English Cottage Decorating

English cottage decorating, is a wonderful, eclectic, casual, very personal way to express yourself. Choose your furniture and accessories with careful consideration of your own likes, comfort level, and budget. You want it to show your own history, personality and humor. Nothing has to match, though your color scheme should be carried throughout. Practicality reigns supreme.

A hundred years ago, an English cottage would have been a very small dwelling occupied by local villagers.These were hard-working, unsophisticated amd poor people, who wanted nothing more than comfort in their homes. So rustic, outdoorsy, and full of nature’s color is the rule of the day. Worn and overstuffed furniture, and odds and ends being used for new purposes are the challenges you will face. Just remember that you want it to be as comfortable and inviting as your favorite sweat pants!

To begin with your english cottage decor, pick your color scheme, making sure there is plenty of fall color on the walls, floors and upholstery. Shades of brown, yellow, rust, orange and green are perfect for that English cottage look. Of course you can also use pinks and rose shades as the english rose is indicitive of English Cottage decorating. But keep it subtle, to maintain the antique, aged, cozy feel that is appropriate for this style. If you can afford it, add a rustic fireplace and ceiling beams. Just stay away from sleek, highly polished and modern finishes.

In English cottage style, the kitchen would be somewhat on the small side, but very open and airy. Wooden flooring is appropriate. The table can be a drop-leaf wooden one, which can be opened to accommodate company, but doesn’t clutter the room. Your walls, soffits, shelves, etc. should explode with antiques, dried flowers, baskets, a cacaphony of color that tells visitors what you are all about!

Café curtains or lacey sheers work well on your windows. The materials should be simple and functional. No window treatment in your English Country Cottage should ever extend below window sill height. If you need some privacy, use the old fashioned window shades that roll up and aren’t visible during the day.

Have fun when choosing your furniture and accessories. Overstuffed, worn chairs and sofas go fine with this style of decorating. And if it’s in really bad, use slip covers to blend the old with the new. An old barrel with a table skirt that goes to the floor makes a great end table. An inverted old metal tub makes a great coffee table. Storage trunks are great as night stands. Old free-standing storage cabinets with glass doors make great display cabinets for all those curios you’ve inherited or collected through the years.

If you haven’t inherited a bunch of antiques, go shopping at your local thrift store or hit the garage sales. You are bound to find great old lamps, framed mirrors, old china and glassware, wonderful vases to fill with either dried or fresh flowers, candle holders, handmade rugs and quilts. Don't forget to add the flavor of an english tea room, by having english china. English Cottage decorating wouldn't be complete without the element of tea inspired items! The possibilities are endless if you use your imagination.

Lots of live plants throughout the house, throws and pillows in greens, browns and florals, and a mirror directly across the room from a nice window with a good view will give you that wonderful outdoor feeling.

And don’t forget the little details to complete your english cottage decorating venture. Black and white photos in antique frames, simple dark wood bookcases filled with old books, ceramic figurines, primitive musical instruments, will add interest to your home. Table scarves, doilies, throws, and perhaps an old silver bowl filled with fresh lemons to add a fresh scent and an element of surprise.

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