What is Cottage Core house decorating? Here’s all you need to know about this viral decorating trend that’s popping up everywhere.
There are so many elements of Cottage Core that I love. From organic fabrics to romantic colors to vintage finds and so much more, it’s such a fun and satisfying way to decorate. Here are all the details.
There is a trend right now in decorating that’s going viral.
It started on TikTok and jumped to Instagram and Facebook and YouTube and then right into people’s homes.
It’s called Cottagecore.
And it’s so new it’s not even in the dictionary yet (even as I type this post, my spell checker is constantly correcting me.
No worries.
You don’t need Merriam-Webster.
You have me.
I’ve got details and examples and definitions and at the end of this post you’ll know so much about Cottagecore you can drop it in conversation tonight over dinner.
But just between us? My favorite thing about this trend?
I was Cottagecore before Cottagecore WAS EVEN A THING.
But what is Cottagecore style decorating?
Here’s all you need to know.
What is Cottage Core House Decorating?
At its heart?
Cottage Core style decorating is everything I LOVE about decorating.
I’ve been decorating like this for years without any TikTok videos to guide me.
Cottage Core is all about surrounding yourself with things that celebrate nostalgia and home with European and vintage flair. It’s inspired by rural settings and decorating from the countryside and interpreting a simpler life.
It’s literally decorating how my mother tells me I live every day of my life.
Through a rose-colored lens.
Q: What are elements of Cottage Core house decorating
This room is my interpretation of Cottagecore.
Here are all the Cottage Core house elements from the space:
- My father’s desk–so much nostalgia from a time when everything was simpler
- This parquet floor—original to the house and it’s so timeworn and imperfect
- These layered rugs (they are both Buddy proof and SO AFFORDABLE)
- The basket full of flowers
- The cottage-style hutch
- The vase with simple greenery
- The woven baskets
- The neutral paint colors
- Simple elements like these drop cloth drapes
- The vase that Westleigh made for me in art class one year
- The vintage typeset drawers
And on and on and Cottagecore on.
Q: What are ways to incorporate Cottage Core into decor?
The best part about this style of decorating?
If you are like me?
You probably have so many elements already around your home.
- Pillows—tassels and fringe and woven elements that look like they just came off the loom
- Tufting—a key component of European decorating, but with a simple farmhouse flair
- Layering—I layered the rugs in this space to create a feeling of timelessness
- Throws—this ottoman has a storage compartment I used to store throws
- Colors—soft, layered colors with gentle hues and a romantic feel
Q: What are some basic principles of Cottage Core?
It’s all about timelessness. You know when you walk into a space and feel like the room has been there forever? Layers and layers of life that have all been well-lived.
That’s Cottage Core.
Here are a few key tenets of this style of decorating.
- comfort—steer clear of sharp edges and anything that’s not comfortable—you should sink into the chairs for example
- greenery—organic elements are an important part of any space—especially Cottage Core rooms
- vintage finds—I LOVE shopping at thrift stores and yard sales and every room should have thrift store elements
- unique materials—woven textiles and organic cotton and jute and raffia and cotton just to name a few
Q: What’s one thing I can do today to start decorating like this?
Y’all.
I could have written this post YEARS AGO at that farmhouse.
This is everything I decorate with and how I decorate and how I surround myself with things that I love.
I was Cottage Core before it was ever a twinkle in TikTok’s eye.
Here’s my best tip.
Start with what you already have and reimagine it. You can layer in new pieces and new finds (and I’m sharing some fun new finds and sourcing everything here at the end of the post). But start with what you already have.
For example, this vase?
Westleigh made it for me years ago.
It’s unusual and creative and made with love and it doesn’t really hold water, so I add branches and stems to it instead.
So let me know what you think?
What’s your opinion on this style of decorating?
Do you have a little Cottage Core house all around you and you didn’t even know it?
If so?
Please my wonderful, creative, amazing friend….
