you’d find tacky but was a gift from a friend. It says “wicked chickens lay deviled eggs”....I have 30 chickens and the sign actually sits above the counter where I keep the fresh eggs. The barn door thing you don’t care for, I have a few because I didn’t want a door swinging into a room(sometimes to save space but the one is just because I liked it). I can’t help but chuckle when I watch your videos and see things that I kind of like and stuff I actually have! And I grew up on a farm!😂😂 Then again, I decorate my home with family pieces and curated vintage/antique pieces from the ‘30s-‘60s! I love your videos!
Edith, you earned that sign and your farm doors are practical for you. These examples are not cheap or kitsch. It sounds like you are doing what you love which is what this is all about and not try to fit some cookie-cutter mold. Own it girl!
I think that sign is awesome! One, it was made by a friend for you. Two, you actually have a farm so it's authentic to you.! I bet your house is beautiful and cozy.
@@msviv3122 thank you! Very nearly everything in my home is second hand or a family piece. I just like so many different styles it gets difficult to squish them together in a cohesive way!
@@TurquoiseInk thank you!
If you have wicked chickens that sign is totally appropriate.
I think a lot of “farmhouse” is actually just trying to replicate what a lot of rural Southern families had (because many of our families are hoarders, let’s be honest) which are random items repurposed and passed down. For instance, I have sitting in my living room currently holding magazines a wooden crate from the 1930’s that once housed “Hercules black powder”. It has a cute little stamp of Hercules with his Golden Fleece on the side. My great grandpa used it to store tools in his garage and we’ve repurposed it over the years and it has a beautiful age and patina. My mom has a nearly 200 year old wooden bread bowl that was passed down. Now it’s used to style a shelf but back in the day generations of my family used it to knead dough so much they wore a hole in the bottom and patched it. The problem is, if you don’t inherit this stuff, it’s really freakin’ expensive to buy so people started mass manufacturing fake ones and they just look really cheap and tacky.
I live in rural eastern Kentucky so you can only imagine how much of this I see. I’m so glad people have gotten over Rae Dunn I don’t like it at all and with everyone fighting over it it’s even more ugly. But the farmhouse that is awesome is things handed down. I have a crock my grandmother made butter in and a cast iron corn bread (the kind that makes sticks that looks like corn) that was hers also. I also have a cast iron iron that you heat on a stove to press clothes. Things that don’t fit my style but so important to history. That would be amazing to have that bread bowl you have.
This ! In my family we inherite hand-made wood furnitures from my family who used to live in the country side. A big table, benches, cloak, a chest for the bread or flour I think, the 3 feet chair to get the milk of the cow (idk know the name in English) and so one. This is pretty expensive if you want to buy this...
When I think FarmHouse I think my Aunt Martha and Uncle Paul's Pig Farm. the side entrance with the laundry/mud room, the Big Kitchen with the mini bathtub sink, the separate freezer and fridge side by side and the Giant White enamel stove, the walls were bead-board up to the chair rail and a shelf instead of crown moulding for bowls and platters. blue and yellow were Martha's colours, I remember the blue lino floor, the yellow walls above the chair rail, breakfast was always a bright and sunny event. the closest she got to kitch was a coo-coo clock Paul brought back from Germany when he served in the Army. no live laugh love signs, just gingham cafe curtains in the kitchen windows. not even any ceramic roosters....
That sounds like a really warm home! It reminds me of my grandfather's home, also an actual farmhouse.
Thank you for being respectful of the people who have chosen the farmhouse style and their possible reasons for choosing it. 💌
*YES* . Nick, thank you for addressing the farmhouse *KITCH* . The one thing I hated most about "farmhouse" were the signs *everywhere* . (Dylan moment). I love a mix of vintage and rustic, but if Hobby Lobby threw up in your home...BYE.
Yes and unfortunately that’s what all the mommy lifestyle vlog channels did for several years and ruined the style.... now they are all in sync switching to “glam” and doing the same thing with that - buying a whole bunch of stuff from tj max and putting it everywhere in the house and calling it glam.
Inauthentic-you nailed it. Your recommendations were spot on.
You’re spot on with the signs and sayings. Drives me bonkers. I really think “farmhouse” is a stand in for “country”. There is kitch country, French country, European country, and now modern country. Those plaster examples are what I would consider modernized European country. It’s beautiful. I’m not sure why we all have to say farmhouse. It seems to be diluting true farmhouses. Everyone repeat after me; “modern country”. Great video Nick. 👍🏻
💯 agree !! Why did we have to keep the word “farmhouse”? Most people don’t understand that it’s a very different style than the kitschy farmhouse.
