A Guide to Modern Farmhouse Plans

The old traditional farmhouse is making a comeback. While large families have always appreciated farmhouses for the ample space they provide, the demand for modern farmhouse plans has steadily grown ever since the modern farmhouse style became a staple of home improvement shows. But what is a modern farmhouse, and what makes one different from any other house?To learn more about what qualifies a house design as a modern farmhouse plan and why modern farmhouses are so popular, read on. We’ll also cover the benefits of choosing a modern farmhouse and some examples of modern farmhouse home plans.

Common Features of Modern Farmhouse Plans

A modern farmhouse effortlessly blends the old and rustic with the new and sleek. This technique can be seen in every aspect of a modern farmhouse’s design, from its exterior materials to its interior decor. To achieve its fashionably simple look, a modern farmhouse incorporates many features, pulling from both the traditional and contemporary.

Although many features make up a modern farmhouse plan, here are the most common.

Modern Farmhouse Architecture

In modern architecture, form follows function, and a modern farmhouse is no exception. A farmhouse finds its function in being big and open enough to house a large family, usually with a sizable amount of kids or animals. A modern farmhouse meets these practical needs by including all the classic components of a traditional farmhouse. However, it emphasizes modernity by incorporating modern house plan architectural staples.

Modern Farmhouse Architecture

Here are some key ways a modern farmhouse modifies the design of a traditional model:

  • Cleaner lines: Modern farmhouses have cleaner lines and play more with geometric shapes, which typically includes intriguing rooflines.
  • Modern materials: A modern farmhouse uses a lot of reclaimed wood while also including more industrial materials like stainless steel appliances.
  • Large windows: Like most contemporary homes, modern farmhouses feature lots of glass to let in natural light and connect the exterior with the interior.
  • Large front porches: The front porch is always a farmhouse highlight, but the modern farmhouse makes it even more of a fixture by expanding it and wrapping it around most of the home.
  • Sleek accents: From streamlined exterior siding to modern interior lighting, a modern farmhouse is more aesthetically sophisticated than its predecessor.
  • Exposed beams: Modern farmhouse house designs often include exposed wooden beams to highlight the home’s rustic charm and modern simplicity.

Modern Farmhouse Kitchen

The kitchen is the heart and soul of a farmhouse — it brings the family together each evening and nourishes each member physically and socially. Because of its function, a farmhouse kitchen provides an oversized dining table, usually constructed from reclaimed wood, for serving food and allowing family members to gather. 

The kitchen’s countertops are typically wooden, along with Shaker-style cabinets, in keeping with the rustic farmhouse feel. The sparse use of antique furnishings, such as an antique cupboard, also helps the modern farmhouse kitchen bring the traditional into the contemporary.

Modern Farmhouse Kitchen

A modern farmhouse kitchen is designed to accommodate a large family, which means plenty of storage options such as pantries. Pots and pans are often hung over the island or oven area as another way to conserve precious storage space. Farmhouse owners who want to embrace the country chic trend can exchange glasses for mason jars and add a gooseneck faucet to their sink.

Modern Farmhouse Bedroom

Following farmhouse fashion, a modern farmhouse bedroom features a soothing, natural color palette and wooden accents. Keeping a light, neutral color palette throughout the house creates the cozy feeling of a traditional farmhouse. Although a pop of color here and there can enhance the room’s decor, a farmhouse bedroom should generally stick with creamy colors for its walls and furniture. The fabrics used in a modern farmhouse bedroom should also be neutral and soft to cultivate a relaxing and peaceful environment. 

Modern Farmhouse Bedroom

Bedrooms should center around natural furnishings like chunky wooden dressers or headboards, but they should also be contemporary and clean. To achieve a more polished look, modern farmhouse bedrooms typically include a more industrial piece of furniture or two as statement pieces. This mixing of the antique and natural with the new and manmade ties a modern farmhouse bedroom together and completes the rustic-chic look.

Modern Farmhouse Bathroom

The bathroom is a great place to use a common modern farmhouse material — shiplap. Shiplap is a wooden board that’s typically used as exterior siding, but it can be incorporated into a modern farmhouse’s interior to give it a more country vibe. Although shiplap is a beautiful accent for any room in a contemporary farmhouse, the bathroom is perfect for creating a half wall of shiplap.

This wooden accent will go well with rustic and metallic storage baskets like old farm buckets, milk containers and even watering cans. Wire baskets are another handy way to keep your bathroom organized while adding an extra element of farmhouse design to it. These little touches will look charming on their own while complementing larger modern farmhouse bathroom fixtures like a rustic claw-footed tub or trough sink.

Modern Farmhouse Living Room

Modern farmhouses fall in line with most contemporary house plans by following an open floor concept, which leaves ample room for a spacious and welcoming living room. High ceilings and exposed beams can make a modern farmhouse living room seem even larger than it is. Despite being big enough to fit all family members comfortably, the living room still maintains an intimate and charming feel.

