Beautiful European Country Living Room | Simple Decor Ideas

I’m so excited to finally share our new European country living room and some of the ideas I used to give this room character and charm.

If I’m being candid our living room has been quite neglected for almost the entire time we’ve been here.

I added this mantel, rug, coffee table, and couches and called it good enough.

Not because I was so busy doing other things.

I was busy resting and getting our home settled; not decorated.

But now that I’ve started decorating it I can feel the difference in the room.

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I told my husband last night that by changing just a couple things it feels cozier and more comfortable.

It has me so motivated to make a few of the changes we’ve dreamed of doing in here soon.

But first I want to get the kitchen done!

How to make a living room look rustic?

European Country Living Room – Collages of Pictures

There was a time when I thought that this was out of style.

Which was so sad, because I loved large groupings of pictures.

The truth is, it wasn’t popular for some styles, but it never actually went out of style.

It all just depends on the style you are going for.

Now that I have honed in on my decor style I’ve realized that a collage of pictures is a perfect addition to a European country living room.

European Country Living Room – Wood Tones

Wood tones are a great way to add warmth to a room.

My favorite ways to add wood tones is through wicker baskets and furniture.

Baskets

Baskets serve so many functional purposes not to mention how beautiful they are.

I found this basket at a local thrift store for $1.99!!

It was beat up and looked like it had been used as a chew toy for a puppy in its past life.

But I was looking for a way to hide our internet equipment and I thought for $2 this would be worth a try.

The other great thing about using baskets for decor is that they are so inexpensive.

Furniture

The cool thing about wood tones in furniture is that you can change them to be what tones you like.

Our coffee table used to be much darker than this, but with a little bit of work, I was able to turn it into a coffee table we like.

The little side table beside the fireplace mantel was a fun little DIY my husband and I did a few years ago.

Textured Pillows for a European Country Living Room

I like to buy the turkish kilim pillows best.

They have so much texture and often the patterns are unique.

I buy mine from Etsy but I think you could find them many different places.

This one shop on Etsy always sells them so cheap this time of year.

Florals/Greenery

This time of year is great for greenery.

There is so much outside right now.

It adds so much life to a room.

Honestly the difference between a space with greenery or florals and a space without is HUGE.

I always start decorating and save the florals/greenery for last.

For a couple reasons, one of which is that it seems to bring the room and decor together.

Candles

I use candles all year long to create a cozy feeling.

Like I said at the beginning of the post, when decorating a room, I try to create a feeling more than I’m trying to make it “look” a certain way.

Candles are big hitters when it comes to that.

These battery operated candles are wonderful.

I got them for Christmas a couple years ago and they have a timer and a remote.

I can set them to come on when the sun starts to set and they will repeat that until the battery dies!

Wall Sconces for European Country Living Room

I’m gonna let you all in on an inside joke between my husband and I.

Everytime I see or hear the word sconce I think of it and can’t stop laughing.

When we were first married or maybe even still dating, we were talking with his family.

For whatever reason I brought up sconces, except I called it a scone and didn’t miss a beat.

Like I said it as if that’s exactly what they are called and his whole family started laughing at me and I had zero idea why haha!

So now my husband and I will talk about the “wall scones” and laugh together.

Anyway, I love them and they are a great way to add visual height and coziness with candles in them.

I can’t wait to decorate this one for Christmas!!

(Too soon?? haha)

Rugs

This is a new rug that we bought when we moved to the new house.

Rugs were high on the priority list (above a dishwasher even haha) because everything is hardwood at this new house.

I really like this one.

It’s a little thicker than the one we used to have in the living room (which is now in our bedroom).

I chose a color combination that isn’t light and bright but is still earthy and neutral to go with the European cottage style that I like.

Curtains for European Country Living Room

In the old house I had cute cream/linen colors sheer curtains.

I loved them and still have them.

But I thought to add more texture it would be nice to hang velvet curtains with a pop of an earthy color.

A color that I could leave up all year if I wanted, but would also work for just Fall and Winter if I wanted to go back and forth.

I was nervous about bold curtains, but I feel like they help break up all the gloss white that we still have going on in the living room.

Less is More

I did try to intentionally leave a bit of empty space.

I like it better that way because it feel like chaotic to me.

I’ve heard people argue back and forth about the impacts of our physical space on our mental space.

For me it has huge impacts.

So keeping the foundation of the room decor simple I am able to maintain more mental peace.

European Country Living Room Architectural Details

When we lived at the old house we didn’t have a lot of “architecture” that fit the European farmhouse style that we like.

Its a newer house, built in 2006, so it was built with modern architecture.

Now that we live in a house that was built in 1850 we have a few things that we wanted so much.

Hardwood Floors

These hardwood floors may not be the color we want them to be, but they are hardwood floors all the same.

It was one of the first things we noticed when we got here.

Mainly, because we wanted to do them at the old house, and in 7 years we just never did it.

Hardwood floors are a great architectural structure for a European country home.

As long as you don’t procrastinate like we did, it’s something that also adds so much value to a home.

Arched Doorways

I wanted my husband to add an arch to the built-in bookcase he built in the girls’ bedroom.

But he was a purist and said it would look silly to add arches when there were no arches anywhere else.

So when we moved here I pointed out the two arched doorways from the original house to the first addition and gave him a wink.

He knew that arches were in his diy future haha!

Tall Baseboards

This is another thing we wanted to do at the old house.

But it felt so silly to spend all the money to buy new baseboards when they were perfectly fine.

If we would have ended up staying there we would have replaced them will tall baseboards when we did the hardwood floors.

I feel like it adds so much character and charm.

I haven’t painted these yet.

But now that I have the room decorated and feeling so cozy I want to start that project immediately.

Exposed Beams

This is something that we talk about doing on this living room someday.

The beadboard ceiling that was put in this living room is sagging in places and needs a little tlc.

So we want to remove the paneling and replace them with wood planks and barn beams.

We like the way it looks, but we also want to give a nod to the barn beam floor joists that are in the basement of this house.

It just feels right to add them.

Who knows, maybe we’ll find barn beam floor joists when we remove the beadboard paneling.

Hardwood Doors

Currently all the interior doors are flat hollow doors.

But we plan to slowly replace them with solid doors that are a nice deep wood tone.

Again, it’s a small thing, but it adds to the European country

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Have a great week! XoXo

Open Your Doors,
Aliya

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