A Journey Through Australian Architectural Styles: Modern Farmhouse (2010 – Present)
17 June 2026TradCo respects the history embedded in every home and is passionate about restoring buildings to their former glory. Understanding your home’s architectural style is key to preserving its character. This series explores the evolution of Australian architecture, helping you appreciate your home’s unique history and design, and how TradCo can assist in restoring it to its original beauty.
Often attributed to Joanna Gaines, who popularised the style around 2013 on her US TV show, Fixer Upper, the Modern Farmhouse style subsequently made its way across the Pacific and into Australian homes, suiting the Antipodean way of life with its connection to the outdoors, neutral palette and light, airy spaces.
The Modern Farmhouse style was a natural progression from the Industrial Chic-style that had dominated interiors from around 2010. Gradually, urban industrial inspiration transitioned into that of the farm—a style more befitting the home environment. It was softer; more welcoming; because people got tired of sitting on milk crates. The industrial/farm features that didn’t impact negatively on comfort remained, but the cushy sofas and calm palette of this new, evolved style, were a tonic.
Defining Features of Modern Farmhouse Homes
The idea behind the Modern Farmhouse is creating spaces that feel friendly and familiar, but also elegant. Even if you didn’t grow up on a farm, the style offers up a sense of nostalgia: imagined memories of a life lived in a time more idyllic than today.
Key markers of the Modern Farmhouse are:
- A neutral palette: Modern Farmhouses evoke calm from the moment you walk through the door.
- A celebration of utility areas: mud rooms, laundries—these rooms are commonplace in farmhouses, and have made their way into the Modern Farmhouse too.
- Timber features prominently, ideally somewhat distressed.
- Objects of miscellany are scattered about: bits and bobs from the farm or landscape—a strung-up rake here; a cowbell there. Finds can even be sourced from the op shop, or bought new but in a heritage style (like TradCo’s hat and coat hooks, for example). The important thing is that they shouldn’t look too new.
These elements help to establish a cohesive Modern Farmhouse aesthetic throughout the home.
Creating Modern Farmhouses with Heritage Hardware
Hardware is a subtle but clever way to create the Modern Farmhouse aesthetic down to every last detail. It means that each time you open a door or window, turn a handle or close a cupboard, you are reminded of where you are and what the essence of this place is. Attention to craftsmanship is crucial, so choosing high quality hardware matters. The finishes are at the forefront of that experience.
Selecting the Right Finishes & Materials
The right materials create moments of charm with every touch.
- Matt Black: This is the fundamental material for Modern Farmhouse hardware. It recalls the cast iron of aged farming machinery, but is brought into the modern day with contemporary shape and form.
- Unlacquered Brass: Few materials signal heritage as instinctively as brass, and in its unlacquered form, the slow development of patina over time lends an authenticity that no applied finish can replicate.
- Solid Brass: You want the hardware to feel, as well as look, strong and robust, and the weight of solid brass ensures this.
- Cast Iron: To be truly faithful to the farmhouse feel, go the real deal with hardy cast iron.
- Antique Brass: Where unlacquered brass earns its patina over time, Antique Brass arrives already wearing it. The warm, darkened tones speak to something well-used and well-loved, hardware that looks as though it has always belonged.
Heritage Hardware for a Modern Farmhouse Home
Modern Farmhouse hardware is the essential detail you didn’t know you needed. It punctuates corners and cabinetry throughout the rooms, moving the space out of neutrality and into somewhere that feels lived in and well-loved. TradCo offers a range of options that function to achieve that combination of homeliness and elegance.
Antique Brass Door Levers
Because there is usually at least one in every room, and they are touched throughout the day, door handles are elemental in the success of any interior. In the spirit of not making anything look too pruned or polished, an Antique Brass finish is the way to go for Modern Farmhouse levers. It looks slightly tarnished, as if it’s being around awhile, and its dark tones perfectly accent stripped-back or pale-painted doors. TradCo’s Reims Lever on Long Backplate is inspired by the country manors of France’s rural Provence, while the Menton Lever on Long Backplate goes for a more minimal bent.
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Backplated Doorknobs
Doorknobs offer an even more traditional feel than levers. If an Antique Brass finish isn’t to your taste, the Milton Knob on Long Backplate comes in Antique Copper, or the Richmond Doorknob on Long Backplate can even be plated in chrome.
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Vintage-style Light Switches
One of the chicest ways to invoke a sense of history in a home is via vintage-style light switches. It’s a subtle move—not immediately obvious upon entering a space, but once you notice it, its inclusion feels deeply luxurious. TradCo offer period-appropriate switches by way of their Traditional Light Switches in Matt Black. And those toggles? Ludicrously tactile.
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Sash Window Lifts
Traditional farmhouses usually featured sash windows, so recreating them here will give a farmhouse feel that feels faithful to the theme. Make sure your accessories match—nothing lets down a period feature more than cheap, tacky fittings. TradCo’s Classic Sash Lift in Antique Brass covers all bases on the Modern Farmhouse spectrum. For slightly more detail try a Dished Sash Lift (the Matt Black option is a solid choice), or for a sculptural approach, the Stainless Steel Sash Lift, with its boxier profile and Antique Copper option, does the job beautifully.
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Simple Cupboard Knobs
Cupboard knobs come into their own in a Modern Farmhouse interior, simply because you will need so many. Modern Farmhouses really revel in their utilitarian areas—the boot rooms; the laundries and so on, and these are spaces which require a lot of storage. To make them beautiful, go for the pared-back repetition of TradCo’s Classic Cupboard Knob in Antique Brass.
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Bringing History Home
Despite being a relatively recent movement, because of its imaginary relationship to the past, Modern Farmhouse interiors feel timeless. These are homes which are as comfortable to sit within as they are to behold. Warm, welcoming and buzzing with the fantasy of days gone by, we’d wager there is nowhere better in which to recline with a warm cup of tea and a good book. Pop the kettle on and start planning yours—you can thank us later.
