The other day a client of ours, Heather, stopped into my shop, Village Antiques in Houston, and was just drooling over several different farmhouse style benches.

She was really stuck because she loved not one, but several different options and was deciding between a:

• gorgeous tufted cushion bench
• country style bench
• rustic style bench
• rustic wood bench
• natural wood bench
• beautiful chalk painted and distressed bench
• and so many more benches that she couldn’t decide!

I told her she didn’t have to decide.

See, I quickly discovered that Heather didn’t know how to use a farmhouse bench as a great piece of home decor throughout her home.

She loved the beautiful farmhouse style that these benches brought to her space, so today, I wanted to share with you not one but five different ways to style your home with a farmhouse bench.

What is Farmhouse Style Decorating?

You might be wondering, “What is a farmhouse style bench?” and “What even is farmhouse style?”

Some of the elements that you will see in the farmhouse style of decorating include:

• are a feeling of coziness and warmth
• a lot of old distressed worn finishes
• soft fabrics, and
• beautiful colors that will inspire you and lend itself to creating a very relaxed, casual, beautiful family home.

In my style of decorating, Farmhouse by Amitha, you’ll see:

• beautiful painted finishes
• carved details in the furniture pieces throughout my shop and projects
• softer curved, cabriole style furniture legs
• curved shapes throughout the pieces of furniture
• detailed fabrics, such as floral and geometric check fabrics
• soft linens, and beautifully finished details like antique nail head trim, tapes, ruffled edges
• layers of chippy style paint, and often lightly distressed time-worn finishes, with texture and patina
• “portable” pieces of furniture that can easily be moved around from room to room to that feel collected over time, and can easily accommodate family and friends.

All to create a beautiful, subtly-stylized, warm, cozy family home. One that feels welcoming, authentic, livable, and grows more beautiful over the years of use and enjoyment by friends and family.

So now that we’ve got the definition of the Farmhouse by Amitha style down, where are those five great areas that you can style your home with a beautiful Farmhouse bench?

The Entryway Bench

The first one might be kind of obvious, but in case it’s not, an entryway is a great place to add a Farmhouse bench.

This is a great place to add a farmhouse bench to create a rest stop in your home to stop, sit down, put your bags down, take your shoes off, and set the tone for the style of your home.

As soon as somebody walks in, they are going to immediately see and feel your style and your personality by this one addition into your entryway.

I love using a special bench here to create authenticity and truly express a homeowner’s personality.

You might prefer a beautifully chalk painted bench, or a natural wood bench, versus a very distressed rustic wood bench which all set a very different tone and feel.

These bench features make it a must-have by an entryway.

Can you see how quickly adding a Farmhouse bench can help you establish the style of your home upon entering?

The Hallway Bench

Similarly, you can add a beautiful country style bench to a hallway to break up a long hallway and really create a beautiful resting spot for your body and your eyes.

This farmhouse bench will further accentuate your gorgeous hallway!

Available at Village Antiques

Available at Village Antiques

The End-of-your-bed Bench

One of my favorite places to add a charming Farmhouse bench with a cushion is at the end of a bed. In any bedroom that I’m working on, space permitting, I include a beautiful farmhouse bench to accentuate the design of the room.

Available at Village Antiques

This is a great way to complete a design of a bedroom as well as add a great resting point.

I know it sounds silly, you are already resting in your room, but you may not want to sit on your bed. For most of us, our bed is pretty high, usually around 30” or more above the ground.

This makes it hard to sit down on a bed.

So instead, a bench is the perfect addition to create an area for sitting. The height is just right.

A farmhouse bench provides the perfect spot, and height to sit down, put your bag down, put your things down, put your shoes on and off, and just get ready at the start of the day or simply wind down your day.

Look for benches that complement the style of your bed.

The Backdoor Bench

By your back door is another great entryway spot to add a farmhouse bench. This can be built-in like I did in my own home, where I brought in some really clean classic elements of the Farmhouse by Amitha style with a beautiful wood painted built-in.

It’s painted a beautiful color, French Gray by Amitha Verma Chalk Finish paint.

I also included a gorgeous beadboard trim detail in the back, so that it feels like a very casual and rustic entryway bench, not too formal at all.

Similarly, I created a built-in bench right underneath two windows in our family room to create that exact same cozy, warm, livable feeling in this room.

You can achieve this look with a built-in, or you can achieve this look with a piece of bench furniture that looks like a built-in. This is a great spot to add a reclaimed wood or rustic farmhouse entryway bench like this. Either one will give you that same beautiful farmhouse style. 

Available at Village Antiques

The Living Room bench

Last but not least, I love adding a bench into a living room seating arrangement. The best spot? Right across from your sofa, so the bench is parallel to your sofa, or right in front of the fireplace.

My kids love piling up on these benches, and feeling like that little spot is just for themselves whenever our immediate family gets together for movie night at home.

I love looking for gorgeous linen fabric benches so they can blend easily with any existing living room decor and or be moved around easily.

Available at Village Antiques

Now that you know what the farmhouse style is, you’re going to have a lot of fun looking for pieces to add into your own home to create that beautiful feeling.

My best advice to Heather was, you really can’t go wrong selecting a bench because it’s such a portable piece of furniture. If it doesn’t fit in your living room, I’m sure it’s going to look great at the end of your bed. And if not there, you can try in your hallway and keep on going until you find the perfect spot for that bench.

So what do you think, dear friend? Easy enough, right?

Let me know in the comments where you’re looking to add a farmhouse style bench in your own home!

You can find all of these gorgeous Farmhouse by Amitha benches at Village Antiques in Houston, TX open Tuesday – Saturday from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm.

Already have a bench but would love to get the look and feel of what you see in this week’s episode?

Give yours a makeover with Amitha Verma Chalk Finish Paint! You can buy here online or at any of our retailer partners.  Click here to find the one closest to you!

‘Til the next time we meet, keep making your home amazing with your design gifts!

With love,

Amitha