The rules of ‘modern farmhouse’ style, even if you don’t have a farmhouse

To return to the kitchen, key is that it is still a room that can withstand muddy boots, muddy dogs, and potentially even the odd hand-reared lamb or five – even if you’re more Highgate than hill farm. A range cooker, whether an Aga or Everhot, is as equipped to cater to a hoard of teenagers as it is to farmhands, and a large kitchen table is a must.

Where modern farmhouse differs from the traditional is that the execution will be more considered, shifting the balance of Elsie de Wolfe’s design triumvirate towards proportion, while maintaining practicality and suitability. Plain English and deVOL are in hot demand, along with Neptune’s Henley kitchen, which is what Emma has used. There’s a strong emphasis on natural materials, and wood might extend to panelling, or to “rough boarding,” says Emma – which is something that she has done in her house, referring to it as “the applique that you apply to a room to give it the look.”  (It’s also an effective means of adding character to an aforementioned newbuild.) Flooring might be brick, flagstones, or porcelain, for which Emma recommends Marlborough Tiles, and countertops are stone, which is allowed to “age and gain character, rather than being kept pristine,” says Emma.

Elsewhere in the house, yes there are antiques, but they could tend more towards “architectural mid-century pieces,” says Emma.  Alongside, “maybe there’s a Swedish clock, or a French armoire – items that brings gravitas but feel modern, which can mix in with actual contemporary pieces,” she says.  At the same time, it’s important to avoid a surfeit of twiddly side tables – or anything else – that would prevent you from striding efficiently through a room.

Fabrics are “nubbly linens, textured wool, sheepskin, and boucle,” all in a natural and neutral palette “which can create an amazing effect.” If you do want pattern, think stripes and ticking rather than chintz or gingham (gingham curtains definitely being cottagecore, especially when short and given a frilled edge)  – “though a large check can be very modern farmhouse,” says Emma.  Equally, if you’re wedded to florals, focus on the more botanical variety, such as Tess Newall’s new Secret Garden wallpaper, or Lake August’s meandering nasturtiums.

Accessories need to serve

Vital to the modern farmhouse look is a cleanness of line that refers back, again, to suitability and practicality; this is possibly not the moment for chair skirts, gathered valances, frilled cushions, or fussy collections of china ornaments.  Instead, suggests Emma, you might want to look for beautiful copper pans – that you can actually use for jam-making.  Essentially, clutter needs to be minimised. The exception is jugs of flowers, fresh from the garden, that bring the outside in.

But there’s fluidity to the style

Paramount is that modern farmhouse is not a style that demands academic application, not least because you are probably not designing interiors for an actual farmhouse, and the tenets of practicality and suitability need only to apply to your life rather than an imagined situation that sees you working the fields from dawn to dusk.  Indeed, it is because of this reality that modern farmhouse is so refreshing; the admission of needs regarding back-of-house rooms feels like a step forward from styles that are rooted in the grandeur of the past.

And you can mix and match; bringing in English country house style, as well as other influences.  Emma explains that she’s long been inspired by Provençal design and sees elements of it within modern farmhouse; for Cathy, “modern farmhouse is an aesthetic that sits very closely with Swedish summerhouse style, which consciously steers away from schemes and moodboards.”

Essentially, modern farmhouse is mostly a recognition of a way of life that is relevant to contemporary times, promising ease, comfort and convenience as well as a subtle beauty.  As such it can evolve – and thus it holds within it the promise of longevity.