….come sit by me. 🙂
Source list for post:
- these wire and wood baskets
- these woven pillows
- these natural water hyacinth baskets
- this 5′ x 7′ washable rug
- this indoor/outdoor patterned rug
- this ceramic lamp with a gray shade
- this 13″ peperomia plant
- this set of four woven baskets
- this tufted ottoman with storage
Affiliate links are used on this post.
Ooooh Cottagecore ! I am loving it. You had me at the word "vintage". Also "comfort" and "use what you have". This is definitely going to take off! Thank you for sharing this new trend with us KariAnne!
I thought it was called, "Coastal Grandmother"
Another name for it is Granny Chic!
Cottage style is my absolute favorite!!! xoxo
Yay! I’m on trend. Thanks for enlightening me about cottagecore—my forever style. 💞💞💞
I'm thinking that Cottagecore is just Farmhouse living but they are using another name for this type of decorating. All about Marketing. I love it whatever name they are using.😋 It is using what you love and using it in different areas of your house.
I love this KariAnne! It’s warm, soothing and purposeful. I absolutely LOVE the vase that Westleigh made for you! If it was something I could purchase - I most likely would. I have some things my kids made for me that I use for decorating and oh that fuzzy feeling it gives when I look at them - hard to beat, isn’t it? Thank you for this post.
A You Tube channel with a lot of information about Cottagecore is She Holds Dearly. I think you’ll really enjoy it!
I know for a fact that I have cottage core in my house already. The wicker baskets and a little greenery? Who doesnt have that? Im pretty traditional, but every room in my home has some cottage core in it. I have one guest bedroom done in french cottage too. But I love reading articles about decor. They make me smile just as you do. Thank you for the fun reads.
I love how every few years, we have new words to discribe this style of decorating...now...Cottagecore. I think it's wonderful that through this style of decorating/design, we can see that OLD can meet NEW and vise versa. This style shows us that if there are pieces we love, they will work with any other style to bring character to a space. Pieces purchased at yard sales/flea markets, can become a part of our family as if they had been handed down over generations. As a designer, I have always encouraged clients to use well-loved pieces together with their new pieces, to add that warmth that you just can't get from all NEW. Just recently, a dear friend who had decided with her husband, to downsize BIG TIME...moved from a very large home, to a much smaller condo with no storage, called in tears. She had hired a company to hold a living estate sale and she was selling the better part of a life time of furniture and accessories. I reminded her that many pieces in my own home were bought at yard sales/estate sales. She had also done the same over the years. We bought these pieces because they spoke to us and we made them part of our homes. I told her the people buying her things were buying them for the same reason...to love them and make them part of their homes and families. She said that made her feel so much better, knowing all of those things, would have new families with new memories.
I agree, I have been Cottagecore since I began decorating my own homes. I decorate with items passed down from generation to generation because I am a sentimental person and enjoy seeing those items every day when I enter a room in our home.
No only have I decorated in the cottagecore style, I live in a cottage that was built in 1934. We bought the cottage in 1989 from the original builder’s children. After being rented since we bought it, we decided to downsize and moved into the cottage in 2018. My yard sale and thrift shop finds fit right in in the cottagecore style.
Jerry, You are a TikTok Style Star!!!!! KariAnne
Our daughter's entire 100 year old Craftsman home is full of great pieces she has refinished herself. Except for sofas, beds, TV's and appliances every piece is either from a used furniture store, my parents' older pieces, and even from the side of the road! One lady actually gave her furniture because she was downsizing. They are both busy professionals, and our daughter says it's these projects that relax her after a hectic week. Yesterday we were cleaning their packed 3 car garage, and I just laughed at all the furniture that is in her staging area waiting for their refinishing. One thing leads to another, and she bought herself a pickup truck to haul all this stuff!
