Country Home Plans Design

When someone imagines homes in the North American countryside, many house designs come to mind. It may be a farmhouse among vast, cultivated fields, a small cabin hugging the forest, a simple\nsmall-town cottage, or even a stunning mansion reminiscent of the American South. Each of these home styles promotes a relaxing, rural lifestyle that perhaps country home plans can best convey.\n

What characteristics give these home designs their charm? For many country house plans, large shaded front porches add a particularly rural ambiance. These porches often have enough room for\ngathering comfortably in the cool evening air with family or friends-a feature that is especially important in warm climates, or in homes without air conditioning. Country home porches often wrap\naround a portion of the house and sometimes even the entire house-a testament to their significance for the country lifestyle. Other common characteristics of country home plans include gabled roofs,\ndormer windows, and bold shutters. A gabled roof along with dormer windows looks pleasant and adds functional space to the attic, whether to be used for storage or extra sleeping quarters. Shutters,\nif functional, offer the house extra protection from the elements, and enhance their rural charm.

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Clearly, the use of numerous architectural elements can combine to create a beautiful country home. For some, however, the charm of their country home will lie in its simplicity, and such features\nneed not be extravagant. For example, a house built in the countryside may need only to serve as a getaway for weekend outings. Thus, a small, cabin-like structure of simple design can function well,\nand still provide the rustic charm of a country house. House plans such these are often designed to complement the beauty of their natural surroundings, and thus an understated house design can do\nvery well.

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Those who wish to build with country home plans will find they are not lacking options when it comes to size, layout and amenities. These designs range in size from simple starter homes to a\nsprawling luxury designs that are loaded with plenty of extras. Perhaps this diversity and their warm, inviting nature is what ranks country house plans consistently among North America\'s most\npopular home styles.

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One of the newest trends in home decor is the apparently contradictory idea that rustic interior design can be contemporary. Although people usually associate rustic design with farmhouse plans\nand log cabins and contemporary design with modern, metal and glass construction, it is incorrect to believe that contemporary and rustic design elements can\'t be complementary. On the contrary,\ncombining the two types of design elements can be a very creative way of decorating. Rustic touches work very well side-by-side with sleek, contemporary decor. The term \"rustic\" is not so much about\nan outdoorsy lifestyle as it is about trying to bring the elements of nature inside your home using a palette of warm and relaxing earth tones, and incorporating natural materials.

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Combining contemporary and country home plans can mean combining rustic materials such as slate flooring, exposed ceiling beams, and kitchens with contemporary stainless steel appliances, plastic\nlaminated cabinets, glass shelving and butcher block countertops. The final result is a contemporary kitchen which is serviceable and has a cozy, rustic feel. Contemporary design is about smooth\nsurfaces such as glass and stainless steel, and the use of bold colors. Rustic decor is all about bringing a feeling of the outdoors inside, using earth tones, natural stone or wood surfaces, and\nwrought iron. Combining elements of both styles can produce an attractive and comfortable home which mixes the best of old and new under a single roof.

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