How to Decorate Your Master Bedroom in Cottage Style

Cottage-style decor encourages a sense of relaxation, so it's perfect for a master bedroom. Here are some ways to get the look.

Difficulty:

Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• Baskets
• Craft Paints
• Curtain Rods
• Fabrics
• Flowers
• Home Furnishings And Accessories
• House Paints

1. Choose a traditional-look bed: old maple in spool/spindle style, wicker, iron, brass, or a white-painted four-poster.

2. Dress the bed in a light, homey fabric - eyelet, cotton chenille, pillow-ticking or awning stripes - or a pieced quilt. Continue the theme with pillow shams and dust ruffles.

3. Look for non-matching bedside tables in wicker or with simple turned legs.

4. Top tables with traditional lamps that reflect humble origins: simple ceramic, terra cotta, milk glass and wicker, or choose candlestick lamps. Use fabric shades in solids or in patterns such as small floral motifs or checks.

5. Don't worry about matching the bed to the chest of drawers to the tables; you can tie diverse styles together by painting them the same color. White is a good finish choice.

6. Dress the windows simply with tabtop curtains, flounced priscillas or Cape Cod curtains; 2-inch wood blinds work well, too. Choose a treatment that allows sunlight to flood the room.

7. Deck the walls and floors with old-fashioned, casual favorites: floral or striped paper or pastel paint for the walls; nubbly cotton chenille, striped rag rugs and braided rugs underfoot.

8. Decorate your tabletops with folk-art animals, dried flowers or casual cut-flower arrangements or ceramic figurines. Carry out the theme with potted-plant cachepots, baskets, or old-fashioned dishes that can serve as catchalls for pocket change and keys.

9. Add (if your room's large enough) an antique-style oak chair, topped with a ruffled cushion.

Tips & Warnings

• Keep the look light, airy and casual. The pieces should be a blend of the types of furnishings that proliferate at secondhand stores: serviceable but not fine. These are the pieces you'd use to furnish a sun-filled vacation home.