Cottage Style Home Decorating
Comfort and Beauty all it’s Own
Cottage style home decorating is popular for it’s vintage good looks and casual romantic feel.
A penchant for pretty things, the soft look is created with casual, slip covered upholstery, weathered finishes, sentimental accents and flea market finds.
Subdued colors and white touches visually flow together creating a sense of calm.
It's a comfortable style of decorating which exudes a cozy comfort and an amusing charm all it's own
Color palettes are calming to the senses.
Walls in the cottage style of decorating are washed in a variation of white, like pearl, eggshell or cream.
The absence of color allows the accessories to dominate, and offers no competition or contrast to the furnishings or objects placed against them.
If white is not for you, barely there shades of blue, yellow, green or gray work too.
These pale hues make rooms appear larger, and accentuates the deeper tones of the painted furniture favored by the cottage style.
When you work with colors such as pale green, lavender, peach, butter and creams, they create a distinctive and inviting look that is elegant yet relaxing.
The floors in cottage style often are imperfect and informal.
Bare wood floors in old age pine, oak, or maple are highly admired.
They can be left uncovered, and stenciled to define areas and add interest, or covered with vintage or woven hooked rugs. Use the accent rugs in front of sofas, under a dining table and in areas of traffic, reflecting the colors and textures found elsewhere in the room.
Tile is another worthy option for floors in a cottage decor, or wall to wall sisal if you care for a more streamlined look.
Windows should look light and airy.
Using shades provide a streamlined look, while lace curtains and floral motif draperies are more exuberant.
You may consider bamboo shades underneath the drapes.
Everything comes down to comfort.
Certain furnishings typify the cottage look, but no particular style should be excluded. New, antique or vintage pieces mix and match to create livable interiors. Furniture of different periods and geographical regions are used together with color as the common thread.
Furnishings are comfortable to come home to, like your favorite pair of jeans, durable and never fussy or difficult to clean.
Cottage decor items are often reused form the original intention of use. A bench might serve as a coffee table, a farmhouse kitchen table may be used as a desk, an iron fence used as a headboard. The look is worn and well loved and the effect is charming and you guessed it, comfortable!
Softness is key with the upholstery, which includes slip covered sofas and one or two overstuffed armchairs that immediately says welcome and come sit!
A graceful wood settee or slipper chairs upholstered in chintz work in a more "formal" cottage look. Rustic elements mixed in that captures the outdoors, like Adirondack porch chairs used indoors.
Or a combination of both into a cohesive whole.
Once the furniture is in place the next detail to ponder are the accessories.
Any odd thing can serve as an accessory in a cottage style home and become the center of attention.
A single striking painting can be the focal point of an entire room.
Charming plates, old hats, musical instruments, interesting frames all can be incorporated into practical arrangements, (bud vases beside a row of garden books) or given a space all of their own.
Cottage Style Home Decorating is a simple style of decorating that elicits a warm welcome to the homeowner and visitors alike. Allow your collections to inspire the decor of your rooms, reflect your interests and create your own sense of Cottage Style. A home where life’s simple pleasures can be savored.
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