Easy Cottage Style

Crave a fresh cottage look for your home but unsure where to start? Add soft textures, fresh florals and a few vintage pieces, and watch your cottage blossom. 

Every home has an element of design to it, from colonial to modern to industrial. The “bones” are in the construction, but they need not be indicative of how you cultivate your home’s decor.  Any home can have a cottage feel with some simple updates.Begin with one room in your home and paint it white. A white room highlights what is in the room instead of drawing attention to the walls. White always looks clean and fresh, and acts as a canvas for both modern art and vintage artifacts.  It provides a crisp backdrop for photos and lends an air of lightness to a room, even those that are not well lit or have few windows.

 

Always incorporate fresh flowers in your home.  Whether you’ve picked them from the garden or purchased them from the store, fresh flowers showers the senses and are welcoming to your family and guests.  Place small containers of flowers in unexpected places: a pantry shelf, the powder room, your dressing room or front steps. Add small bouquets to your front door, or place them just inside the entrance so they are the first things you see and smell when entering your home.

 

{I love this pic because my assistant Riley is in and because you can see a coat
sticking out of the closet on the left}

 

 

Begin with small elements and work your way around the room.  Create a cozy corner by incorporating a reading nook.  Add a footstool or ottoman, a few soft pillows, and keep a tray close by with your favorite books and magazines.

 

Select pillows with great dressmaker details.  Small design elements like coordinated piping, covered buttons and small ruffles will make a huge impact against your white palette.  Keep your pillows monochromatic and avoid large or loud prints.

Beautiful pillows by Clarabelle Interiors using fabrics by Peony and Sage, For more info, please visit their websites here and here, respectively.

Accessorize with books, vintage china or old ironstone, and leave the tchotchkes in the cupboard.

For a romantic cottage look in your kitchen, replace upper cabinets with open shelving and add a custom wood panel to your dishwasher.

 

My lovely friend Kris and her awesome kitchen – love her open shelving and custom dishwasher panel.  For more info on her cozy cottage visit her blog here.

You will be pleasantly surprised at how these small touches can have a big impact in creating a romantic cottage style for your home. Refresh what you have, keep it simple and soft, and always think
outside the box.

For more information on creating a cozy cottage look in your home, pick up the Fall 2015 Issue of Romantic Homes Presents Cottage Country.

Enjoy!