Can you make a video talking about how to create an extreme contemporary design without the “medical” grade feel?
Conversely if love to see a medical and sciencey interior design lol. That's more to my aesthetic, but as a scientist I think I'm allowed 😅
I'm so glad you ended up on my CZcams algorithm. I can't wait to watch your new home come together.
Thank you!!!! I really like some of the farmhouse vibes but I don’t want my house to look like home goods or just like all the lifestyle “decorate with me” channels on CZcams.
This really hits all my hesitancies and helps me takes the next steps!
Never thought my affinities for Nick Lewis and Swell Entertainment would ever crossover yet here we are!
Scrolled to find this comment! ❤
I love this. The farmhouse look is like a Pinterest/Instagram problem!
I live in a 120 year old farmhouse, and even I don't have those tacky signs. I am pretty sure we all know where the pantry is, where the laundry room is and so on. I do have a small "coffee" sign above my coffee maker, I found it at dollar tree and I mean it's coffee, my life blood. My kitchen was never all white, it was yellow, like the sun puked in my kitchen (brass hardware, light yellow walls, yellow oak cabinets, golden oak hardwood flooring - I bought the house a little over a year ago, and did I mention I really don't like the color yellow?) and I am in the process of fixing that with navy and light blue and a little white paint, and black hardware. When I get done it will still have the comfortable farmhouse vibe, be more pleasing to the eye, and you can drink your coffee in the morning and watch the cows from my big kitchen windows.
how wonderful
The title alone had me dying!
haha thanks!
BINGO! Thank you! Farmhouse IS overdone this day and time. It went overboard. My pet peeve is SIGNAGE, words, words words on the walls, tabletops counters and placing BATH, KITCHEN etc in that room DUH! smh.
Do they think that country folk are too stupid to know where the kitchen is or something?
@@phoenixfritzinger9185 LOL
I DO live in a farmhouse/cottage on a 60 acre farm. I do not want farm house style, not even modern farmhouse. I have a few pieces I couldn't bear to part with when I downsized from 3500 sf to 1100 sf. They are transitional/traditional. I have dogs and chickens, and lots of garden mud. My favorite color is green, I don't like a lot of clutter, but I'm not a minimalist. (I have a few curated collections and a huge number of books.) Due to having such privacy I don't even have window treatments, which I love. I struggle with wanting some elegance along with the mud. Suggestions, Nick? Love your channel!
Most of the modern farmhouse decor is made in China; very inauthentic. You say what I think so well. I love that you offer suggestions diplomatically.
From my own experience with my family home on a working tree farm - a ton of 18th and 19th century furniture, loads of wallpaper (Bradbury & Bradbury or Adelphi if you want high end), and old family photos, paintings by friends, and antique & heirloom china everywhere. And books. So many books
This video came at the perfect time; I live in Texas with a mom enthusiastic about farmhouse and gave me lots of farmhouse furniture, but I need it modernized!
"inauthenticity" exactly expressed what I tried to phrase for years, thank you! Wonderful video highlighting the positive elements
Yeess!! THIS is the kind of Farmhouse that I love. Authentic, rustic but not overdone and cheesy. This makes my heart happy❤❤
I needed this!! My new house has farmhouse vibes and while I love it, I'm struggling with how to decorate it because I've never gotten fully into the farmhouse thing.
I hope this helps you work with a farmhouse base, but with a couple of fun twists!
Same! My little house is an adorable little farmhouse and that’s why I’m watching Nick’s videos to figure out what I want to do that doesn’t have that kitschy fake farmhouse look that I see everywhere. 😄
Maybe check out Farmhouse Vernacular channel? Paige and her hubs do a lot of what Nick was saying! They don't stick to nothing but white - they use lots of deep jewel tones that look gorgeous in their little old farmhouse, and they decorate mostly with things that are really antique (or at least vintage), or things that are authentic to the period the house was built (at Christmas, Paige got fake garland at Michael's but it felt wrong, so she returned it and cut evergreen branches from her own trees instead, and fashioned a garland based on historical research). I've never seen a sign in the house.
@@JJoy-bk8yr Thanks! I got hooked!
Sitting on an ingolf chair in my pale coloured kitchen feeling so called out right now 😂. In my defense, it did come with 3 acres...
