New cottage style brings casual comfortable elegance

There are few decorating designs that can match the appeal of cottage style. But what really defines cottage style? Maybe it’s the cozy charm of porch rockers or crisp white trim inside or a white picket fence. While in the past these have been textbook marks of cottage style, today’s cottage style homes are undergoing a change. Today’s cottage look still retains that comfortable appeal but now offers some sophistication as well. This new look relies heavily on its surrounding locale, repurposing and reusing what’s available. That’s today’s cottage style.

Furnishings

To create a cottage style that’s so popular now thanks to television decorating shows, the look is less about chintz fabric and floral wallpaper and is more focused on doing away with the frou-frou and adopting a style of clean lines and furnishings that are far from fussy. A great example would be a simple farm-style dining table with a long bench for seating, paired with wingback end chairs in a check pattern. On top of the table might be a large crock or an antique dough bowl filled with green apples.

Upholstered furnishings will eschew formal designs and have a more casual appeal. Consider a club chair covered in a muslin fabric with antiqued brass nail head trim. Or, it might use a casual toile pattern. In the living room, a duck fabric covered sofa would be positioned to enjoy a view, TV, or fireplace with a casual mantel and surround.

Wood furniture is often painted or shows signs of wear, and it’s those imperfections that become part of the appeal. And rustic, hand-scraped, reclaimed or painted wood floors typify the new cottage look.

White and bright

White reigns supreme in almost all decorating, but it is especially big in cottage style decor. Whether it is the color of slipcovered furniture, bright walls or sharp trim, white is a hallmark of cottage style. But cottage style doesn’t shy away from color necessarily.

A country red kitchen or even charcoal gray painted cabinets will be paired with large, rustic pendant lighting. In the bedroom, colors can range from tans and beige to the deepest navy. But white (on trim, walls or furnishings) often become the color anchor for this style.

Cottage vs. farmhouse

Another burgeoning style today is the farmhouse look. However, the lines of farmhouse and cottage can sometimes be blurred. While the dainty style of yesteryear’s cottage decor is still called cottage, today’s cottage look is a bit crisper but still just as comfortable and approachable. It now has an edge of urbane casualness.

A major change to the cottage style has been texture. One of the most popular textures is shiplap and wood-covered walls. This look has emerged as part of the cottage style’s trend toward reusing, recycling and simplicity. Salvaged architectural accents can be used decoratively as accent pieces, and the use of what’s on hand and found objects that are repurposed are now keystones of cottage style today. Tying the look to the locale and the area is another design touchpoint that marks a transition from frippery to a look that’s a simple, yet elegant and casual.

(For more information, contact Kathryn Weber through her website, www.redlotusletter.com.)

(c) 2018 KATHRYN WEBER. DISTRIBUTED BY TRIBUNE CONTENT AGENCY, LLC.