5 Décor Ideas to Create a Cottagecore Space
Apr 30, 2021
There are a lot of traditional and classic décor styles that transport you through time and help your space feel rooted in history. But there ain’t nothing quite like current trend cottagecore. If you love the idea of leaving behind the sounds of the city and a fast-paced lifestyle to go crafting, foraging, and sowing your own clothes, then this is your kind of style. And it has charm enough for all.
What is exactly is this Little-House-on-the-Prairie trend and how do you bring it into your home? There is a myriad of ways to describe it, some you just have to see. But here are a few essential décor pieces to incorporate into your space to show you how to decorate cottagecore style.
Dried Flowers
To decorate in the cottagecore style, it is absolutely essential that you connect with nature. Imagine an old stone house getting overgrown with greenery and flowers. Kinda takes you back, right? That feeling is exactly what we’re going for.
Dried flowers are their own trend right now and they are an ideal piece for cottagecore decoration. They bring color and life into any room and they’re a sustainable décor feature too! Press some flowers to dry them out, then frame them up in a natural wood frame to enhance their grounded spirit. You can also try some custom metal frames for an added pop and shimmer to the presentation.
Handwritten and Time-Worn Pages
Remember the time before e-books were a thing? Cottagecore does, and it is beckoning you to celebrate those bygone days. Worn pages of your favorite stories, handwritten notes, grandma’s famous recipe: there is a romance and wistfulness of incorporating these into your décor.
And as you reclaim that feeling of the past, reclaimed wood frames are the perfect choice. They’re both eco-friendly and totally unique as they’ve been aged naturally by good old-fashioned sun and time. Choose some UV-protective acrylic and acid-free foamcore backing to protect those truly vintage pages for years to come.
Prints of Nature
Imagine you’re one with the outdoors, as uninhibited as a wild horse or petal on the wind – that’s the cottagecore way. You want to welcome the outdoors in to hang out with you. As you invite the earth in it will return the favor and invite you to connect with it more deeply than you ever have.
Printing images of wildlife, insects, flora and natural textures captures that free spirit of nature. You don’t even have to frame them to bring their character home. Try a custom wood print to marry the subject with the presentation and let the wood grain show through your picture. To find a similar connection through framing, try a real, reclaimed barnwood picture frame that was literally made from wood collected from barns across the American landscape.
Cross Stitches
There is a certain cottage-like charm when it comes to traditional crafts. Something about using our hands to create something beautiful keeps us grounded with our planet. That’s exactly why the age old craft of cross stitching never goes out of style. It’s even making a comeback with the cottagecore community.
There’s an art to framing a cross-stitch. For the full breakdown, head to our DIY blog post on How to Frame a Cross Stitch. You can frame your cross stitch with any frame that suits the style of imagery you’ve made, but the elegant approach is to use an ornate picture frame to elevate the work. Ornates fit nicely with cottagecore style due to their antiqued look, but you can also try a fine art quality black picture frame with a wide mat that will set your subject apart like the Pros.
Vintage Paintings
You can’t talk about timeless style without mentioning the great Artists of old. Monet, O’Keeffe, your Aunt that had the amazing knack for landscapes that not many people know about – cottagecore welcomes a celebration of those great art pieces that have no age.
Whether it’s an heirloom painting or a classic from the most celebrated master painters, vintage paintings help cultivate that yesteryear spirit found in this style. You can frame vintage paintings the classic way using plein air picture frames, which have wide-set profiles to spotlight your subject. But if you want to infuse some modern, eye-popping style with your décor (we asked cottagecore and they said its ok) then try framing that classic painting in a canvas floater frame.
In all, cottagecore is a very textured look that you simply won’t be able to turn your space completely into overnight. It’s a deliberate connection you make with nature and time that can be a slow process if you want it to be. Just enjoy it and find the best way that it fits in with your own unique style. And once you do – share it on social and tag us with #framingjoy so we can dream of frolics in the meadows with you!