I Want That Cottage Look!
A trademark white finish on our Mademoiselle Children's Panel Bed, pink floral sheets and rosy pink rug make this a child's English Cottage delight.
What you want: A style where everything old is new again! You're a champion bargain hunter who loves to navigate flea markets and Grandma's attic for that perfectly charming wagon, hat box or antique plate, and you want a style to match your passion for quaint décor and your casual lifestyle. Almost anything goes, and that's just how you like it!
Colors: Perish any thoughts about electric pink and neon green. Modern, overly bold colors need not apply for the Cottage look. However, the rest of the color world is left to plunder to your liking. For a picturesque, English-style Cottage, go with rosy pinks and ivy greens. Or, go coastal with blues, beige and other calming neutrals. And for Rustic, go forest green and tawny brown. And don't forget your dreamy whites, off-whites and greys. Because it's easy to make a mistake mixing prints and colors, make the foundation an easy to match neutral (like ivory or cream) and use one unifying color per item or textile accent (lilac, for example).
Go English with neutrals accented with pink and green.
Use neutrals with sandy or beige tones and soothing blues for a coastal cottage effect.
Use neutrals with sandy or beige tones and soothing blues for a coastal cottage effect.
Floor: You want your room to look like it's always been lived in and loved. Consequently, now is not the time to refurbish your wood floors, but count your good fortune in every distressed detail of older planks. If warmth and comfort are you main concerns, throw a plushy braided throw like the kind offered on the GREENCulture's rug site for a homey, inviting look. When picking rugs, choose softer, faded-looking colors and consider the patterns on your walls and fabrics to ensure a good match.
Madison Braided Rug
Lighting: Vintage-looking light fixtures are your friend. Lights that lack that shiny new feel are appropriate for your décor, as are ones that appear to have jugs, vases or some other charming component as a base. Crystal chandeliers or wrought iron fixtures, like the ones GREENCulture sells here, work too!
Our Pageant Chandelier and Vine Whispers Table Lamp both work in Cottage style rooms, which invites eclectic whimsy.
Furniture: There are three keys to successfully furnishing a Cottage-style room: white paint, slipcovers and creativity. White paint breathes new life into mismatched, old and discolored furniture and creates a unifying theme that lets all sorts of style blend well into a room. Some furniture on the market today, especially children's furniture, already comes with white paint, distressed edges and a Cottage-inspired design, conveying the popularity of this relatively new style. The result of a few coats of paint is an airy, bright and cheerful mood within the home.
Slip covers perform the same function for upholstered furniture as paint does for wooden furniture. Worn out flea market finds and hand-me-downs will perk up under a pale (think white or cream) slip cover that may or may not have prints that match your braided rugs and accents. Don't worry if the slipcovers show a wrinkle or two—you want to look as though a guest can have a seat without disrupting the room. You want the room to look lived in, but avoid crossing the line to unkempt.
Lastly, tap into your creative side as you plan your furniture layout. Consider using items for something other than their obvious function. Turn a favorite chair into a console table that holds a favorite hatbox or a collection of teddy bears. Old cupboards can be used as shelving to hold your collection of teacups and saucers. With Cottage-style rooms, you're truly limited only by your imagination.
Accents: One of the few styles in which stains are a good thing, tea stained textiles in Cottage designed rooms fit the antique and charming image built by eclectic furniture and distressed wood. Tea-staining makes new fabric look well-loved and dulls the sharpness a fresh, white textile can have. Additionally, keep window treatments relatively uncomplicated and airy to let natural sunshine and warmth filter into your room. Complement this natural lighting with bunches of flowers in vases. For extra detail and interest, use trunks, particularly beautiful or quaint plates, mirrors, frames, and lace linens. Don't be limited by this list; you can find other items to populate your room when browsing attics, vintage stores, flea markets and more.
