Step into a world of wildflowers, babbling brooks, eyelet lace, and freshly baked scones. Such quaint scenery is at the center of this summer’s most whimsical trend in home décor—cottagecore.
Source: Zara Home, @ssagittarrius
Over the past year and a half or so, cottagecore has stirred murmurs from the biggest names in interior design, reaching its zenith this spring. These days, you can’t look anywhere without seeing vestiges of pastoral life. Wicker baskets and romantic floral prints are everywhere. “Summer Farmhouse” earned a spot in Pottery Barn’s Summer 2021 lookbook, and half of the textiles in Zara Home’s summer collection look like they could have been plucked from the set of Little Women.
It’s easy to understand the appeal of cottagecore. It’s romantic, feminine, sentimental, and above all, it reminds us of simpler times. In this article, we’ll show you the five essential elements you need to turn your home into the countryside cottage of your dreams, including the tiles stickers that will tie the look together.
Little House on the Prairie
The cottagecore home trend stems from a much larger aesthetic trend inspired by quaint pastoral scenes. It valorizes a romanticized version of agrarian life, ruled by simple creature comforts and slow living.
Source: Pinterest
After such a tumultuous year, there couldn’t be a more appropriate trend. Slow living, after all, is something we've all been forced to adopt during the pandemic lockdowns, and now that life is starting to return to normal, it’s something many of us are eager to hold onto. The comforting nostalgia of cottagecore allows us to keep that ethos alive.
So, how can you get this look in your home? No matter where you live, with the following five items, you can bring the countryside to you.
1. Dried Flowers
Dried flowers are having a moment, which means good news—they’re widely available! You can purchase bouquets and wreaths from your local artisan florist or even big-name retailers, like West Elm and Urban Outfitters. If you happen to live near flower fields, you can even dry flowers and arrange them yourself!
Dried floral bouquet from Urban Outfitters, $28.00 / Dried thistle yarrow lavender bouquet from West Elm, $40.00
These bouquets bring the prairie landscape inside the home and amplify the romantic feel of your décor. Best of all, they last forever!
2. Floral Prints, Knits, and Quilted Textiles
When it comes to textiles, knit blankets and tea cozies, floral prints, and quilts are all fair game. Sounds like your grandma’s house, right? Well, grandma’s back in style. Cottagecore takes these vintage threads and gives them new life. They’re not old-fashioned, they’re nostalgic. Plus, you might not even have to purchase anything new! There’s a chance you have the perfect textiles lying away in storage just waiting for their second shot in the limelight.
Threshold pick stitch floral quilt from Target, $59.00
There are no rules about pairing textiles. Mix and match to your heart’s desire! One of the tenets of cottagecore is making your space unique. Bringing in an eclectic mélange of patterns is a great way to accomplish that!
3. Romantic Tiles
Pastoral accents will only get you so far when curating a cottagecore look. To really bring it all together, you need to give your space a suitable backdrop. Tile stickers can introduce the craftsman look of a storybook home without any need for renovation.
When choosing the right pattern for your tile stickers, there are a couple ways you can go. First you can opt for a classic, folksy look that will let your printed fabrics, décor, and knick-knacks do the talking. Gingham is a great option because it is rustic, yet simplistic and works well on pretty much any surface you can think of. Walls, floors, stairs—you name it!
Source: Pinterest
Get the Look
If simplistic isn’t your style, you can also go for playful and ornate patterns. We love this look for the floor, where larger patterns give the room an extra cozy feel.
Source: Real Homes, Pinterest
Get the Look
Scroll to the bottom of the page to see more of our favorite cottagecore tile stickers!
4. Vintage Décor
You’re going to want to become best friends with your local antique dealer to save on all the China you’re going to need. Not to mention the old paintings, figurines and knick-knacks, ornately-framed mirrors and more. It’s in these details that you should really let your personality shine through. For the kitchen, copper cookware is a must.
Vintage French copper cookware / Vintage botanical print from Zazzle, $13.00
Botanical prints are a great addition to a cottagecore home. Bonus points if they feature illustrations of cute mushrooms. And don’t forget to stock your library with vintage editions of all your favorite books!
5. Natural, organic textiles
Cotton and linen fabrics are another way to bring the outside in. Earthy fabrics like these add a raw and simple touch that balances out everything else that’s going on in a cottagecore home. That can be a lot, so it’s best to stick with neutral colors.
Washed Linen Tablecloth from H&M Home, $59.99
Choose these fabrics for duvets, tablecloths, runners, and curtains. Linen is surging in popularity these days, too, so you shouldn’t have much trouble finding what you’re looking for!
Start Building Your Bucolic Abode
If your taste tilts toward the quaint, if your spirit animal is Anne of Green Gables, or if you’re looking for a way to inject a serious dose of nostalgia into your space, it might be time to give cottagecore a try. Start right here and stock up on the items we've described to bring the spirit of the countryside to your home!
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