What Is Cottage Style?  

Recently, I asked some eBay friends, all of whom specialize in cottageware, what cottage style means to them.  These are some of their thoughts:

• Light, soft, and romantic colors with chic but practical and cozy furnishings
• Anything that has a romantic, soft appeal
• Well-worn or reused vintage looks using painted pieces, pale floral fabrics, and pretty accessories to achieve a soft, casual, romantic feel
• A very comfortable, relaxed decor ... fabrics from roses to stripes to gingham, lots of painted wood furnishings, a mixture of old and new, colors from primary to soft hues
• Soft and cozy, warm and inviting, a bit frilly and romantic, with your personal touch thrown in to make it all your own
• An eclectic mix of antique, vintage and new ... a style that embodies simplicity, practicality, diversity, and flexibility

In the end, we agreed that cottage style encompasses so many different looks that it’s difficult to define.  However, for us cottage style is about handmade or found objects crafted or refurbished with loving care and individual style. It's about color and texture. It's about mixing the old with the new. It's about combining beauty with practicality. It's about what home means to each of us.

While there are many different faces of cottage style, they all have three things in common: coziness, charm, and comfort.  Perhaps this annotated list will help differentiate those faces.

• English Cottage Style — an English garden feel with overstuffed chairs; lots of roses and other floral patterns, especially for drapes and pillows; floral or transferware china collections; bold but faded hues; often solid color slipcovers and upholstery
• French Cottage Style — traditionally a Provincial look, often with warm shades of yellow and blue or yellow and red; more recently, a Parisian feel that’s softer, more restrained; whole cloth quilts; toiles and small, one-color-with-white prints; mirrors; monogrammed antique or vintage linens; tole trays and chandeliers; unusual, often one-of-a-kind pieces
• Swedish Cottage Style — an elegant but austere look; windows are often bare or covered in simple linen; blue and white ticking; simple accessories; no clutter; colors tend to be soft, grayed shades, often of blue and green
• Beach or Lakehouse Cottage Style — an easy, breezy feel with lots of white, usually mixed with blue; washable canvas slipcovers, softened with gathers; seashells and boats; wood floors painted white; hand-me-down or flea market furnishings; pretty florals, stripes, and checks
• Country, Farmhouse, Rustic, or Camp Cottage Style — a weathered look with practical, often primitive pieces; patchwork pillows and quilts; gingham, ticking, and small floral fabrics, including feedsacks; practical collections such as bowls, platters, and pitchers; white ironstone dishes

• Vintage Bungalow Cottage Style — simply charming 1940s cottage look with built-in painted bookcases and interior French doors; often neutral paint scheme; solid color fabrics with lots of texture; large flowery prints; brick painted instead of left natural; framed botanical prints
• Shabby Cottage Style — a soft, feminine feel where pink and white reign; chippy paint on flea market furniture; rusty ironwork; lots of roses; rumpled slipcovers; solid cotton, linen, and matelassé upholstery or slipcovers with floral pillows
• Romantic Cottage Style — a relaxed Victorian feel ... nothing stuffy here; whites, pastels, roses, and ruffles abound; teapots and teacups in chintz and rose patterns; collections galore; hooked floral rugs; fabrics blend but don’t match; lots of layers; vintage doilies, embroidered scarves, crocheted tablecloths and bedspreads

My friends and I lean toward Shabby and Romantic, and most of the items we offer are in those very popular styles.  However, you’ll usually find a good mix of the various cottage looks among eBay's listings.  If you don’t find what you’re looking for today, it's likely to show up in the next week or two, so be sure to check back often to see what’s new.  If you want a particularly hard-to-find item, create a favorite search for it, which will save you time and reduce your chances of missing the very auction you've been waiting for.

When searching on eBay, be sure to use descriptive words to help narrow the possibilities.  If you want romantic, there's no point in also having rustic items show up in your list, but be careful because you can miss out on the very item you're looking for this way.  How?  For example, an item that is romantic is often described as shabby by eBay sellers because the two faces share several characteristics; similarly, those who don't understand the often subtle differences among the various faces of cottage style might use English to describe something that is actually French.  The more you know and understand about all the cottage faces, the better you'll be able to second-guess sellers' descriptions and find the item your heart desires.  If you're a seller, the more you know, the better you'll be able to create more effective titles and descriptions, thus increasing hits and sales.

These are pictures of just two of the many wonderful items I've found on eBay for my romantic cottage.

Thank you for taking the time to read my article.  I hope it helped you understand cottage style a little better.  If it did, please take a second to click the YES button below.