If you want a relaxed look with a touch of elegance in your home, you may want to try a Tuscan Italian design. Tuscan Italian style incorporates several common accessories and furnishings with a nostalgic appeal. Some of the main characteristics of the Tuscan Italian design include simple and aged pottery, wrought iron accessories, stone walls, whether real or textured and color washed and rustic wood furniture. Texture is a must when decorating your home in Tuscan Italian style. The general color scheme is rich with golden yellows, browns, green, orange and deep reds. The combination of beautiful textures and colors, along with rustic furniture can create a beautiful and inviting look for your home.

Choosing the Furniture

When choosing furniture for a Tuscan Italian theme, think in terms of aged and rustic. If you are planning to buy new furniture, look for couches and chairs that are upholstered but have lots of exposed wood. Authentic Tuscan style furniture normally has beautiful carvings in the wood to add a touch of elegance. For small budgets you may be able to find good buys at flea markets and yard sales. You can add a crackle finish to give used furniture that aged look.

If you have a larger budget to work with, antique stores are a great place to buy what you are looking for. Some of the types of furniture you want to look for are accent tables, chairs, old armoires, buffets, benches and farmhouse style kitchen tables. Don’t feel it’s necessary to match the wood pieces exactly. You want to create a feel as if the pieces have collected over time, which is part of the Tuscan Italian charm.

Accessorizing

It’s important to choose the appropriate accessories for your Tuscan Italian design. Stay away from anything too shiny with a modern feel. Tuscan Italian style uses lots of ideas from nature and food. The right accessories can mean the difference between a professional design and a cluttered or junky look. Simple and relaxed is key when choosing authentic looking pieces. The idea is to make the room look old world, but elegant and relaxed.

Terra cotta or aged pottery would look great in your kitchen filled with fruit or herbs. Grapes and grape wreaths are popular to use in the Tuscan Italian theme, also.

Whether you’re adding to new finds or adding charm to old furniture, earthy and vibrant accent pillows are great accessories in living rooms or family rooms or anywhere there is a sitting area.

Art pieces and rustic lamp bases with soft lighting can add charm to an end table or a rustic wood or wrought iron display shelf. Textured and colorful table runners will look beautiful accented with glowing candles in wrought iron holders.

Look for old pottery or wooden or wicker baskets with aged chipped paint. Pottery pitchers or antique bowls are a great accessory. They can also be used as center pieces for a coffee or dining table. Wall art, whether paintings or tapestries, help tie together any room and make it feel more like home. For a true Tuscan piece look for art with flowers, countryside views, fruit or wine bottles. Make sure wall art is at the focal center of the wall you are working with as well.

The Flooring

If you want to redo your flooring, stone or hardwood is the preferred choice to blend in with the Tuscan Italian look, but this may be out of your budget. To get a similar look without spending a fortune, there are laminate tiles available. If your budget doesn’t allow you to make a drastic change to your flooring, you could use large area rugs, which is less permanent and you’ll be able to change them any time you wish.

Even if you have a small budget to work with, you can still get a Tuscan Italian feel for your home. Just add some accessories, use items you already have or find ways to make them look aged. Or you may be one of the fortunate ones and be able to go all out. Either way, creating a Tuscan Italian design for one room or your entire home, will create a warm and relaxed look.