Top 7 Modern Barndominium Ideas (2024)

Introduction

Barndominiums are a great way to use your individual style and create something truly unique. In general, they are cheaper to build than a traditionally constructed home and can be put together for sometimes a quarter of the price. This opens you up to all sorts of possibilities as far as interior design and decoration. Having a little bit of extra money in the budget for your build can go a long way.

In this article, we will cover the top 7 modern barndominium ideas. Although barndos are typically built with a rural, country feel, that doesn’t mean you can’t augment this with stylish, contemporary design. This contrast is a fantastic way to create a home that is incredibly specific to your taste and is sure to impress. By utilizing a few of these modern barndominium ideas, you can have the custom home of your dreams without spending a fortune or sacrificing any of the things that make a home specifically yours.

If you finish this article and would like some more tips and modern barndominium ideas, be sure to check out the ebook, Build Your Dream Barndominium by Don Howe. There, you will find a wealth of information on how to build the home that you have been dreaming of including design information and floor plans to help you get started on the right track.

1. Ornate Light Fixtures

3-Bedroom, 2-Bathroom + Flex Room Barndominium

One of the best ways to give your barndo a classy, contemporary look is to install ornate light fixtures. These touches can work wonders to make a room look bright, airy and open. One of the hallmarks of the modern style is minimalism, but having these fixtures can bring an air of sophistication and class to any rustic country home. This is one of the reasons they are on our list of the top 7 modern barndominium ideas.

One of the nice things about these types of light fixtures is that they are easy to install and are relatively inexpensive. This makes them a perfect choice for people who want to utilize some modern barndominium ideas, but don’t want to invest a large amount of money in the process.

By adding modern light fixtures, you can brighten up a room as well as give your home a fresh look. There are also many different options available to you as far as the design of these fixtures goes. They are a great opportunity for you to express your inner interior decorator and create a mood that is exactly what you have been looking for.

We love the way these light fixtures combine the classic look of a chandelier with a more compact and edgy design. By using these types of design elements, you can create a contrasting look with the rest of the decor in your barndominium. Although they are a small addition, you might be surprised just how effective they can be at creating a modern, almost industrial atmosphere.

2. Raw Wood

Rosebud Barndominium: 2757 sqft Custom-built With Gorgeous Kitchen

Raw wood is one of the most modern trends in interior design at the moment. With the advent of upcycled materials and reclaimed wood in the modern diaspora, it is an incredibly hip and contemporary element to add to your home. That is why we think it is perfect for our list of modern barndominium ideas. There is nothing more “of the moment” than using materials that have been salvaged from another project and turned into something beautiful and endearing for a new home.

We love the way this raw wood ceiling looks and feel that it could be a perfect addition to any new barndo project. The way that it blends in nicely with the rural style of the barndominium and maintains a look that is still incredibly of the moment is one of the best modern barndominium ideas we have found. It can be used to your advantage in all kinds of ways and can even help you save money by using material that might otherwise be discarded.

One of the nice things about using raw wood in this way is that it can provide a contrast to the rest of the interior design. By utilizing the actual texture of the wood instead of finishing it and polishing it, you can create a dynamic and interesting look that is unique to your style. Most interior designers will either paint, stain or otherwise finish wood, but by keeping it in its natural form, you can make a real statement.

3. Bold Accent Colors

Weatherford Texas Barndominium – Built by HL Custom Homes for the Butler Family

Another one of the most interesting modern barndominium ideas that we have found is the trend of using bold accent colors. This can be a great way to add a touch of your personal style to an otherwise traditional looking room. Many new, modern homes are utilizing these bold colors in ways that are exceptionally daring. This makes it one of the best modern barndominium ideas we came across due to its unique style and individuality. After all, customization is one of the main reasons to build your own home, so it is important that you make your barndo your own.

We love the bright turquoise accent pieces in this barndominium’s kitchen. They draw the eye, not only to the doors themselves, but to the rest of the kitchen as well. Modern homes are breaking from tradition more and more, and these accent colors are a perfect example of modern barndominium ideas. Color combinations that may have been considered off limits in the past are now shown to be beautiful and interesting additions to an interior designer’s palette.

One of the best things about these turquoise accents is that they still match with the slate style of the rest of the kitchen. The light gray tiles and the darker grays of the cabinet paints work well together despite the accents being so bold. However, this is just one of the ways that these kinds of modern barndominium ideas can work. For your own, you should always follow your own sense of style and unique viewpoint.