He’s not wrong though..
“This image haunts my dreams.” LOL!!! Mine, too 😜🤣🤦♀️
Nick, you are so real and so kind! Lots of fun but no snark -- I think that's why you are gaining subs!
Not zero snark, just subtle snark
@@susanprendergast7384 Yes, Susan!!! Subtle and not cruel.
Thanks for doing this video. I’ve never been into the kitschy farmhouse style, but I do have some timeless pieces (high end windsor chairs and a few actual antiques) that I mix with light neutrals and art pieces from our global travels. It’s not really minimal, more like curated. Yeah, that’s it, everything is carefully selected. That’s probably the key - everything should be important. If you’re using the word “haul” to describe your decor purchases, you’re probably doing it wrong.
Personally, I think that Farmhouse is what "shabby chic" morphed into with the advent of Joanna Gaines. It was with shabby chic that everyone started painting antique furniture white and fake distressing it. I have always hated fake distressing. Especially when you can put in the time and effort and find authentic painted pieces if you put your mind to it. It's not a quick fix, but like you said, it's much more authentic. Also, I think the difference is that Farmhouse is inherently more rustic, whereas shabby chic was ultra feminine and ruffle-y. But they both became overwrought and manufactured. IMHO.
I moved into a 1895 farmhouse and I love nostalgia. So I have teal appliances 50's style. I visit antique shops & find decorations, like my cedar chest & an antique iron, I use as a door stop. I love your Ideas & I also don't like signs with words. 💖💖💖
"not personally the biggest fan" You are the master of the understatement. Good save of the style. Love the ad. Trying to decide if you were getting revenge for them not having called you back for that interview, by kinda making it look like you were peeing on their shoes...(I do like the second pair and actually plan to take a look at the site. I hope noone ever pees on my Vessis)
😂
@@Vessi :) Happy to hear you're a local company, too!
Glad to know I am not the only one. I thought, "Oh jeez, that guy is peeing on his own shoe, bwahaha."
I'm a homesteader and really love these ideas! I really hate the farm house generic style.
Totally. Mix it up!
Please do a video on the urban industrial look!
After many years of living with the ever popular design style known as "Divorced guy with their friends random, castoff furniture" I decided to renovate and decorate. Not having a clue, I went to CZcams and watched too many videos of hyper-enthusiastic 20 somethings showing me designs that made me want to give up. Then I came across your videos and as soon as I saw the room you were sitting in, I knew I had found the right place. You have shown me that my style is modified Farmhouse. No tacky/cheesy signs for me. Thanks for helping me find my style.
Please do a video on how to get rid of GLAM. How long is the glitter overkill look gonna last?
On the list of videos to do!
I think Marie Antoinette started the whole farmhouse aesthetic with her Petit Trianon estate. I totally understand how it feels inauthentic if people adopting this style have never worked or lived in a farm. Just look where it got her lol. Love this video Nick by the way! Well done. 👌
This is exactly what I've said about inauthentic "Kountry" farmhouse! Marie Antoinette was beheaded for this crime. 'Course I say about playing dress-up with pre-torn couturier blue jeans and pink sweat shirts as well
@@susanprendergast7384 - Marie Antoinette was not beheaded for the crime of building Petit Trianon lolol. She didn't! She was beheaded for treason. It had zero to do with her farm. Petit Trianon was a working farm btw. It produced cereals, milk, cheeses, eggs, etc that were used by the aristocracy at court.
@@TheSecretChateau Not entirely true. First of all the Petit Trianon wasn’t built by Marie Antoinette, it was built by Louis XV and when Louis XVI was crowned he gave it to Marie Antoinette and she redecorated. The farm you all are talking about is the Hameau de la Reine and maybe my favorite part of Versailles. She did build it and would spend a lot of her time there living out her bucolic dreams. It was really the first gentleman’s farm. She was be headed for all of her excessive spending while people were starving. Building and redecorating all of these estates was one of the things that got her into that trouble, so it did lead to her demise.