The hardwood floors of a farmhouse living room give it a rustic vibe while warm and comforting components like a huge cozy couch and creamy-colored fabrics make it a snug space for the family to relax. Adding natural elements like vases of fresh flowers and baskets of pinecones combines country style with comfort. Even small details like rustic picture frames made from distressed wood or twigs and twine can make a modern farmhouse living room feel more like home.

Modern Farmhouse Living Room

Modern Farmhouse Furniture

A modern farmhouse’s furniture is where the home’s design can really bring in vintage aspects like antique pieces or weathered wood. Try using an old piece of furniture in an innovative way, such as using an old flour sifter as a vase. Keep in mind that not every piece of furniture in a modern farmhouse needs to be antique, but incorporating a few well-worn pieces into a room’s layout can add to the overall look.

Because a modern farmhouse is where the traditional meets the new, it’s perfectly fine to give an old piece of wooden furniture a fresh coat of paint if its existing color doesn’t quite match the room. Painting over all your farmhouse furniture with creamy neutral colors can give your rustic home that clean, modern feel and ensure that all the pieces match. And don’t be afraid if your paint job’s imperfect or has some chips in it — that just gives it character.

Why the Modern Farmhouse Has Become Popular

Once underestimated as an outdated rural relic, the farmhouse has recently become modernized and fashionable again. The modern farmhouse’s rise in popularity can be seen in its increasing demand. Recently, houses listed as “modern farmhouse” have sold for about 10% more than anticipated.

One of the main contributors to the modern farmhouse’s sudden skyrocket to popularity was the widely viewed HGTV show “Fixer Upper,” starring Chip and Joanna Gaines. The program highlighted houses with homey and rustic features within modern designs, fueling the contemporary farmhouse craze and inspiring DIY projects across the country. As the modern farmhouse style began popping up more in the media, people started incorporating rustic elements into their own homes, from painted wood signs to industrial lighting.

With kids in the house, home decor is bound to sustain some damage. But now that Chip and Joanna Gaines have shown families how to embrace aged and imperfect furnishings, battered doesn’t have to mean broken. 

A modern farmhouse’s pieces are already intended to look worn and weathered, so a bit of collateral damage only adds to the furniture’s character. The modern farmhouse is great for large families because the style’s informal and relaxed nature easily accepts life’s little accidents, like nicks in wooden furniture or small dents on a countertop.

But modern farmhouse elements aren’t just for large families or big estates. The modern farmhouse style is adaptable, and hints of it can be found in even the most urban places. This look has grown because of its universal appeal concerning comfort and coziness, making farmhouse details the perfect additions to any house situated in a concrete jungle.

The affordability and DIY appeal of many modern farmhouse accents also make the style marketable to a wide audience. It’s fairly easy and cost-effective for homeowners to add a splash of homey farmhouse decor to their residence, even if they live in a New York City apartment. Adding these personal touches to an urban home can make it feel nostalgic — a comforting oasis within the bustling city.

It’s also easy to customize just how much farmhouse charm is incorporated. For those who feel that too much country inspiration can quickly become gaudy and cheap, a minimal amount of rustic elements will work as well. On the other hand, modern farmhouses look just as good when the country theme is fully embraced throughout the home’s design.

Either way, adding a touch of farmhouse style makes a house feel warmer and more inviting, which is desirable for any abode. This approachable aura mixed with fashionable features suitable for all sorts of homes is what makes the modern farmhouse style such an appealing look and popular trend.

5 Benefits of Modern Farmhouse Plans

Benefits of Modern Farmhouse

Considering how modern farmhouses have grown in favor recently, it’s clear that there are plenty of benefits to selecting a modern farmhouse design. There’s much to explore about what a modern farmhouse offers homeowners and how it can benefit a busy family. 

Here are the top five advantages of following a modern farmhouse plan:

1. Family-Friendly Space

A farmhouse is spacious enough to support a family, yet it maintains its coziness and warmth. To fulfill this function, a farmhouse is typically situated on a large plot of land with a big yard, so kids and pets will have plenty of space to run around. Along with the property it’s on, the farmhouse itself is large with multiple bedrooms and roomy communal areas to fit its expansive exterior.

A modern farmhouse provides these homey qualities while remaining trendy and fashionable. This home layout offers families all the perks of a traditional farmhouse with a cutting-edge design plan.

2. Prominent Front Porch

A farmhouse can be easily recognized by its large, wraparound front porch. Back in the day, the front porch allowed farmers to keep an eye on their crops throughout the evening, but now, it’s used more for social purposes. A sweeping front porch provides the perfect outdoor area for the family to gather and spend time chatting with neighbors and friends, which suits the family-friendly theme.

Although a big front porch isn’t necessarily a qualification for a modern farmhouse, it’s rare to see any type of farmhouse without a front porch. A large front porch adds to the rustic feel by presenting the perfect opportunity for other timeless features like rocking chairs or a porch swing. 

3. Practical Floor Plan

To accommodate an active family, a modern farmhouse provides an open floor plan with enough space to roam easily from room to room. Wide hallways make moving around the house simple and efficient. Modern farmhouse floor plans also include more functional features for living in a rural area, such as a mudroom or fireplace.

