Cottagecore: Inside the interior design trend and how to achieve it

When scrolling through your TikTok feed, you've likely been met at some point or another with videos of a house that reminds you of the English countryside. The enchanting home is filled with rustic furniture, antique art, vintage-inspired wallpaper, pastel tones and lots of florals.

While it may feel like you're looking at a recreation of your grandma's house, it's actually a trend that has taken the internet by storm. Known as cottagecore, this aesthetic is an social media-born lifestyle that idealizes rural living and embracing a more simple existence. It is said that the term was initially coined in 2018 on Tumblr, but the trend began to gain momentum over the last several years on sites like TikTok and Instagram.

The style applies to everything from fashion, gardening and homemade goods. But cottagecore's biggest claim to fame is its charming and hard-to-duplicate interior designs.

"Cottagecore is kind of like the grown-up version or modernized version of what shabby chic was, let's say, 25 years ago," said Elizabeth Crafton, owner and principal designer of Lilabeth Interiors in Cherry Hill. "It's this vintage look. It's this flea market find. It's this return to nature."

Dana Dore is the creator of the Adored House Instagram page, where she showcases her cottagecore-inspired home. Based in Farmingdale, New Jersey, and featured in Country Living Magazine several times, her mantra is "filling our builder grade home with old house charm one DIY at a time."

While she's not a trained interior designer, she said she's always admired interior design from looking at her mom's magazines as a kid to studying fine arts and working in retail window displays. Dore said she chose cottagecore for her own home because she wanted something that felt timeless and traditional, but also comfortable and approachable for her family.

"This aesthetic is not something that you can run out to Target or Home Goods and instantly build for yourself. At least, if you want to do it the authentic way," she said. "It's really trying to understand what you like and going to flea markets and antique stores. It's not necessarily buying something because you have a wall to fill, but buying something because you like it or you're drawn to it or the colors, or the feelings that it evokes."

What elements are in the cottagecore style?

Starting with colors, the style of cottagecore typically involves using a palette of soft shades throughout your home. You can combine neutrals like brown, cream and white with pale yellows, blues, greens and pinks, Craft said. The use of patterns like stripes, florals and gingham are also main elements of this style.

"As far as prints and patterns go, it definitely leans into the traditional stripes. Block prints are also huge, and those are one of my favorite things, so I think that's why my house leans towards cottagecore," Dore said. "I have block print floral drapes throughout my house. Timeless florals, checks and gingham are also big, so just very simple and timeless prints and patterns."

She said patterned throw pillows and antique patchwork quilts are another way to incorporate these prints into your home for a cottagecore feel. And in addition to that, Ellie Mroz — founder of Ellie Mroz Design and interior designer for Michael Robert Construction , both based in Westfield — recommends adding vintage rugs and upholstered furniture with unique prints.

Focusing on good quality materials and lived-in finishes are another staple of cottagecore interior design, Mroz said. This includes things like natural wood, real stone, marble, limestone and bluestone, but incorporating them in unique ways, she said.

"Instead of using a big slab of marble on the backsplash, we'll use natural stone stacked so it almost looks like you're bringing the exterior in," she said. "Things that have lived-in finishes and patina over time are also great. For example, using real brass that will have a lived-in finish over time will make it look used. Same with the marble and natural stone, like countertops, to have that patina rather than keeping them so pristine."

In terms of furniture, Dore said you can't go wrong with traditional pieces like English roll arm sofas or wicker arm chairs. She said she recommends investing in staple pieces like this, as well as a good quality dining room table, and then building up the rest of your home from there.

Similarly, Crafton said one of the biggest factors of cottagecore is searching for unique, one-of-a-kind furniture pieces for your home. She said this style is all about taking the time to find or make items that you love, rather than having a home that is the same as everyone else.

"There’s something about cottagecore that makes a space uniquely yours, and I think that is what is part of the appeal. The space consists of something that you created or pieces you hunted for. Each of these pieces have a story to them," she said. "You can’t duplicate this look. It’s very difficult to duplicate because you’re not going to be able to get that exact piece."

To finish off the look, Dore said filling your home with a collection of antique art, vintage decor and other well-loved items will help finish out the space. She recommends taking your time with this and only picking up things that you love to develop a curated selection of pieces.

Why did cottagecore gain popularity?

Both Crafton and Mroz said that the rise in popularity for cottagecore style resulted from the pandemic, when people were looking for ways to make their space feel more cozy and comforting since they were spending so much time there.

In addition to this, Mroz said she believes its the natural reaction to the years of sleek and modern interior design that was trending for so long. Cottagecore is a very unique and hard to duplicate style, especially when compared to the cookie cutter elements of modern design, she said.

"I think for any kind of thing like design and fashion, there's always a pendulum swing. Things got to be so modern, so minimalist, so sleek and so basic, for lack of a better word, that there was only one way to go," she said. "The pendulum is now swinging to the exact opposite, which is that inclusion of lots of patterns, lots of textures, lots of vintage pieces or vintage looking pieces that have that chintz feel and that really lived in feel."

And overall, Crafton said she believes there has been a growing desire to live a slower lifestyle for many. Because cottagecore is meant to reflect a quaint existence and becoming one with nature, she said it only makes sense that people have gravitated toward this style.

"It is a collective look. That's why I tell my Instagram audience that you just have to give yourself grace and patience," Dore said. "If you start with things you love, you'll continue to find more things you love, and you could build it up from there. But it takes time to really achieve that layered, collected look that cottagecore is."

Maddie McGay is the real estate reporter for NorthJersey.com and The Record, covering all things worth celebrating about living in North Jersey. Find her on Instagram @maddiemcgay , on X @maddiemcgayy , and sign up for her North Jersey Living newsletter. Do you have a tip, trend or terrific house she should know about? Email her at MMcGay@gannett .

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Cottagecore: Inside the interior design trend and how to achieve it