@@moregardening5014 - Thank you for your comment, 🙂 but I'm not in disagreement over the history of le Petit Trianon. I've worked on an archaeological dig of the botanical garden the site was actually built on, so I know it very well. However, you're missed my point. Regardless of who built the Petit Trianon, Marie Antoinette was most certainly NOT beheaded over it, as Susan Prendergast so definitely states in her above post. Further, you've written in your post that Marie Antoinette did build it and you've also written that she did not build it. If you are unsure about this, I can direct to you to information on the subject if you'd like. 😊 Bonne soirée - restez en sécurité.😊
@@TheSecretChateau If you did indeed know it very well, you’d know that she didn’t build it. I’ve been to Versailles many times and have studied France, French, and world history since I was a little girl. I didn’t have to google it because I have always been enamored with the Hamaeu de la Reine and it’s part of the reason I have my own farm now. I didn’t say she built it. I said “building and redecorating all of these estates”, the redecorating was referring to the petit Trianon which I stated further up in the comment. The perception by the public of blowing all of their tax payer money on frivolous things while they were starving absolutely was the cause of her capture and death. They were executed for treason that’s true, but the treason that was cited was them blowing through the coffers of the French while men women and children were starving on the streets.
Not what I expected but so, so good. We don’t live in a Barn and that Shiplap has sailed 😂
lol!
25 years ago we bought a heavy farmhouse looking table, super sturdy and heavy and 4 years ago after raising 5 kids through it, we refinished the table in a dark walnut (keeping some of the imperfections made by my kids) so now it's a mix of fancy and not kitschy. Love my table, and am getting cream coloured chair covers to match the built-in bench we're using on one side (holds most of my kitchen appliances).
What is especially inauthentic is the way people bring barn decor into the house-as though farm wives had no pride in their homes and actually wanted to live in a barn! No, farmers live in houses, animals I’ve in barns. Dont get confused.
Right! What about a nice pocket door?
An amazing video! I love the comfortable and rustic elements of farmhouse. If you focus on those characteristics and try to go more Scandi or transitional it REALLY helps. Spot on
Totally! Step 1 - ditch the cheesy crap!
I saw the title to this video and instantly started laughing. Nick, givin' farmhouse a little love for a change. LOL
We once lived in an authentic 300 years old French farm house. The key architectural elements were preserved but the house was full of modern appliances, tons of glass and clean lines. It was epic!!
That sounds like my dream house! 😍
im so glad you mentioned swell entertainment's video. as someone who has been around actual farms, farmhouse used to feel humble so the new version feels gentrified
I absolutely agree with you! I love a tastefully done farmhouse decor, and have tried to do that in my own house (I live in a small village in Germany). I have never liked those stupid signs, yes we even have them here! I think it's better to only have a few pieces that mean something to you than to overload your walls with cheap anything. We have done our walls with some oil paintings of the German countryside that were done by my husband's great-grandfather.
Love this I hate fake farmhouse but love my old items that I have in my house without making it look like I bought it from a big box store
@7:35 Every local artist, just fell in love with you. As a potter watching (mostly listening really) this while installing the shelves for her first studio, I needed that bit of encouragement. Starting my own business is the scariest thing I have ever done.
The tv commercial that talks about how we don’t need signs to remind us to Live Love and Laugh has really turned people off from signs lol
My favorite farmhouse combination that I've seen was mixed with a heavy dose of Zen. It also embraced the bulkier, rustic side of farmhouse, with big robust furniture. And she was a weaver, so where there might have been a piano in a fancy Traditional living room, she had a nice sturdy Scandinavian floor loom that always seemed to have a project in progress on it.
This was a great video idea. I love when people/designers say they don’t love certain things but also give people the good elements and ways to make a style better/more authentic. 💕
Great advice! I am not into farmhouse at all, but for over 30 years I have collected vintage blue green Ball jars, with their original aluminum lids. I just like the color and display them in my kitchen with some old copper trays. I was beginning to think that I should get rid of them, but I really love them. I actually dug my first jars out of the dirt basement of a real farmhouse I was living in. After watching your video, I will keep them.
I love how you don’t want to flat out say “throw them away”, due to the backlash you would probably get for being “wasteful”. 😂
I'm 😄 late to this video. We live on a farm. Lots of dirt, mud to be more accurate,and poop - lots of it! Now that's authentic farmhouse!
A big thank you! My house is starting to look a lot better.
I love how you just straight up judge but in a cute way.
My sister just bought her first house and she LOVES farmhouse; so I am definitely sending her this video! Love your content!
I enjoy old school farmhouse. When looking for ideas on Pinterest I search European Farmhouse. I don’t get all the signs. I’ve enjoyed going to flea markets for years and I decorate with things my grandmother had passed down. I’ve never like the Kitchy farmhouse.
