Having a cottage of your own and living contentedly in it, seems to be a universal dream.
Even in the suburbs the dream lives on.
Is it the romanticised lifestyle, or the need for quietness and less stress?
Maybe it is the lovely ambience that simplicity creates when it's paired with beauty?
An easy way to create a cottage feel is to use natural decorations and pare back too many extras.
Display things sparingly. Store your treasures and bring out only a few at a time.
Simple designs also enhance the peacefulness of an earlier era.
Cottages have spacious nooks where people can sit to read or sketch.
The sunlight streaming in enhances the delight.
Display a few choice articles.
White walls with florals always create the right feel.
Keep window frames as uncluttered as possible.
Old books are instant atmosphere.
Vintage or antique furniture can bring immediate cottage ambience.
It need not be expensive.
Bring your garden flowers inside. Dot them around.
If you have some paintings of older interiors they will stamp your home with authenticity.
Hang them in old frames too.
We don't all have the opportunity to live in an English village.
Our own home is in a suburb close to a big city but I've tried to replicate as much of the cosy contentment that I remember in the village houses of my childhood.
Inside the home, country or retro kitchen ware continue the theme.
Growing your own vegetables or even herbs is a therapy all of its own, the mad speed of life is forgotten in a garden.
Victorian flowers and their delicious scents will transport you too.
If you have time and space plant a garden of flowers to pick.
Even a small space can grow enough vegetables and herbs to amply supply yourself and friends with
home-grown goodness.
If you are wildly ambitious try a mini parterre or a formal herb garden:
Lastly, don't forget to hang your washing out in the sun, it's a must for a cottager.
Make it your ambition and endeavour to live quietly and peacefully, to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands,
1 Thessalonians 4 v 11. The Amplified Bible.