Hey, KariAnne! I’m Allie, and I love this style of decorating! I think that vintage anything just adds such flair to a room, and I am always happy when I find something CottageCore. I know you love a good flea market, so I have a recommendation: Alyssa’s in Pace, FL. I know you’re a Texan, but if you ever meander over to Florida, Alyssa’s is waiting :)
Last night ,as I’m wearing my white linen big shirt and creamy linen pants to join a delightful group of girl friends, I had to laugh !! TIK TOK….turn back the clock! We’ve all been doing this for a lifetime! I love that they think they are doing something new….. Soooo….Coastal Grandma , Cottagecore…many of us have been oozing this LONG BEFORE they all have now decided to give our style a name!!! Cheers to us for being timelessly (and effortlessly) CLASSIC without a silly video ! At least we can be happy a new generation has noticed us….who knew we actually needed a name???
LET'S GO!!!!! We are AMAZING!
Hi KariAnne, I love everything about your home and style. Where did you get the gray chair with the pillow in it? Thanks
Just messaged you with the link!
There are a bazillion variations on a theme out there. Cottagecore, cabincore, Coastal Grandma, Grandmillenial .... I'm sure I'm missing a few. As you mentioned, I've been decorating this way forever and it sounds like I'm not the only one. I think the cozy, timeless vibe never really goes out of fashion (or maybe I'm just convinced that I'm always in style!). I'm a fan of any interior that invites you to come in and read a book snuggled up in a throw while drinking a cup of tea. Preferably with a cat on your lap. Hooray for comforting, homey homes!
Isn't it amazing that we were cool before we even knew it! LOL!
Love cottagecore. Warm and comfy. Thanks for sharing.
I love this style too!! Didn’t know it had a name but I love old nostalgic pieces and antiques. My mother decorated in this style many, many years ago so it just speaks home to me❤️
I love how this style incorporates treasured items from the past. I don't love shopping, except at consignment and thrift stores, so this style is a great match for me and my old house. Just yesterday I picked up the book, The Little Book of Cottagecore, at the library. I will let you know what new discoveries I find in the book.
The Little Book of Cottagecore is more about skills associated with cottage living: gardening, sewing, baking, etc. I was hoping for more ideas about home decorating.
Loved your post, KariAnne! There's nothing better than living with lots of antiques and Thrift Store treasures that bring us such precious memories and add to the coziness of our home! Just love everything I have inherited or had given to me over the years! Have a blessed day!
You and me both, sister! This is the way I decorate, too. And I love it! (Amost as much as I love the way you write!)
When I got divorced I moved to an apartment and I made every room cottage core. Mostly thrift stores, yard sales and auctions. Since then I have remarried and have blended furniture in my husband’s house. It has gone surprisingly well! Always looking for inspiration from you. Thanks so much!
My daughter and I talked about this very thing - and that I was Cottagecore before I even knew what it was. It's a way of life, of loving the family hand me downs, the old woods and rusted metals, using Grandmother's items in different ways, and some in they ways they were meant to be, greenery from around our place. I'm glad they put a name to it - when asked my style it was a bit difficult to explain. Now, I can!
Woo-hoo!!! Count me in! I looooooooove this! So cozy and lovely. Memory filled. And you are the bestest at it, dear KariAnne! I adore those baskets! On my list to get. Thank you! 😍
Trends come and trends go! Decorate your home to satisfy your heart strings and you will always be in style!
Love it! Love mixing old with new. It creates a warm and cozy home.
I first started hearing about Cottage Core during the Covid lockdown, what? 2 years ago??? How can I have lost TWO years?? To me it isn't new, it's just become trendy again. It's taking all the classic things we loved about cottage, and curating down to the core of what makes cottage, well... cottage. English Country is trending again as well, or the "Grandma's Got style" look that is favored by lots of younger folk. I love how interior style goes through cycles, I also stopped calling myself Modern Farmhouse about 3 years or so ago once it became all Kirklands and Hobby Lobby and Walmart. I have nothing against any of those stores, but I don't want my home to be a carbon copy of everyone else. So I just went back to my old... Rustic Farmhouse/classic country. No matter what design style we like to call our home, let's make sure it fits us, the people who live in it, and not try to emulate someone else or be "on trend." Let's be authentic! And that is what I love about you. You remain your authentic self, no matter what your style is called by the trend police! .