Anyone like country or cottage style decorating?

[Josephine]

I love the look of country/cottage style decorating. It's so relaxed and homey looking and makes me feel like I am on vacation even when I'm not. I am slowly changing my decor to reflect this style. One great thing about this style is that it is eclectic so it is easy to decorate this way. It also uses a lot of natural and inexpensive materials. Anyone have any great ideas for this type of look?

[geniebird]

This didn't post the first time so I'll try again. My apologies if it ends up posting twice for some reason.

Bob really likes country style decorating so I use elements of that. But I guess my decorating style is pretty much "early grandma's attic." Our furniture is mostly family pieces that don't really match -- but I think it gives a homey atmosphere. We also try to integrate our collections (bird figurines and porcelain dolls) and my art (kind of folk art style) into our decor.

Bob doesn't mind "frills" so I have lace curtains, a nice quilt on the bed and pillows everywhere. You can do a lot with pillows. We also use one entire wall of our bedroom as our family wall -- photos, old family marriage certificates, religious art that hung in our family homes growing up and other family memorabilia. We recently moved and the old apartment manager didn't mind nails in the walls, but the new one does so Bob went to the hardwear store and got some decorative moulding that we put in place with a minimum of nails and then hung the photos from the moulding. I really like that look -- it looks good - and we will only have a few nail holes to fill when we move.

In our old apartment we had this large square hallway that was larger than our walk-in closet. I actually decorated the hall. Put up small branches and tied some of the bird figurines into them. Hung bird houses from the ceiling, put bird themed cross-stitch pieces on the wall. Even hung a quilted owl themed wall hanging over a closet door in the hall. We even had room for a display rack in there -- full of birds and dolls of course. I miss that hallway.

[PrairieRose]

I really love the cottage country style too, but I'm really trying to keep the clutter to a minimum (or at least for me). So I'm going more for country/granny's house with style...lol. I have been dreaming of a house that's so easy to clean I don't have to sweat when I'm doing it. Anyone every accomplished this? lol

[Englishlady]

Josephine, I like to think my little house is Cottage style, but with not too much clutter!

I think you need to decide if you want American Cottage style or English Cottage style, and if you think there isn't any difference, trust me there is a LOT of difference!

American Cottage style is much more"busy" that is to say there tends to be more bits and bobs dotted around the place.

That's not to say an English Cottage style home can't be cluttered, it certainly can, but generally they are less so, just a few treasures on the mantel over the fireplace or on the sideboard.

Cottage style is about getting things together that "harmonise", objects, colours and fabrics that are from the same colour family...........I would suggest you pick no more than three colours and use those in various tones..........if you want cosy, then go for the warmer colours, deep creams, the gentler colour tones from the "Red" family ( but use them sparingly and on things that are removeable like curtains and slip covers, or on smaller objects).

Wanter a Cooler theme?, then pick whites and blues( not too dark a shade of blue as it will be overpowering).

To make best use of what you have already, pick out one or two of the colours from current furnishings and just buy/collect things in in those two colours so that they harmonise.........take a photograph of your room and take that with you when you are going shopping for furniture or soft furnishings.

The idea is that your home should be a relaxing respite from the outside world, too much clutter, takes more money( to buy it) more time ( to dust it) and increases stress ( when you reflect on how much time and money you have spent buying and dusting things you didn't really need in the first place!!).

Shabby Chic is currently cool and I suspect the British Aristocracy perfected this art as the huge country estates are so costly to run that the massive windows have curtains that not only very old but very raggy ( when looked at closely!) old furniture has dents and dings but they live with it and consider it part of the "history" of the piece :)

I think it makes life less stressful if we adopt this attitude ;) let's face it humans are not perfect, why should we expect our homes to be perfect? likewise as we all grow and evolve through life then so do our homes and that is why I think our homes are an accurate reflection of us all ;)

Hope that helps?
Karen
"Trust me I am a Designer!" :cool:

[Josephine]

No, I don't care for a lot of clutter either. When I think of cottage style I think of the cottages we have rented throughout the years. They are so cozy but with not a lot of knickknacks. I try to collect things that I will actually use everyday like vintage kitchen items and depression glass. I also group collections. DH found two old typeset trays that were being thrown away. I stained them and hung them up in the stairway to display small objects like shells, twigs, rocks etc. I also have windows that are set 4 inches in so on two windows I have built shelves where I can display things instead of using window treatments.

[AmyMCGS]

I like country, but I'm into primitives.... or "old beat-up stuff" as my family prefers to call it. ;) I like some of the cottage look stuff, too.