I am always dreaming of ways to make a home feel more warm and cozy, and cottage decor is the perfect way to achieve that lived in feeling.
Whether you want a traditional interior or prefer modern decor, I hope this guide gives you a few ideas on how to transform your home into an unpretentious, sweet living space.
Traditional Cottage-Style Decor
The traditional cottage look is all about keeping things simple and letting your personality shine through. The furniture can be a bit eclectic and mismatched, which I absolutely love.
It’s the perfect way to bring in some personal style with vintage finds. The vibe can be described as retro, antique, or collected, with a big focus on wood, iron, wicker, and other natural materials.
It’s also common to see traditional cottages with exposed wood, brick, and stone, all complemented by large, beautiful windows.
Decorative pieces are everywhere, and they usually have a unique character or a cool story behind them. You might see personal collections of plates and dolls, rustic pieces, family pictures, heirlooms, and other treasures you’d find at an antique shop.
While the cottage decor style officially emerged in the mid-19th century, the furnishings aren’t tied to a specific era like you’d see in mid-century modern.
You can absolutely bring in furniture and decor from different time periods to create a look that feels totally unique and customized to you.
But here’s a tip: while you should definitely pick interesting pieces for your decor, you also want to make sure the space doesn’t feel overly cluttered.
A traditional cottage also has some things in common with other design styles, like shabby chic, rustic, and farmhouse.
Classic Cottage Layout
When I think about a classic cottage, it’s the layout that really sets the scene. The defining feature is always its size and simplicity. While floorplans can change depending on a person’s needs and lifestyle, there are a few common things you’ll often see in cottage homes.
Cottages are usually built with porches and have pitched or gabled roofs with exposed beams. These properties are typically one or two stories tall and have two rooms on each floor, giving them that cute, quaint look.
A traditional, vintage house with this kind of architecture will often have a closed floor plan with separate, distinct rooms. A more modern cottage, on the other hand, might have a more open floor plan.
Classic Cottage Flooring
Flooring is another spot where you really want to bring in natural materials. Wooden floors are an incredibly popular choice, especially if they are vintage or original to the house.
If you are putting in new hardwood floors, I’d go for something like distressed pine that has plenty of knots and color variation to give it a more antique look.
Staining wood floors in deep or warm shades is a great way to contrast with lighter, brighter walls. Floor tiles made from natural materials like stone are also a fantastic option.
If you’re leaning into a more Mediterranean style, you could use large terra cotta tiles all through the home.
If your style is more farmhouse or country, you can bring in patterned tiles in rooms like the kitchen and bathroom. I love tiles with a floral pattern in a country-style kitchen.
If your home happens to be from the 1920s, you could pick out tiles that have art deco influences. Flooring can be left bare, but a lot of people also choose to put down rugs to add more pattern and comfort to the space.
Elegant Cottage Living Room Designs
The living room is truly the heart of a cottage home. The vibe should be comforting, welcoming, and just plain homey. My advice is to pick large, plush furniture like sofas and armchairs that you can curl up on.
Load them up with throw pillows and blankets in a bunch of different designs and colors. If you have any interesting architectural details in the room, you should totally play them up.
For example, you can give a vintage fireplace an update with some new paint or tile that really highlights its character. Then, arrange the furniture around it to make it a focal point.
Leave your windows open to let streams of light pour through, but be sure to keep plenty of lamps on tables for extra light at night. For decorative details, I love visiting thrift stores or antique fairs to find vintage items that match my style.
A simple milk glass vase with a bouquet of wildflowers or a cool antique typewriter can bring in so much character and show off what you love.
Modern Cottage-Style Design
I get it. Some people adore the idea of cottage interior design but worry it might feel a little stodgy or old-fashioned. Well, in recent years, a modern cottage decor has been gaining traction, and it beautifully blends traditional and modern style ideas together.
For starters, modern cottages are not for cotters anymore; they are often owned by wealthy families as countryside vacation properties near beautiful lakes and mountains.
These modern cottage homes hold onto many of the design features that define the traditional look. The architecture still has that cozy and welcoming vibe, for example.
The big difference is that the buildings are larger, and the furnishings are more contemporary, trendy, and chic.
While traditional cottage pieces are made from natural materials like wood, brick, and stone, modern cottage decor brings in man-made materials for a stylish touch.
