How to Decorate a Tuscan-Style House

Authentic Tuscan style can range from rustic to opulent, depending on whether you’re talking about a little farmhouse or a hilltop mediaeval fortress. It is, however, anchored in a respect for the ageless beauty and traditions of centuries of Italian culture, as well as the surrounding scenery of terracotta roofed stone buildings, sunflower fields, and verdant slopes filled with olive groves, umbrella pines, and vineyards.

How to Decorate a Tuscan-Style House

Earthy warm sun-baked oranges, yellows, and reds make up the Tuscan colour pallet. Traditional homes are decorated with dark wood furniture, religious art and iconography, and scrolled, feminine curves on everything from ironwork to lamp shades, as well as dark wood ceiling beams and rich rust-colored tile floors. However, when interpreted outside of Italy, and probably most egregiously in the Tuscan-style homes of the early 2000s in the United States, this classic style can go overboard when builders try to create a rustic old world feel using low-cost materials and ugly imitation finishes. While real estate agents have been known to offer advice on how to de-Tuscanize your home in an era when Scandi-inspired light woods and minimalism reign supreme, fans of the classic style can incorporate some of its core elements to bring a little bit of the Tuscan countryside to wherever you call home.

Simply Rustic

Dark heavy wood ceiling beams, window trim, and tile floors contrast with pristine white walls and gently curved metal bed frames and tables in a simple, rustic Tuscan-style farmhouse bedroom. Even if you’re not working with the bones of a Tuscan home, an ornately carved wrought iron bed frame or a wood or upholstered headboard with Italian curves can add some Tuscan style.

Old World Details

While Tuscany is recognised for its rustic simplicity, it is also influenced by the Italian love of classic art, sculpture, and decorative things, with many of the world’s finest artistic treasures housed in Florence. Oil paintings, gilded or painted mirror frames, and various ornamental pieces have been passed down through the centuries in many Tuscan households. Embrace the spirit by incorporating vintage or antique items from flea markets or the internet to create a setting that appears to have aged through time. Make sure to include pieces with a patina that makes them feel lived in and imperfect, as this is a key element of old world charisma.

Rustic Tile

While Italian marble is a popular choice, many Tuscan bathrooms choose for rustic tile and stone instead. To create an attractive environment that will never go out of style, this simple Tuscan bathroom only requires floor-to-ceiling tiling, a rustic free-standing bathtub, and a pedestal basin. The light and airy aspect is maintained by painting the trim and ceilings in whites and creamy beige tones. While recreating this look in a modern space is difficult, you can use it as inspiration to add natural tiling or stone, even on just one wall of your bathroom, and to consider new retro-style bathroom fixtures like pedestal sinks.

Painted Ceramic Tableware

Rarely does a visitor to Tuscany leave without a set of scene-stealing painted ceramics in elaborate designs and vibrant hues. In a Tuscan design home, you’ll discover plenty of terracotta dishes and pottery in milder earth tones if your tastes are more natural and basic. If used sparingly, a basic earthenware water pitcher or a lovely ceramic fruit bowl will look equally at home in a modern flat as in a Tuscan farmhouse.

Contemporary Tuscan Style

Many Tuscans have chosen to lighten up the colour palette of historic homes by painting massive ceiling beams in whites and soft neutral colours to produce an airier feel while maintaining character and unmistakable local charm while taking their homes into the twenty-first century. Traditional items like a curving mirror, an old wooden ladder, or a farm stool as an end table combine well with upholstered contemporary pieces with classic lines that offer modern conveniences, while Tuscan hues can be incorporated in smaller quantities with throw cushions and other textiles and accessories.