4. Polished Cement

Springtown Texas Barndominium – Built by HL Custom Homes for The Enright Family

Without a doubt, polished cement is one of the trendiest modern barndominium ideas out there. It has a look that is undoubtedly contemporary and gives the entire barndo a sleek, clean feel that is imperative for any kind of modern style. Its organic makeup also fits in perfectly with the entire barndominium aesthetic and can be matched to almost any color scheme you can imagine. With this material, you can create almost any combination of patterns and colors to create a look that is uniquely yours and fits your barndo perfectly.

We especially love the color blending that is happening in this barndominium’s polished cement floor. The blue-green touches are exceptionally singular and match perfectly with the gray paint of the rest of the home. Like we have discussed with bold accent colors, this principle can be utilized with the polished cement floor as well. There is almost no end to the kind of patterns and accents you can blend with it, making it one of the best modern barndominium ideas we have come across.

Polished cement can also be stained to look like a hardwood floor as well. This means that, if you want, you can use it to give your barndominium a modern feel without having to install sensitive hardwood flooring that can be easily scratched. This is perfect for families and people who want a flooring solution that is as durable as it is beautiful.

5. Ceiling Beams

Rhome Texas Barndominium: 2800 sqft Inviting White Home

One of the best modern barndominium ideas out there is giving your home a high ceiling. However, since barndos are generally a little bit smaller than a traditional home, this presents a problem that might be difficult to solve. This is especially true if you have built using a two-story floor plan. Floor to ceiling space will be at a premium and it is easy to feel like your ceilings can’t get high enough.

This is where ceiling beams come in handy. They can give the illusion of height that is essential in any modern, contemporary home without sacrificing any upstairs space. We love the way this barndo’s designers have used a dark stain on the wood beams to draw the eye upwards and create that fantastic illusion of expansive space. This is one of the keys to the modern home look and the beams work wonders in giving this barndo a bigger, more open feel.

Because the designers of this barndominium have utilized the darker stain on the beams, they contrast well with the rest of the white paint color scheme. By matching it with the doors, they have also tied the entire space together and given the contrasting colors a chance to work as accent pieces themselves. This adds to the illusion of height and space and gives the room a bigger feel. Out of all the modern barndominium ideas, this is also one of the least expensive and can be produced with just a small amount of construction and time.

6. Vaulted Ceilings

Sweet 2 Bed 2 Bath Glen Rose Texas Barndominium with Floor Plan

One of the other ways that you can give your barndominium the look and feel of a modern traditional home, if you have the space, is to give it large, vaulted ceilings. These angled ceilings have a way of giving the center of the room all the focus and giving the eye a place to go. This kind of attention to detail is one of the cornerstones of modern home design and can work wonders in giving your barndominium that contemporary look.

As is evidenced in this barndo, you can also use interesting materials to pull even more focus onto the vaulted ceilings. This particular home has utilized reclaimed corrugated metal siding as a material for the ceilings. This falls in line with the newer trend of using rustic materials in a way that they might not otherwise be used. Reclaimed elements are some of the most popular modern barndominium ideas out there, and using them in the ceiling is incredibly unique.

Combining these tall ceilings with things like polished cement flooring is a perfect way to give the illusion of space and grandeur to an otherwise small area. For people looking for ways to make the most out of their barndominium’s floor plan, this is a great option.

7. Vessel Sinks

Stunning Alabama Barndominium Built By Wesley and Jennifer Clark

Nothing says modern and contemporary like a raised vessel sink. Most contemporary homes have them because they have a more sleek and industrial look than a traditional recessed sink. Because of this, installing vessel sinks is a great way to bring a touch of contemporary style to the otherwise homey and pastoral look of a barndominium.

One of the other reasons vessel sinks are one of the best modern barndominium ideas is that they can then be used as accent pieces as well. For example, in this barndo, the sinks’ custom granite finish offsets the corrugated metal trim of the bathtub.

Modern style is all about combining contrasting elements to create something that is unique and incredibly specific to your vision. By having this extra style element available to you, you can use it to draw the eye elsewhere and create clashing textures and colors in a way that is both modern and singular to you.

Conclusion

Hopefully, by reading this list of the top 7 modern barndominium ideas, you have gathered up some inspiration for your own barndo build. It is important to keep in mind that not all of these ideas need to be followed to the letter. The whole process of building your own home should be something that has a sense of discovery and surprise. Working these modern barndominium ideas into your own style is a way to make this happen.

If you have read this list of the top 7 modern barndominium ideas and would like some more inspiration and help from the experts, be sure to check out the ebook, Build Your Dream Barndominium by Don Howe. It has information and ideas that will help you put together something that you can be proud of and expresses who you are.