How to Decorate with Modern Cottage Design
Modern cottage design is a winning combination of historical charm and modern sophistication. It is an ever evolving design style that has swept the design world for its modern appeal without the loss of soul.
I’m excited to share these tips to help you easily add modern cottage style to your home!
This post may contain affiliate links for your convenience.
What Is Modern Cottage Style
You know those homes that you walk into or see online and you just feel “at home” in them? However, you don’t feel as though they are dated or overdone.
It’s likely that those homes have some elements of modern cottage design.
Modern cottage design creates an atmosphere of historical charm and soul in a home. But it combines that charm and soul with modern sophistication and functionality for ease of living.
Modern cottage style is an elevated take on cottagecore.
Cottagecore dives deep into romanticizing the nostalgia of country living, homesteading, pattern drenching and simple pleasures. On the other hand, modern cottage ensures that those elements, the soul of a home, are present but promoted from a country vibe to one of sophistication.
There are many distinct elements of modern cottage design that I’m excited to dive into so you can implement them into your own home!
Let’s dive deeper.
What is the Difference Between Modern Farmhouse and Modern Cottage?
Modern farmhouse style ruled the design world for over a decade. While there are some similarities between modern farmhouse and modern cottage, there are also distinct differences.
Modern farmhouse style incorporates a cozy, rustic look with many industrial elements. Similarly, modern cottage design seeks to keep the cozy, but it intentionally elevates the rustic.
Modern farmhouse was popular for chippy paint, industrial piping, and primitive elements. On the other hand, modern cottage has taken those charming ideas and converted them to more organic elements like hand hewn beams and wall moulding.
But it doesn’t stop there, it elevates the look with contemporary pairings that transform “rustic” to “sophisticated”.
Is Modern Farmhouse Going Out
The age old question is, “Is such and such design style going out the door?”
From a design world perspective, I would say that yes, modern farmhouse is evolving.
From a homemaker perspective, I would say that any style that you love and makes you feel restful and at peace in your home is “in”.
Modern farmhouse has begun to evolve into a modern cottage style with less primitive elements and more sophistication. But that doesn’t mean that the modern farmhouse style of any home should be considered out of date.
SHOP THE LOOK
On the other hand, if you’ve felt the pull to shift your home’s style, modern cottage is a great transition style as you’ll be able to keep many of the elements you already own.
Here’s how to do it.
50 Design Ideas to Transform Your Home
Let’s get down to details. Keeping in mind the overarching theme of historic charm paired with modern sophistication, here are straightforward ways to add modern cottage design to your home.
The Foundation of Modern Cottage Design: Mix Modern and Antique
There is nothing that creates a modern cottage style home better than a mixture of modern and antique elements. It is a straightforward concept; however, the execution can be tricky.
First of all, what classifies as an antique? The error most people make is confusing vintage (20 to 99 years old) with antique (100 years old or older).
Starting in the early 20th century, we saw a shift away from ornate furniture design. New materials like steel and plywood started replacing solid woods. And sleek modernism started removing the craftsmanship and uniqueness of ornate furniture.
Therefore, if you’re trying to mix 80s vintage pieces with modern elements, it will likely fall flat compared to a true antique.
You also need to take care in the balance of antique and modern.
Modern cottage leans more heavily on the modern side when it comes to decor, and more heavily to the cottage side when it comes to architecture and exterior elements.
Aim for these ratios:
- Interior:
- 60/40 modern to cottage decor
- 70/30 modern to cottage furniture
- 60/40 cottage to modern architectural elements
Wall and Ceiling Moulding
Box moulding is a very historic design element that easily integrates into modern homes. Additionally, beadboard adds a lot of charm and sweetness to spaces that you want to feel cozy.
Crown moulding: Adding layers to your wall/ceiling transition instantly adds charm to any new build or basic home.
Organic Design Elements
Rustic wood beams: Whether you add them to the ceiling, incorporate them into fireplace mantels, add them as door headers, or frame out a cased opening, architectural wood beams make a huge statement.
You can use real hand hewn beams or make your own using my linked tutorials above.
Tumbled stone: Historical English homes have tumbled stone everywhere. Cobblestone pathways outside, tumbled stone floors, stone walls.
Stone elements are the epitome of historic charm combined with a modern sophistication.
Grasscloth wallpaper, plants, caned back wood chairs, and even unexpected paper elements like this papier-mâché light fixture all add organic value in smaller ways as well.
Natural stone, anything: Often we think of natural stone countertops bringing sophistication to a home. However, go beyond granites and marbles.
Natural stone fireplaces can make a huge statement. Add limestone to a hearth or mantel surround.
Incorporate flagstone into your gardens.
Over-grout stone as a backsplash.
