Design Tips for Ranch-Style Homes

Ranch homes are often considered more simplified and straightforward than other home styles, making them perfect for those who prefer a less fussy look. Blending indoor and outdoor spaces, ranch homes can easily achieve the warm, open feel that many homebuyers want. Interested in purchasing or revamping a ranch home? If so, keep reading for top decor and style ideas for ranch-style homes.

Embrace an Open Floor Plan

Ranch homes are typically built on one level, making them ideal for combining different spaces into an open-concept floor plan. This style often includes the living room, dining area, and kitchen all in one relatively large space, which enhances the home's flow. It also makes ranch homes a popular choice for those who want the convenience of an attached garage and easy, direct access between living spaces and patios.

Give Each Space Its Own Personality

The lack of walls separating individual areas makes it tougher to create distinct spaces in an open floor plan. However, homeowners can still make boundaryless rooms feel unique by choosing a focal point piece. This can be a large statement furniture item, such as a sectional or fireplace surround. It can also be a decorative accessory, such as an area rug.

Homeowners can also add meaningful decorating accents to each ranch space. For example, the living room may include comfortable seating and eye-catching artwork; the dining room might display bold colours, patterns, and textures; the kitchen might have a bright island or breakfast bar.

Decorate with Repeated Colors & Patterns To Create Cohesion

Repeating colour schemes throughout ranch home decor can help tie spaces together in an open-concept floor plan. Consider picking a main colour palette for the walls and trim and choosing a single type of flooring to flow throughout the space. Then make one or two accent colours repeat throughout the ranch home's decor, like in upholstery and accent pillows.

If spaces are defined by using different colours, consistently using similar patterns as accents throughout each area will also help create cohesion.

Complement Warm Woods With Neutral Colours

Neutral colours and exposed wood are two key elements that help create a cozy country style in ranch-style homes. Neutral colours provide a calming environment, while exposed wood brings rustic charm into the space. These elements are often used together in ranch homes to create a warm, inviting atmosphere.

Ranch homes often have a rustic, woodsy feel created by warm woods such as oak and maple. To complement these natural materials and bring the outdoors in, consider using neutral colours for walls and furnishings. For example, pale greys and soft whites can tie rooms together while making the wooden elements of ranch-style homes stand out.

If homeowners want to embrace the country feel of a ranch home, consider investing in rustic accessories. For example, wooden votives or baskets with natural materials like pinecones can complement woodsy elements like stained-wood siding.

Add Interest With Unique Accents

Spicing up the decor of a ranch-style home with unique accents can help create an exciting look that reflects homeowners' personal tastes and interests. For example, pineapples are an inherently tropical motif that can add some zest to more subdued decor. Incorporating unexpected colour combinations, such as antique gold and bright blue or green, can add a lot of visual interest. Accent items for these types of rooms might include ornate metal pieces or colourful tiles in unexpected tones.

However, it may be a good idea to keep accessories simple to prevent them from overwhelming or overpowering more neutral ranch home design elements. Try starting with just a few items before expanding the collection.

Match Your Type of Ranch Style House

When decorating a ranch home, it's also crucial to think about how the floor plan will affect furniture arrangement and decor placement. This can help homeowners create an aesthetically pleasing, functional open-concept floor plan. The most popular layout for these homes is U-shaped or L-shaped. The former generally includes one large room with an attached garage and several smaller spaces off to the side, while the latter usually contains a main common area with adjacent bedrooms and bathrooms.

For U-shaped ranch house decor, homeowners might want to place a couch or sectional facing the TV in the main living room, with a formal dining table for six or more along one side. To create an open concept kitchen that flows into this space, homeowners can choose to place worktables near the island so they can chat while cooking.

Homeowners with L-shaped ranch homes might want to use the area off the front entryway as a mudroom, with a bench or coat rack for storing shoes and a closet to hang coats. The main area will likely have a dining table in one corner and a living area with a couch and chairs near the TV at the other end of the room.

Different layouts require different approaches to decorating. Furnishing U-shaped homes requires homeowners to create separate functional spaces, whereas L-shaped homes might require homeowners to pay more attention to the flow of an open-concept floor plan.

Designing Your Ranch Home Living Room

When it comes to designing the living room of your ranch style home, there's a lot you can do to make it stand out as the interior focal point. Your ranch style house is likely to have a more open layout, so pick pieces that make the most of this aspect.

Make sure to set furniture so it works equally well for watching the big game or having conversations when you're entertaining. Being aware of architectural qualities that you want to highlight is a great way to choose lighting fixtures for every room in your home. If you have high ceilings in the living, add statement lighting fixtures like chandeliers that will draw attention to the vaulted heights and give your ranch style house a modern twist.

Design an Outdoor Living Space

Ranch homes often have a lot of yard space, making them the perfect choice for homeowners who want to design an outdoor living space. In addition, one of the characteristics of ranch-style architecture is large windows that allow a lot of natural light into the interior spaces, which makes it easy for indoor and outdoor areas to feel more connected.

Outdoor decor does not need to be overly complex. Wooden benches under a large willow tree or near a vegetable garden can be an easy way to add some rustic charm to an outdoor area.

Wrap the Exterior with Greenery & Decorative Fences

One of the best ways to make an outdoor living space feel more cohesive is to wrap the exterior with greenery. Consider native flowers and bushes for a low-maintenance option that can be planted along fence lines or near windows. Potted geraniums are another great option because they come in so many colours and offer a pop of colour without being too bold. This colourful splotch against the neutral backdrop of a ranch home exterior adds visual interest, especially when the flooring and roofing are darker shades.

Break up large expanses with some patio furniture, or keep things more contained with a small bistro set or two chairs and some flower pots for some greenery.

When it comes to decorating, homeowners should think about how each element works with their interiors as well as the overall layout of the home. This way, they can create an aesthetically pleasing outdoor living space that also makes it easy to transition from the indoors to the outdoors.

Design the Home of Your Dreams

Ranch-style homes are a popular choice for many homeowners. Those looking for a neighbourhood with ranch-style homes should keep these tips in mind to make the most out of their new property.