Rustic Home Design & Decor

Outdoor Chandelier Made of Branches If your gardening to-do list includes pruning deciduous shrubs and trees, recycling some of the clippings to make a twinkling natural chandelier.

Reclaimed Redwood No headboard’s needed when the wall’s made of reclaimed redwood panels. Classic bedding and clean lines make the Midcentury Waterfront Cabin at Oyster Beach outside of Eureka, CA inviting for the night.

Garden Guardians Sicilian donkeys are no more than a yard high and very sweet and interactive. “They’re also protectors,” says Steve. “There are mountain lions and coyotes in the area, and the donkeys keep everybody away.”

Living Room Enjoy views of the property from all angles on your couch, whether through the picture window or the glass panes. Just out of the frame is a door leading outside, making it an easy entry point into the farmland.

Off the grid cabin Sometimes inspiration comes from unlikely places: This cabin in the Sierra Nevada was modeled after the utilitarian U.S. Forest Service maintenance buildings that dot the area.Powered by an array of photovoltaic panels, the retreat is totally energy independent.

A New Lease on Life When these two homeowners bought this 1885 cabin, it was in such a run-down state that it had been on the market for several months—unheard of in the red-hot California Wine Country housing market. Structural work was done, but almost as dramatic was the facelift given to the facade and trim in the form of fresh paint in a contemporary palette. The stately dark paint restores dignity to the long-neglected building.

Who hasn’t dreamed of leaving the city behind for pastoral fields and life in the country? Which is why, in 2010, when almost five acres of former dairy pasture appeared on the market in Ojai, California, Steve and Brooke Giannetti quickly snapped it up. Sure, their home in Santa Monica had chickens and vegetables in the front, but there just wasn’t enough square footage for what they really wanted—a sprawling landscape with a greenhouse, a pond, and some hoofed additions to the family.

Jewel-like cabin This family getaway near Twisp, Wash., is the perfect example of how to make the most of a limited amount of space. From outdoor living rooms to creative sleeping solutions, every square inch has been put to use.

This classy A-frame was originally cherry red; the new black paint gives off a much calmer vibe and allows the house to blend into its surroundings more easily. One feature the owner is particularly proud of is the decking material, which looks very much like the interior flooring and blurs the line between indoors and out. The landscaping looks like it evolved organically, but the owner planted most of it to make the plot look like even more of a woodland Shangri-La than it already was.

Work with What You’ve Got No need to install awnings or supports for lights if nature supplies a post for you. Wrap lights around tree trunks and run the strings out to the edge of your outdoor space. The effect is like having a diaphanous circus tent in the backyard with minimal investment and no center-pole installation.

Basket Pendant Lamps The pendant lamps are hung on tension wires, one high and one low, to achieve a random pattern above the redwood table. The lamps are outfitted with halogen bulbs outdoors that will last for years, even outside.

Starlit Globes Create outdoor chandeliers by wrapping lights around old wine-barrel hoops, then suspending them from the branches ofa large tree. Even easier: Rest one globe each atop two large planters flanking the front door.

Flexible two-family getaway: Bedroom The kids bunk room, along with all the other rooms in the house, overlooks the water. When there are extra guests, the screened in porch can be used as another sleeping area.

Soothing Pendant Under the arbor, round string lights and a vintage pendant on a dimmer illuminate the soothing dining space.

Family-made vacation home The family that designs together, vacations together. The Robertsons live this tenet to its fullest by enjoying frequent family reunions at the Whidbey Island, WA vacation home they designed and built together. Parents Don and Suzy plus their sons Nick and Chad, daughters-in-law Isabelle and Emily, and two granddaughters have been making memories there together ever since.

Cool Flame No heat comes off this bonfire, which consists of logs draped in harmless string lights. What you lose in s’mores-making capability you gain in safety and convenience—no smoke, no burns, and you can just switch the fire off when the party’s over.