Like any modern home, a modern farmhouse is clean and minimalistic, making it appear more sophisticated than a traditional farmhouse style abode. None of a modern farmhouse’s decor is overly frilly or kitschy because form follows function.

4. Comfortable Kitchen

In keeping with the practical floor plan design, a modern farmhouse includes an ample kitchen area for busy cooks. Feeding a family can get messy, so a farmhouse offers plenty of counter space for little chefs in training, along with many cupboards for storing culinary equipment and ingredients. A roomy kitchen also grants enough space for appliances big enough to meet your growing family’s needs.

Because so much of family life takes place around the dinner table, the kitchen is the focal point of a farmhouse plan. A modern farmhouse kitchen will include more industrial materials like deep sinks and barn lighting solutions to stay stylish while still serving as the heart of the house.

5. Country Charm 

A modern farmhouse plan perfectly combines the endearing aspects of humble farm life with the sleek simplicity of contemporary design to create a unique rural-chic look. Modern farmhouse style homes take all the soothing, natural colors and elements of a traditional farmhouse and incorporate them in a tasteful and up-to-date way. In doing so, a modern farmhouse adopts country components without seeming tacky.

By effortlessly mixing antique pieces with newer styles and using rustic wooden furniture, a modern farmhouse appears quaint and charming while being spacious enough to accommodate many individuals.

3 Examples of Modern Farmhouse Plans

Even if the stylistic and practical benefits of a modern farmhouse plan sound good, you might be wondering what they look like in action. There are numerous modern farmhouse design options for you to explore, but we chose three of our favorites to start your search.

Here are three examples of modern farmhouse plans:

1. A-Frame Modern Farmhouse Plan

This modern farmhouse plan spotlights exposed wooden beams, a beautiful porch area, wooden shutters and large windows that make the house feel welcoming. The A-frame rooflines and their clean lines showcase the farmhouse’s more modern aspects, which continue indoors to its open floor plan. The home’s expansive living and kitchen areas allow the perfect amount of space for a family to live.

2. Southern Style Modern Farmhouse Plan

Another modern farmhouse with a rustic front porch, this plan provides room for a good old-fashioned porch swing. The unseparated, expansive space of the house’s living and dining areas gives home decorators room to get creative and bring in as many farmhouse features as they’d like. This modern farmhouse plan also includes an upstairs bonus room for families who need extra space or anticipate growing someday.

3. Large Modern Farmhouse Plan

A bit bigger than the other two farmhouse plans, this modern design is great for families who like to be more spread out. With bedrooms on opposite sides of the house and a bonus room on the second level, family members can enjoy their personal areas while still staying connected through the wide and open dining and living room section. The ample closet space, pantry and mudroom also offer practical perks for a large household looking for a functional farmhouse plan.

Large Modern Farmhouse Plans

FAQ About Modern Farmhouse Plans

After seeing some specific modern farmhouse house plans, you might still have some unresolved questions. Picking a house plan is a big decision, so we want to make sure you get all the answers you need.

Here are the most common questions we get about modern farmhouse plans, along with their answers.

What Is a Modern Farmhouse Style Home?

As the name suggests, a modern farmhouse is a modernized version of the traditional farmhouse. Modern farmhouse style homes use time-honored features like antique furnishings, reclaimed wood and rustic decor within a contemporary structural design of simplicity, clean lines and open floor plans. In this way, a modern farmhouse seamlessly blends country charm with an urban edge.

What Is a Modern Farmhouse?

How Big Is a Modern Farmhouse Usually?

The exact size of a modern farmhouse is up to whoever is building it. Originally, farmhouses were made for agricultural families in rural areas, so they were quite large. These days, farmhouses aren’t strictly for farming anymore. They may be adapted to fit the land they’re being built on and the needs of the families they’re being constructed for.

Why Is the Modern Farmhouse Style So Popular?

A modern farmhouse offers many benefits, especially for large families. It creates a functional and spacious structure with comforting and homey features to make it feel warm and inviting. A modern farmhouse gives households a way to have it all — a house that’s informal and down to earth, yet trendy and aesthetically pleasing. Aside from these advantages, the modern farmhouse style has become popular by being a central house format featured in the media.

Why Is the Modern Farmhouse Style So Popular

What Are Some Decor Ideas for a Modern Farmhouse?

Modern farmhouse decor is rustic and stylish. These decorations can be as simple or complex as you want, ranging from storage pieces like woven baskets to quirky shelving like ladders. By far, the most common contemporary farmhouse decor piece right now is the painted wood sign, whether handmade or store-bought. Essentially, anything created from reclaimed wood makes for great modern farmhouse decor.

Search for Modern Farmhouse Plans From Cool House Plans

If the modern farmhouse style sounds like the right design for your next home, check out all the modern farmhouse plans Cool House Plans has to offer. We provide you with thousands of house plan options at affordable prices. All of our house plans are customizable and come with a low price guarantee, so you know you’re getting the best deal on the market.

Our advanced search form will help you efficiently narrow down your house plan selection, allowing you to find the perfect modern farmhouse for your needs. Contact us by calling 800-482-0464 to get started on your dream farmhouse today.

Search Modern Farmhouse Plans