The result is a truly luxurious look and feel, with some seriously upscale decorating ideas. These homes might also lean into a more monochromatic color scheme for a sophisticated feel.
Popular Cottage-Style Interior Colors
Because cottages tend to be so small, the color palette inside is usually kept light and bright. If you went with darker colors, these homes could feel much smaller and a bit tight.
White is a super popular choice for wall colors, but honestly, any neutral tone makes a fantastic base.
While an all-white, monochromatic color scheme can be gorgeous and pristine, if you’re like me and prefer a pop of color, look for soft pastel shades that pick up on the surrounding environment.
Some popular, versatile, and totally cute country cottage style colors to think about are light green, pink, yellow, and purple in different combinations. Even though you can choose from so many colors, patterns, and paints, the ideal color scheme should feel unified.
If you have a seashore cottage, for instance, you could look for ocean-inspired shades like a pale aquamarine. A cozy cottage tucked away in the woods might have pale sage walls to connect with the green of the forest.
A cottage on farmland could incorporate a buttery yellow paint. The bottom line is there is so much room to show off your personal taste.
Decorative Materials
Since this style goes way back, natural materials are almost always a featured element. You’ll often see building materials like wood, stone, and brick left exposed. The outside of a cottage might be made of stone or feature classic wooden shingles.
Cottage roofs are usually pitched and sometimes show off exposed wooden beams. Home furnishings and accessories also lean into natural materials. Fabrics are typically designed to be durable over time.
You’ll find upholstered furniture and throw pillows made from sturdy stuff like cotton, linen, leather, and burlap. Other pieces, like tables and chairs, are often crafted from wood or wicker.
The natural elements right outside your cottage can be a huge source of inspiration for your design choices. A beachside home might feature little vignettes of driftwood and seashells lined up on a fireplace mantle.
A house in the woods, on the other hand, might have a bowl filled with pinecones or a glass jar with stones and beautiful green moss.
Stylish Cottage-Style Furniture
When it comes to furniture in this style, you’re going to see a lot of natural materials. Other key features of the style are durability and pure comfort. Upholstered furniture is usually oversized and so comfortable.
Couches and chairs often have extra throw pillows for more coziness, and you might see soft chenille blankets draped over the backs of furniture, just begging you to snuggle up with a good book.
Since these homes are designed to be practical, sofas are often covered in rugged slipcovers that you can easily remove and wash. Game changer!
Other pieces like cabinets, tables, and sideboards are frequently made from wood. That wood can be left in its natural state with just a warm, light stain, or you can paint it.
Chalk paint is an amazing choice for cottage furniture because it distresses so easily and lets the wood’s character shine through. This trick can give even brand-new furniture that perfect vintage appeal.
Cottage Lighting and Accessories
The right lighting can make a simple cottage feel so much more spacious and open. Natural light is a huge feature in cottage design, so you have to choose your window treatments carefully.
Curtains and shutters that let in a ton of light are the way to go. For a beach-themed home, white painted shutters with sideways slats would be perfect.
In a space with more rustic or farmhouse vibes, sheer or lacy white curtains would be absolutely ideal.
You should also supplement all that natural light with plenty of other light sources. Just like with the furniture, there isn’t a specific style or era that your lighting fixtures need to follow.
You can and totally should mix and match light fixtures from different time periods and in different styles instead of having them all match. Overhead fixtures and lamps with stained glass shades are super popular in these designs.
Having a few of them in different patterns brings in a lot of color and that eclectic appeal we love. If your style is more understated, look for lamps with ceramic bases and shades made from natural materials like raffia.
Cute Cottage-Style Bedroom
Bedrooms with this style are usually so cozy and cute. They should have tons of windows to let in natural light, dressed with sheer or lacy curtains. You could also install some discreet roller shade blinds to give you more privacy at night.
For the bed, you can hunt for an interesting antique headboard. Another great idea is to get a bed frame made from decorative wrought iron, which you could leave natural or paint a crisp white.
I always suggest painting the walls white or another light color to keep the room feeling airy, but you can bring in some great texture by adding shiplap or beadboard to the walls.
For your textiles, look for things like vintage French linens and cheerful floral quilts. It’s also fun to bring in mismatched lamps, shabby chic nightstands, and other offbeat, vintage decorative touches to really complete the look.
