Cottage Style Furniture

If you are looking to update your home or apartment you should consider Cottage Style decor and Cottage Style Furniture. This site will be a great place to look for cottage style furniture iand cottage styledecorating ideas.

One way to achieve a cottage style look is to take existing furniture and paint them with a white or light pastel and then lightly distress the finish. This style is often refered to as 'shabby chic'.

We'll be using this HubPages site to bring you the latest styles and trends in decorating your home in a light and airy cottage style. Stay tuned for more!

The easiest way down the path of cottage style decorating is to get rid of heavy drapes and heavy curtain rods. The cottage style calls for either no curtains or light white/offwhite curtains. The fabric should be light or sheer. One other option is to use white shutters inside (although this is more of a Southern cottage style look). If you have some cotage style furniture, like a lighter color couch, pull it away from the wall and window to free it up.

Recently, I vacationed to the Outer Banks and was amazed by the look of the rooms of the house I was staying in. I loved the robust, light colors and beachy scenery. Admiring the room I was sleeping in, it hit me that this is what I wanted my bedroom back home in Pennslyvania to look like.

I am looking for a light look, with some beach-related scenery. I am looking for some beachy pictures over the Internet(without much success, may I add). Where could I find inexpensive beach pictures or scenery for the walls?

I already have the walls painted pearl blue, thinking this would contribute to the effect. What else could I do to create a ocean mood?

I am moving into an apartment with a small kitchen. I want some decorating ideas. I'm into the shabby chic vintage look! What are some cute colors i can use and any other ideas you have! I am completely renovating the entire kitchen so any ideas are welcome. The only thing i cant change are the hard wood floors! Thanks for your thoughts!! (pictures would be great)

I've noticed alot of the expensive pieces are just painted - then sanded slightly to distress it or a thin top coat sanded back to reveal the colour underneath ( using a wax candle helps define the sanded areas

Chicken wire looks great

anything you see going cheap which is not the right colour you can paint yourself in your chosen colour (s)

Gingham is cute too in pastel shades

You can get some lovely vintage looking wall plaques on ebay

Just keep it all fresh and clean looking with a few vintage touches…..you don't want everything toooo shabby!!!…remember the chic bit!!! lol

I'd sat the more wood the better though - contrasted by chic wire baskets in the twirly vintage designs

No really dark colours …on the lines of a shaker style kitchen

I have a little side table that I converted to a shabby chic look. It was already natural color so I din't need to strip any paint off. I first applied a light coat of white primer. After thoroughly drying, I sanded the piece and applied the first coat of white mat paint. I did not try for a perfect coat. After another quick sanding I applied a light final coat. When dry I tool some sandpaper and a metal rasp and added little distress, epecially on the edges. Don't take off too much paint, jut enought to show the underlayer. If there is a knob on the piece, also ditress the area around the know where fingers would rub year after year. In no time you'll have a piece of cottage style furniture that friends will think you bought at an expensive furniture shop.

Look around on the web - there are all kinds of DIY sites and blogs that deal with Cottage Style Furniture such as CottageStyleFurniture.info.

You also find a number of books on Amazon.com such as the one shown below. Have fun and be creative!