How to Remodel a Home in Old-World Cottage Style
Old-world cottage style can introduce lots of character and warmth to your home; as well as making it cozy and welcoming. Cottage style blends lots of different textures, prints and colors together; using vintage pieces amid eclectic mixes of colors and designs. The beauty of old-world cottage style is that you can use older, timeless pieces alongside modern conveniences to create your own idyllic cottage setting. Whether you are doing major remodeling or just some small renovations, the cottage style can be easy and rewarding to create. Does this Spark an idea?
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Instructions
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Start by deciding on the color palette for your cottage-style remodel. It's typical to use more neutral colors in a cottage but there are plenty of shades of greens, muted yellows and blues that work perfectly within this theme too. You may want to try testing a small area with some historical shades; these are available in most hardware stores.
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Use as much natural wood as possible in your cottage remodel. Sand any hardwood floors you may have and keep them unfinished for a distressed and rustic look, or consider painting them.
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Install wooden beams in kitchen and living areas. You can either leave these unfinished or treat them with a dark stain. Cottages tend to have large exposed beams which helps create a low-ceilinged, cozy feel.
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Expose as much brick as you can. You can either add extra bricks on a wall, or sandblast areas such as fireplaces to expose more brick.
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A large wood-burning fireplace is essential to the old-world cottage style. Add an antique or salvaged wooden mantel. A reclaimed wooden beam would be a perfect mantelpiece for a brick fireplace.
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Include plenty of stone flooring, such as large flagstone tiles. Remove carpet and replace with wooden floors or natural-colored stone tiles.
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Install a large farmhouse sink in the kitchen and replace cupboard doors below it with a floral or striped fabric curtain. This will really enhance your old-world cottage kitchen.
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Use butcher block as a countertop instead of anything modern. Traditional cottages would have used natural wood for its practicality and resilience.
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Install a cast-iron range in your kitchen, if possible. This kind of stove would have been used not only for cooking but to heat cottage homes in the winter and is the perfect addition for a cottage-style kitchen.
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Hang a ceiling rack in your kitchen for pots and pans. This will also help create a cottage feel.
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Use textured wallpaper or plaster on the walls to create depth and the warmth in your cottage.
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Install cottage-style windows, if your budget allows. Cottages traditionally had small-paned windows that open outwards.
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Tips & Warnings
Visit yard sales for vintage pieces you can use to decorate or repurpose, such as antique light fixtures, floral drapes and throw cushions, rag rugs, candleholders and antique china plates to display on the walls.
