Cottage Decorating

Is there anything more cozy than an adorable little cottage? I have had the good fortune to live in a couple of lovely little cottages. For various reasons, I decorated each of them quite differently. But if there is one thing about a cottage decorating, it’s that you can do pretty much whatever you want so long as the end result is comfy and cheerful and cozy. And of course, there should be plenty of flowers everywhere...

Scenes from our California beach cottages…

This adorable, fabulous little Craftsman cottage was the second cottage we lived in near the beach in southern California. It had oodles of charm but not much space. Still, that’s a small price to pay for seeing the ocean every day. Since a lot of our furniture and other belongings were in storage, I decided to go casual and bright and slightly eclectic in the decorating.

A close-up of the lovely fireplace. It was surrounded by built-ins (there were lots of them throughout the cottage), offering much-needed storage.

The dull brown leather couch had to stay, so I brightened it up with this quilt. Much more cottage-y.

The kitchen in this little cottage was fabulous ~ spacious and airy and full of light, and it came with this gorgeous hutch, which I promptly filled with dishes.

An adorable and incredibly well-thought-out island in the middle of the kitchen...

In the dining room, the cottage came with these oars already mounted ~ just another charming detail. I tried to tie in the sea theme with the watercolor above the armoire.

Because the cottage was so small, the dining room had to pull double duty by housing some of our books and other goodies. The room also had some more of those beautiful built-ins.

The cottage even came with a fabulous, if tiny, vintage bathroom, complete with a built-in magazine rack...

I took the opportunity to use my pink vintage trash can...

Even the yard was perfect for a cottage, with a white picket fence around the front and a lovely path and gate leading to the back yard.

Autumn on the porch...

And this is the first beach cottage we lived in ~ the decor is very Shabby Chic...

I used lots of pretty pastels and florals decorating this cottage...

This cottage had a lovely back yard that all of us enjoyed. Emily loved to lay with the back door open gazing out, while Russ and Nick preferred to actually be outside.