Cottagecore Aesthetic: How To Nail The Look

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Since we’re encouraged to stay home unless it’s absolutely necessary to go out, it’s important to make the extra effort to make our homes more comfortable. One of the best ways to handle this is to create an environment that anticipates our own needs. It’s not uncommon for people to feel trapped in their homes and opt to spend time somewhere warm and cozy like a cafe.

The cafe industry is successful for a very good reason. Have you ever wondered how you’re able to just stay in a cafe for hours upon hours with nothing but a cup of coffee and quality conversation? A lot of us don’t realize that the ambiance plays a larger role than we might think and it’s actually not that hard to replicate for our own private spaces. Cafes tend to follow a very simple design formula when it comes to how they decorate their interiors. Although there’s more than one way of doing it, there is a very popular and upcoming trend that’s sweeping across many design circles right now: the cottagecore aesthetic.

The cottagecore aesthetic is a trend that makes use of a mix of eclectic and warm touches for a space which feels familiar and inviting. There’s nothing about it that’s intimidating or shocking, which is why it’s become so widely favored. You could say that the cottagecore aesthetic is really a celebration of the mundane but tastefully brought into the twenty-first century. Although it’s hard to pin down an astute definition with this design concept, we’re here to help you learn about it as best as possible with a few simple but effective tips.

Like a lot of popular design trends right now, the cottagecore aesthetic relies heavily on things that are close to nature. That means the tones you go for should lean towards earthy neutrals and you should exercise caution with brighter pops of color. After all, the artful blend of green and brown can help to calm frazzled nerves. The goal of cottagecore is to create a sense of airiness or lightness that feels restful and warm, and this is what this four-photo set achieves.

This same feeling should translate towards not just your furniture, but also everything else. Experiment with the colors of your walls by adding a light rust shade or dabble with calming moss green. It doesn’t have to be just a crisp white everywhere. 

Although the goal of this design style is to create a feeling of calmness, it’s also important to provide a little bit of contrast in your home here and there. As long as you practice the elusive art of showing restraint, there’s always the right amount of character and texture to add to any space. It’s easy to get lost or overwhelmed by the plethora of choices that are available in the market. This means it’s also very easy to buy too much of what you need and then feel the need to use every single of your items. To achieve the cottagecore aesthetic, always remember that less is more. Overcrowding your space is one of the worst things that you can do.

Consider adding a piece of rustic furniture to anchor the look of your home. Not only does it act as solid anchor to your interiors, they also provide texture and character to break the sense of flatness and monotony that could happen if you play too safe. After all, whenever we think about familiar and comforting old furniture, we almost always remember very textured wood with a strong warm tone. Having a few pieces around that emphasize their craftsmanship and build quality will surely bring about balance and comfort to the eyes.

It is said that we often derive our comfort from things that trigger nostalgic feelings. There are things from our past that we associate a lot with security and familiarity and these are usually the environments we spent our younger years in. For example, our childhood homes when we lived with our parents or even our grandparents. Aside from all the love we’ve received over the years, the place where it all took place also plays a vital role. Even looking at a vintage cabinet can trigger warm and fuzzy memories that remind us of hot meals and steaming cups of cocoa.

Vintage furniture has more than earned its place in the realm of the cottagecore aesthetic. Unlike modern furniture, they tend to be heavy and are made from rustic materials which make them the perfect addition to your set-up. When you think about it, they’re really the perfect balance of providing a calming feeling while also satisfying the visual qualities needed to achieve that effortlessly earthy look that is characteristic of the cottagecore scheme.

When it comes to natural finishes, wood takes the top of the charts as it is reliable and sturdy. It also comes in so many beautiful tones and patterns that occur naturally. This also means that every piece of wood is one of a kind and could never be replicated. Lastly, wood also has a very unique property of being able to give a space a lot of warmth and life. It is the perfect natural element to add to a cottagecore interior due to its ability to anchor its surroundings. Although it’s important to keep everything light and airy, there’s a balance that needs to be struck and this can be achieved by investing in high-quality wood furniture.

There’s an air of luxury that comes with wood furniture that other materials could never replicate. Despite its simpler looks, the level of craftsmanship really shines through when it comes to wood furniture. Experts can take one look at a piece of wood furniture and immediately know the level of skill that had to go into making such a clean piece of work. Although it might seem to be a bunch of planks being stuck together, woodworking is actually a complex art which deserves greater appreciation.

One of the most crucial anchors of any home is the couch. It’s that iconic and soft piece of furniture that we all just love to sink into and let our worries melt away. This is exactly what makes it one of the pillars of a good cottagecore aesthetic for a living room. A sofa can make or break your interiors, which is why there is a need to specifically list it on the list of things you have to always consider. When it comes to soft furniture, there are numerous boxes that you have to check so you can be sure that it will go with everything you have planned.

Firstly, it’s highly recommended that you opt for a fabric sofa as these are softer and warmer to touch and look at. It creates a softer look and provides you with subtle texture as opposed to leather which can tend to look a bit more cold and impersonal. Secondly, you should pick one that does not only look soft but is also actually soft when you sit on it. Surely, you’ve experienced sitting on a couch that looks incredibly cushy but doesn’t really give you the embrace that only a good sofa can do. Lastly, pick a sofa in a tone that’s found in nature. It doesn’t have to be green or brown – a nice muted mustard could work fantastically.