Hey Nick! Love your videos!! Could you do a vid about bathrooms? I just bought a flat and I need to remodel everything (fun but stressful af), but i'm really lost about what to do with my bathroom!!
Noted!
the plaster walls really take me back to my family constantly renovating our old house growing up and the walls were always lath and plaster just bc it is what they actually used back then so it makes sense that plaster walls would feel really authentic and rustic. back to what you said about this stuff feeling or looking old bc originally it just was actually really old. and plaster just hits that nail on its head.
YASSSSSS! Love this...i try so hard not to do the cheesy farmhouse...i almost went down that road (only in the design and planning phase on my computer.....nothing was bought haha) but really decided it wasn't for me. My style is definitely more the scandi and mid century. Another great video!
Thank you for the video, it was super helpful. I'm buying my grandma's 100-year-old farmhouse and I'm having such trouble deciding how to decorate it because every time I google "farmhouse decor" to try and get ideas, I just get fake farmhouse stuff and it feels so inauthentic and borderline disrespectful to the history of the house. Now I have some ideas of how to keep it traditional, simple, and comfortable, but still beautiful.
I love this! We are slowly moving in to a new house and it is beautifully remodeled and my husband and I have heirloom furniture that is over 100 years old and still beautiful. We were worried it wouldn’t mesh but it totally does and makes our home truly ours!
Challenge accepted and victory! You did it! And in such a nice, diplomatic way!
My favorite part "strip away all the kitschy crap..." said in such a kind, gentle way that the word "crap" barely registered. I laughed so hard I had to back up a few times to hear it again lol :)
Laughing aside, this video was filled with really excellent advice. Awesome job!
I laughed at your mention of barn doors in the "farm house". No actual farm would ever have those inside its house in the years before "farm house" became a decorating trend.
I have a real pet hate for barn doors in the home.
@@andree824 I'm right there with you! No self-respecting farm wife would have allowed installation of those things in her home!
For your viewers and for you, just in case you haven’t watched them already: watch Fairyland Cottage ( Ireland) , the Cottage Fairy, White Cottage ( real farmhouse in US ) , Madeleine Olivia, ( modern cottage, with lovingly restored/ reclaimed traditional elements, UK) . That’s where people actually live in rural spaces, make things or preserve traditional things others have created, and actually own that farmhouse/ cottage style. They aspire to lead an authentic, hand-crafted, local, environment friendly, most times spiritual way of life. You can’t copy paste that into the city. Lovely to watch for the real blend of trad with mod.
Thank you very, very, very much! Your idea of a farm house is sooooo up to my likings. I love it. It is classy, it is really cosy, not overdone. It has the styles’ vibe. Not matchy-matchy. 🌷
Thank you Nick! I lived in a 1928 farmhouse that my grandparents built on their farm. It just Was farmhouse. No need for cow pictures because they were right out the window. Your talk today makes me so happy I enjoyed the quilts, tools, dishes and the big red barn. I can see why many people would feel so comfortable in a farmhouse. Your suggestions are all wonderful!
Hi Nick, would you consider doing a video on how to properly do a gallery wall? Would especially love some tips for a hallway gallery wall! Love your channel and how accessible you make interior design.
This was a great video. The comments were wonderful too. When I finish watching and then reading the comments I feel like I have a new family. As an old retired social worker I’d like to offer that your videos are an antidepressant and should be viewed immediately after having watched or read the news .
I always hate breaking it to people that the “live laugh love” and “farmhouse” signs GOTTA go 😩 sorry but thank me later ma’am!!
"Farm fresh eggs"
Ma'am your eggs are from factory farming and from the grocery store.
@@Chelseabee55 this has me rolling 😂😂🤣🤣💀
c b Ours actually *are* farm fresh, and I still don’t like the signs!
I really hate that cheesy LLL sign. It needs to go!
Apparently, farm house people are not educated to know that a sink and stove signify a kitchen and need validation with a sign
I love antiques, art, history, books, and oriental rugs and furnish my home accordingly.
"I have no idea how to milk a cow and I refuse to go anywhere without cell service" decor
“It looks old because it is old.” THANK YOU!!!!!! It drives me crazy to see all of these “recreations” when there are actually a ton of antiques and vintage items that have so much more personality. And sometimes the real old thing actually costs less than the fake one. It’s a no brainer in my mind.
... and a better built one!!
I want Nick's wardrobe to be sponsored! I love this Cardamom colored shirt just like the pale gray one you wear in other videos!