Use stone in your home exterior paired with beautiful cedar shake siding. The options are limitless!
Brick is also a beautiful choice for fireplaces, pathways, and unexpected areas like behind a stove.
Warm Neutrals
Bright white has been the most common neutral in homes for ages. Modern cottage creates instant coziness with warmer neutrals.
- Taupe, beige, brown and tans
- Greige
- Creams and soft whites
- Saturated greens
- Light and airy blues
- Bring in color with pops of burgundy, purples, deep reds and muted yellows
Historic Cabinet Styles
One of the biggest shifts we see in modern cottage is the change from streamlined and sleek cabinetry to historic cabinet styles.
This means adding more applied moulding to the traditional shaker cabinet. Rounding edges of kitchen islands. Embracing slab front drawers mixed with other cabinet styles for a storied look. All of these elements can be seen in my most recent kitchen remodel.
SHOP THE LOOK
DeVol Kitchens is the epitome of European kitchen design. They’ve taken historic English design and made it work for modern homes. If you want more inspiration, just study the images on their site.
Beyond the kitchen, you can bring in historic cabinet styles with antique armoire’s, like I’ve done in my mudroom and many spaces in my home.
You can also do this by designing sweet unexpected spaces with historic style cabinetry, like I’ve done with my built in coffee station.
Arched Openings
Adding arched openings to homes is actually a fairly easy and DIY friendly project. If you’ve ever wanted to arch a square opening, check out this tutorial.
Adding arches to doorways, arched cabinetry, and built in bookshelves is a quick way to bring charm to a home. Square lines are modern. Arched lines are cottage style.
You can even do this by finding vintage china cabinets on Facebook Marketplace that have an arched door design and giving the piece a makeover. Or, buy new with these beautiful cabinets.
SHOP THE LOOK
Modern Cottage Exterior Design
As I alluded to above, home exteriors are where modern cottage design really shines.
Cedar shake siding, stone, brick, board and batten…all of these home exterior architectural elements add so much interest to a modern cottage home.
Couple those choices with gabled rooflines, dormer windows, archways, covered porches and curvy pathways.
To add in the modern elements, go big on the scale of windows and make a bold choice on garage doors.
In our last home, we increased our living room window size by 4 feet and it made the biggest difference to transform the home from dated 90s to one of modern charm.
Charming Garden Ideas
While most of the focus of modern cottage design is on the house itself, you can’t neglect your outdoor spaces.
Cottage gardens are full of:
- whimsical roses
- boxwood or other evergreens
- dancing flowers like cosmos or anemone
- sturdy staples like lupine or snapdragons
- kitchen gardens for herbs, tomatoes or other staples
- raised beds for organization (use code GRACEINMYSPACE10OFF for $10 off my favorite raised beds.)
- structural elements with everything from trellises and arbors to greenhouses or gazebos
- concrete benches
- tucked away seating areas
These areas create all the charm in the world for your outdoor living. Here are some of my favorite elements to add to a modern cottage garden or home exterior.
SHOP THE LOOK
Modern Cottage Examples
I believe it’s easiest to understand what makes a design style through imagery.
Since 2023 we’ve been transitioning our 1970s colonial to a modern cottage style. Let’s take a look at two of the most impactful rooms in a home’s design: the kitchen and living room.
Modern Cottage Kitchen
When we remodeled our 1970s kitchen, these are the modern cottage elements I included.
- Historic walnut wood tones
- Modern statement lighting
- Applied moulding cabinetry with built up crown moulding
- Classic warm color palette (Painted cabinets are Revere Pewter by Benjamin Moore)
- European oak flooring
- Curved range hood
- Modern backsplash with lots of organic movement
- Small open shelving with a charming gallery rail intended to display antiques
- Kept the original wood paneling and brick fireplace
SHOP THE LOOK
Modern Cottage Living Room
Our living room is a new build addition.
SHOP THE LOOK
I am just starting with a modern blank slate and working towards adding cottage elements. To do this, I’m planning to add:
- Wood ceiling beams
- Stone on the fireplace
- Potentially box moulding or another wall treatment
In the meantime, I’m using antique furniture and decor to bring in those cottage elements.
I think this is a great example of a space that isn’t quite the style I’m going for…yet. However, it has all the potential in the world and a plan to move it towards modern cottage design.
More Interior Design Styles
If you want to learn more about different interior design styles, make sure to check out this video to help you define your style, and the posts below.
Thanks so much for stopping by the blog today! I hope this explanation of how you can bring modern cottage design into your home was a helpful one!
Make sure to subscribe to get my Grace Notes directly to your inbox and to access all my insider perks. And you can follow along daily on Instagram and weekly on YouTube!
~ Sarah
Defining Design Styles
