Botanic Bleu: Creating A Farmhouse Guest Bath

Creating a farmhouse guest bath can be done using a standard vanity, sink, and faucet as a foundation. The keys to getting the farmhouse look are to add natural wood, beadboard walls, natural-colored stone tile, and wood molding trim to give the space personality... a farmhouse personality.

Then add country accessories. A large scale print of an old abandoned country train station in a rural setting nails the farmhouse look. Brown paint with white molding are just the beginning of the farmhouse style in this guest bathroom in my brother's house in rural Alabama.

Standard fixtures with a white shower curtain, white wood rail trim, and a white cultured marble vanity top give the bathroom a fresh simple look that is classical farmhouse style. Readily available products make it easy for anyone to duplicate the look without breaking the bank.

The bathroom could have taken a different style by using a different print on the beadboard wall. For instance, a large floral print would have given the room a Victorian look.

A single hook on the wall opposite the sink is a great place to hang a towel or my favorite cotton nightgown.

A high nine-foot ceiling covered in natural wood says farmhouse, farmhouse, farmhouse! Before air conditioning high ceilings helped keep rooms cooler since hot air rises. The crown molding with corner trim work adds even more to the farmhouse conversation going on in this room.

Nothing says American farmhouse more than fresh flowers from the yard.

And no other flower says Deep South farmhouse more than blue hydrangeas.

And what better way than fresh flowers says welcome to guests?

Soft brown wood and tile are perfect neutral backgrounds that allow any color as an accent, but the blue and white hydrangea petals are my favorite accent colors for this room.

More farmhouse goodness.... a large woven natural wood basket with cut-out handles collects dirty linens and can be used to carry them to the laundry room. Baskets are a farmhouse staple. Vegetable picking baskets, flower baskets, fruit orchard baskets, laundry baskets, ...

Fresh white towels hanging from chrome and brass towel holders are more farmhouse accents. For years my grandmother and mother only had white towels and sheets since that was the only color available.

Creating a farmhouse guest bath...

Beadboard wall
Natural wood ceiling
White wood crown molding, corner wood ceiling trim, and white railing
High ceiling
Print with a rural scene in neutral colors
Linen/laundry basket
White towels
Fresh hydrangeas

As I drift to sleep in my brother's farmhouse, set in a pasture surrounded by grazing cows, I can hear the mournful sound of a freight train whistle as it rolls along the nearby railroad track.