One of the greatest challenges of doing an interior design theme for your entire home is trying to figure out how to keep the look cohesive. Even your dining room should enjoy the privilege of sporting a beautiful cottagecore aesthetic, and making this so doesn’t have to be a stressful process. When it comes to dining accessories, stick to using simple or classic dinnerware, but keep the overall theme cottagecore by making use of some small albeit clever touches that tie everything together. For example, incorporating woven fabric placemats can really change the vibe of your table setting while still being able to use most of what you already have.

If you really plan to go all the way with your cottagecore aesthetic transformation, you opt to search for ceramic designs with a more vintage vibe to make everything more eclectic and special. Although this design concept is all about celebrating nature and simplicity, you can let your personality shine through the different small details you may choose to put here and there. Your dining plates can even be in different adorable colors to inject a tiny bit of life without overstepping on the natural and calming environment that you’ve created for yourself.

Cottagecore is all about simplicity and letting the materials of your furniture speak for themselves. However, making use of vintage wallpapers to give life and color to your spaces is an exception to the rule. This can go against everything you’ve set in your home, which is why it’s important that you choose your wallpaper wisely. Having a good layer of wallpaper on a specific wall can provide the area with something refreshing to look at and break the monotony of flat color finishes. Just like rustic furniture pieces, these exist to make your space more personal.

When choosing the type of wallpaper to use, it’s important to keep in mind that you should go for more muted and natural colors. Even the theme should be considered when it comes to selection because you don’t want a harsh pattern or something that makes you feel restless. Your wallpaper should add to the feeling of calmness and never clash with anything. The wallpaper above features a nature theme with its print of flowers and birds. However, the background is a beautiful muted teal that gives just the perfect amount of color for an accent wall in your cottagecore aesthetic interiors.

Another component in every living area that speaks volumes is your choice of wood coffee table. For a lot of people, it’s a simple and small thing that gets overlooked constantly. It is quite normal to put thought into a sofa set, but a coffee table can feel almost like an afterthought. Instead of having it play second fiddle to your gorgeous sofa, why not make the extra effort to picking one that can keep up with the lust-worthy cottagecore aesthetic that you’ve created? Your coffee table can, in fact, be another extension of your personality. It’s a great rule of thumb to remember that you can absolutely let your personality shine in the smaller pieces around your home.

Always remember that following a guide to the letter isn’t always the best idea because that would mean there is not a lot of room for you to showcase your own personality. It should always be the goal to have others feel your individuality when they come into your home and not feel like everything is just very manufactured and inauthentic. Your wood coffee table can be equally rustic as your dining table and make its own little statement. For example with the one above, it makes use of odd ends of cut wood that’s been made into a work of art by creating a rectangular surface thanks to some resin. You end up with a magical table with a crystal river in the middle.

If you’ve gone through all of the vintage furniture that you can find and still feel that you haven’t found the perfect pieces for your cottagecore aesthetic paradise, consider perusing the realm of retro furniture designs. They share a lot of common traits with vintage furniture except retro style has a more modern take to the heavy ornamentation that’s usually found in vintage furniture. To help you differentiate between the two, you can think of vintage as the furniture that your grandparents probably grew up with, while retro goes along more on the lines of your parents’ era.

Even so, there are so many treasures that can be found with retro furniture especially since they bear the same emotional attachments and nostalgia that we could feel for vintage pieces. The main difference is usually that vintage furniture is incredibly ornate and makes use of heavy detailing and equally weighted materials. Retro furniture is a little bit sleeker and you might notice that a lot of them are quite popular in furniture shops even today. The aesthetic is cleaner but a lot of them still make use of really rustic and distinct finishes which make them appropriate for nailing that cottagecore aesthetic.

Following through can be tough, especially when it comes to the cottagecore aesthetic. You’ve probably been to a home that was really well-decorated, only for it to be ruined by a couple of stray accessories that don’t really go with everything else. If you ask any interior designer worth their salt, they can tell you that the home accessories can really help sell the concept and the look that you’re going for. Being haphazard with them can ruin all the hard work that you’ve done for your home.

It definitely pays to always be mindful even down to the smallest details of your home. You can treat it like a fun little game where everything has to match and play nicely with each other. A great example of this would be the woven coasters above as these can be a wonderful extension of your cottagecore interiors. They sport a natural finish and they have that unique and eclectic weave pattern that evokes an almost bohemian look. Another good instance would be to purchase a lot of fabric throws that you can put on sofas, beds, and even console tables around your house to make everything look cozier.

Luckily for us today, it’s really quite simple to get everything you need to achieve that flawlessly cozy cottagecore aesthetic. It’s always important to remember that when you go into this little design experiment, it’s really not about achieving perfection. Rather, it’s about highlighting a strong but simple and reliable design. Nothing about it has to be sleek and chic, or even super refined, but it’s about celebrating comfort and familiarity with a touch of simplicity.

Organic is another great word that you can associate with this design style because it should really be something that sort of comes naturally to you. If you’ve noticed, a lot of the pieces are normally things that you would gravitate towards because they’re usually quite unassuming and unimposing. They can bring a certain level of comfort in terms of their visuals but they’re also pieces that you can feel comfortable using. When nothing at home is scary or complicated, then that’s truly when you can relax, and that’s what this aesthetic is really all about.