**Make sure to see the video at the end of this article for over 250 rustic and elegant decorating images.
Decorating a home using a mixture of contrasting decor styles can create a unique and fabulous one-of-a-kind space, as long as it is decorated properly.
Adding different decor pieces together without a plan rarely ends in a good result.
If you would like to decorate your home in a mix of rustic and elegant decor styles, here are a few interior designer tips and tricks.
Contrast
Decorating using both rustic and elegant elements creates contrast that makes a room not feel basic and boring.
Rustic items that you can use when decorating include reclaimed wood, rough brick, metal, leather, vintage items that have a bit of distressing, and matte stone.
Elegant items that you can use when decorating include soft fabrics, sparkly crystal, mirrors, ornate carved items, polished stone, and most anything that looks delicate.
Make sure to have a large amount of both rustic and elegant items to ensure that your design style looks intentional and not feel like a few items are out of place. Strive for a 60/40 or 70/30 split between rustic and elegant items.
Consistent Color Palette
Use common colors among both your rustic and elegant items.
Make the room look like you intended for the two styles to go together, not that the room was decorated by two completely different people.
A rustic elegance style room will often have a neutral color palette since the rustic and elegant pieces will demand attention on their own.
In order to have a well decorated neutral room, make sure to incorporate many textural items.
If you want to incorporate colors to your neutral color palette, earth tone colors tend to be popular as well as some jewel tones.
Vintage and Antique
Often vintage and antique items were originally elegant, however they have become worn over time and look a bit shabby.
These items blur the lines between rustic and elegant, making them a perfect addition to your room.
Such examples include a distressed leather sofa, an old farmhouse table, and an antique mirror with some of the silvering starting to come off.
Vintage and antique items have the added bonus that they are rare so you don't have to worry about having the same items as your friends and neighbors.
Architecture vs Furnishings
When people decorate using a mix of rustic and elegant, they often choose to make the architecture rustic and the furnishings elegant.
Rustic architecture includes old farmhouses, mountain lodges, and country cottages. You can either own a home with rustic architecture or add rustic elements to the architecture of your home.
The strategy of rustic architecture and elegant furnishings works well, but you need to find ways to incorporate both rustic and elegant elements together in the furnishings so that the style feels intentional.
Some examples on ways to mix both rustic and elegant elements together include creating a dining room place setting with a rustic woven wicker charger plate under a fine china plate or having a soft velvet pillow on a worn leather sofa.
Lighting
Proper lighting in a rustic elegant room can help set the mood that you want.
You can use rustic light fixtures, such as those made out of wrought iron.
Elegant light fixtures are also an option, such as those with crystals.
Make sure to not just have one light fixture in the middle of the room that will only provide you with basic lighting.
You can also have accent lighting in the form of an art light over your artwork.
If you are decorating a room where you will be performing a task like reading, then a light in that area is often appreciated.
For extra interest, you can add uplighting underneath a plant in the corner of your room.
Try to put all lighting on dimmers so you can adjust the light level per your activity.
Blur the Lines
There are some items that tend to be both rustic and elegant.
Such items include antlers, sea glass, claw foot tubs, turtle shells, wood floors, handmade pottery, sea shells, candles, driftwood, and most any item from nature.
Be Careful with Scale
Rustic items can tend to be large and bulky while elegant items tend to be more small and petite, so you need to be very careful with the scale of your items.
Try to have all of your items be the correct size for your room.
If you have a large room, use all larger items.
If you have a small room, use all smaller items.
Do not put a huge rustic sofa next to a petite elegant chair, else your room will not look cohesive.
Embrace Patina and Imperfections
Patina or an imperfection on an item shows the item's history and age.
While some people might want to immediately fix an item that has some distressing or even throw it away, some items that are well made actually look more interesting with a bit of wear and tear.
Make sure to understand the different between an item that is damaged and one that has a bit of distressing.
Damage is caused by one major event, such as a scared dog chewing on the leg of a chair during a thunderstorm - the damaged chair should be repaired.
Distressing is minor imperfections that happen over a long period of time, such as the finish on the surface of a desk wearing off a bit where it was continually touched by the owner's arm.
Not Too Much
When designing your rustic elegant room, make sure to not go overboard.
Use a few statement pieces, but don't clutter up the place.
When in doubt, use simple items such as a plain white comforter with minimal decorative pillows.
You can even go without accessories on surfaces such as your coffee table.
Bring Nature Inside
Strive to have at least one natural item in your room since nature is both rustic and elegant.
Ideally, you can have a living item such as a plant or fresh flowers.
If your thumb is not green, you can incorporate one faux plant, however purchase the highest quality that you can afford so it doesn't look fake.
