Cottage Style Decorating

Cottage style decorating! If you pick up any decorating magazine, you're bound to see those words. But what exactly is cottage style?

Well, it's really anything you want it to be. Cottage style is about creating that perfect "dream getaway," but your dream of cottage style decorating might be different than mine. Maybe it's more nautical or beach house. Even within that small definition, there a wide selection. Is it Cape Cod coastal, Laguna Beach laid back or Miami tropical? Let's not forget about the other cottage styles: English, French or just plain country cottage.

You get the idea. Cottage living is what you want it to be. No rules. No one way of decorating. It's all about creating the home you love, whether it's a fun-loving beach house, a homey mountain cabin or garden getaway.

As the Cynthia Overbeck Bix says in Cottage Style Decorating, "Cottage style can be created in any home, new or old, where unpretentious, individual spirit is allowed its expression in furniture, color and accessories."

Cottage style decorating is definitely not pretentiousness or fussy, keeping-up-with-the-Joneses. t. It's about relaxation and living with what you love, even with it's eclectic and would make your Grandma Norma gasp. So don't be afraid to let you hair down and create a little cottage style for your home.

It's true no two cottages a alike, but cottage style does share basic elements no matter what the style.

• A feeling of coziness. Cottages by their nature share a sense of modest scale. But even big rooms and open living spaces can be made to feel cozy by creating a room within a room by diving large areas into smaller, intimate zones.
• An air of unassuming informality. Cottages are all about relaxation, putting your feet up on the coffee table and reading a favorite books. Chipped paint and well-worn fabric only add to the cozy ambiance.
• A sense of fun and whimsy. The more collectibles, the more eclectic, the better in cottage style decorating. And the collectibles should not be hidden behind glass doors or locked away for safety. Favorite things need to shared and enjoyed.
  

When you say cottage style, some people think of beach or nautical decor. It's popular and easy to obtain even if you live in a city apartment.

• Color: Add the colors of a beautiful day at the beach or a nautical style chic cottage--white, blue, green and sand
  
• Accessorize: Use items from from the sea, dock or boat, like seashells, life ring, buoys, oars or even a rowboat turned into a bookshelf.
• Surprise: Create a dazzling nautical wall decor in your cottage home with a real fish net and seashells or create a conversation piece with a rust-covered mermaid sunning herself in front of the fireplace.
  

Nothing say cottage style more than a rose-covered cottage in the English countryside and this this is one cottage style you can have, even if you don't have a garden full of roses.

• Color: Think roses and you'll have all the colors you need for a cottage style decor--red, pink, yellow, white and a touch of green.
• Accessorize: You can never have too many roses in an English style cottage--from roses in the fabrics that cover furniture, to pictures and posters of roses on the wall, to fresh (or good fakes) in a crystal vase.
  
• Surprise: Cover flower pots, tea pots, trays and even a bookshelf in mosaics of broken china (from flowers and roses, of course).
  

A fire blazing in a rock faced fireplace and a cozy leather sofa to take a nap and wrapped in knotty pine paneling--that's a rustic cottage! But like any of the cottage styles, it can be yours no matter where you live.

1. Colors: Use nature as a guide for a rustic cottage style--from warm browns of wood, to the relaxing greens from the pine trees, to reds and oranges of the setting sun.
2. Accessorize: Again, use nature to create rustic decor--use natural woods in furniture, like hickory or burled wood, cover a sofa with camp blankets or art based on animals found in nature and don't forget to add a a bowl of pine cones to the coffee table.
   
3. Surprise: Use a carved bear statue (kind of hard to have the real thing) or a wine rack made from antlers.
   

Painted furniture in an important element in cottage style decorating. The painted furniture gives the cottage home a feel that is been around and hand down over the years. But it doesn't always have to be a shabby chic white. Imagine any of pieces below in another color. The romantic Rococo table in pink in an English cottage, the oval table in a sea-foam green in a beach cottage, or the shelved wall cabinet in a barn red in a rustic cottage. In cottage style decorating, the choice is yours.

Katherine Koch (aka Netlexis) is a freelance writer providing copywriting services online and offline. When she's not writing for clients, she enjoys creating hubs here at HubPages, as well as for her own sites and at Squidoo. If you enjoyed this hub, you might also like to read: Beautiful Turquoise Bedding or In the Pink Bedding. Also check out the Hubs below for more decorating ideas.

Pretty in Pink Comforters

Create a Romantic Cottage Bathroom

Glam Up Your Bathroom with Bathroom Chandelier Lighting

10 Ways to Add Cottage Style to You Home

Create a Sweet Retreat with Cottage Bedding