12 steps to cottage style

Cheap and cheerful, cottage style comes out of a philosophy that unapol­ogetically makes the most out of what you already have, or what you can get for next to nothing—the more faded, distressed and worn, the better. Here are 12 easy ways to incorporate cottage style into your home. 

1 Comforting quilts
Slipcovering is a hallmark of cottage style. Take it a step further by using the softest quilts as coverings for living room furniture.

2 Bringing the outside in
Bringing the outside in or the inside out, as the case may be, is a mainstay of cottage style. Pull up white painted bistro chairs to the breakfast nook or keep a tattered umbrella standing in the hall to get an outdoorsy feeling inside.

3 Haphazard piles of pink
Haphazard piles of pink and creamy coloured clothes make a pretty arrangement on a hand-hewn rustic shelf, which adds a layer of age to a crisp room. Throw pale braided rugs over a whitewashed planked floor for softness and colour.

4 Whitewashed effect
A wrought-iron bed covered in crisp linens set against whitewashed walls simply resonates cottage style.

5 Use unexpected finishing touches
Use unexpected finishing touches for a dash of panache: try mixing galvanized metals in with romantic whitewashed living spaces, for example.

6 Pretty passementerie
Pretty passementerie gives a nod to quixotic days gone by. Spools of ribbon and vintage cards set the scene perfectly.