Cottagecore: What Is It and How Can You Embrace This Trend in Your Home?

Having emerged during lockdown when many of us were confined to the comforts of our own homes, the cottagecore lifestyle trend embraces bread baking, gardening and loungewear living. When this is translated into interiors, it calls for a cosy country feel and romanticises an agricultural lifestyle through muted colours, roaring fires and wooden finishes.

At its heart, cottagecore is all about introducing nature in your home. Not only this, but it also welcomes an authentic DIY job and ‘organised’ clutter, meaning this style can be incorporated into almost any home by almost anyone.

In this blog post, we’ll show you how to adopt this Instagram trend in your home interior. From small furnishing additions to the bigger picture, we’ll help you create a cosy cottage vibe this autumn, winter and beyond.

What is a cottagecore interior? 

Like a big warm hug around your living space, cottagecore worships the concept of a self-sufficient and simplistic lifestyle. Nostalgic yet quirky, this latest trend reflects our growing awareness of sustainability, security and beauty. 

To really capture all that this style encompasses, think muted colours and handmade treasures. Particularly over the lockdown period when people had more time at home, bespoke DIY crafts were reborn – meaning that many of us chose to upcycle old cabinets and pallets, turning them into beautiful shabby-chic home accessories and garden furniture. 

A quintessentially British style, cottagecore has seen young people take inspiration from their grandparents’ furnishings and add new twists to them. Whether this is in the form of using lots of clashing colours and prints or picking second-hand furniture especially for the battered and chipped feel, this trend is proud of its chaotic and messy look. 

Incorporating it in your home

Opt for wood

One of the most prominent features of cottagecore is the use of wood in your decor. Whether this is real wood furnishings or wood effect tiles, adding this natural-looking element into your home will instantly add a countryside feel to your city flat. 

Leave the wood exposed as it is or dress it up with decorative flowers and chunky blankets nearby to give your home an added warmth. 

Embrace your clutter

To create a truly authentic cottagecore home, it’s time to say goodbye to cabinet doors and embrace your carefully curated clutter. This doesn’t mean simply stop tidying and start throwing your clothes on the floor. Instead, start thinking about floating shelving units hung up against patterned tiles and keeping crockery on display. 

Not only will this allow many textures and prints to be on display at once, but it will also create a naturally lived in appeal that will complement your cottage style interior. 

Pay attention to the outside

An integral part of the cottagecore style requires you to pay attention to your outdoor space. This could mean upcycling old palettes and turning them into well-loved pieces of garden furniture, or transforming old watering cans and jam jars into vases fit for all types of mismatched flower arrangements. 

Remember, it doesn’t just have to stop outside! Welcoming different coloured flowers into your home will work beautifully against wooden furnishings and wood effect tiles. Opt for dried flowers in winter and place them in an array of different coloured vases and plant pots to add a quirky textured feel to your interior.

Favouring a slower, more sustainable lifestyle, cottagecore has taken us back to basics by encouraging us to fall in love with the familiar sights and smells of our homes. To start from scratch and begin to feel inspired, discover our beautiful English Heritage collection here.