The easiest way to transform your home into a chic cottage style home is to decorate with white. It’s easy to use white paint, white fabrics, and white accessories to infuse any room with cottage charm. The best part is this doesn’t cost a lot of money either. Now if you are like me and have an active family, you probably won’t opt for the white sofa, but infusions of white in other ways can work wonderful even for a modern family.
White is fresh, clean, and makes a room appear larger. Believe it or not, there are several shades of white from which to choose. Bright white, snow white, off-white, eggshell, and ivory, to name just a few. The good news is that with cottage style decorating, you can mix and match all shades of white together to create a home that is uniquely cottage. White is the perfect backdrop for pops of colors as well.
Easy Ideas For Decorating With Shades of White
Blend heirloom pieces and antique finds in shades of white to instantly achieve cozy cottage style. Distressed and chipped paint pieces add a sense of history and depth to your rooms as well.
Paint your furniture white – vanities, side tables, coffee tables, dining room tables, hutches, bookcases, end tables, etc. The ideas are endless, so get some spray paint and latex paint and have fun whitening up your home.
Cottage white in the Bathroom – the bathroom is the perfect place for painted white mirrors, thick fluffy white towels, painted white shelving and accessories. It looks fresh and clean.
Bead board is an excellent white architectural detail in any room of the house. This is one of my favorite ways to create clean lines and a great washable surface for bathrooms and walls.
Mix it up! White-on-white decorating schemes work best when patterns and textures are layered and varied – have fun with this, and there is no way you can go wrong.
Add white accessories – shop your home for white china, pottery, picture frames, and vases. Gather them into collections for more impact. Thrift stores, garage sales, and discount home stores are a perfect places to find a huge variety of white treasures.
White linens and slipcovers on furniture are a trademark to cottage style. This gives furniture a relaxed and lived in feel that welcomes everyone and you can vary the colors to make it your own. The best part about slipcovers is being able to wash them. Or just add white fluffy throws, quilts, and soft textured items to make your spaces cozy.
Bring the white outdoors. The outside of your home is the first thing people will see. Of course you could paint your entire house in white, but even easier is just to add some accents. Shutters, white patio furniture, white planter boxes and picket fences are just some of the many ways to bring the cottage style to the exterior of your home.
Decorating with white in your cottage style home will feel refreshing, inviting, romantic, airy, unfettered, and restful. See you tomorrow for Day #3 of the Cottage Style Guide!
*Image source for photos other than those with my watermark came from Better Homes and Gardens
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[...] :: Day #4 – Decorate With Color! August 30, 2012 By Denise Leave a Comment White is the trademark color for cottage style decorating, but don’t worry, you can brighten up your cottage home with bursts of color here [...]