The Distinctive Cottage

Category: Dining Rooms & Kitchens

Inspiration Board: Turquoise, Teal and Aqua
Bedrooms

Inspiration Board: Turquoise, Teal, and Aqua

Turquoise, Teal, or Aqua, no matter the name you use, this color remains a popular trend today, in hues from light to dark. When considering aqua decorating ideas for your home, aqua may be best used to create pops of color in your living room, dining room, bedroom, or kitchen. In the kitchen, you could place the wicker chairs around a beautiful neutral colored table under the aqua chandelier, allowing all the pops of color to speak for themselves. Alternatively, we could imagine using some of these pieces in a living room. The airiness of the color provides a soothing sense of calm, all the while, providing beauty. Aqua blues also making a soothing bedroom choice in more muted tones.

Coastal & Beach House

Color Board: Artful Argyle

A playful spin on a traditional print, the harlequin cotton hooked rug offers a kaleidoscope of colors for cottage home decor. The look and feel of this daring rug is an ideal choice for a living room, study, or office, as there are endless options for choosing coordinating fabrics. You can pull out the light tones for a fresh palette, or the darker tones to create a cozier feel.

Bedrooms

Design Tip: Natural Fall Decor

Using natural decorative accents is always a graceful and organic way to decorate for the season. Thinking of fall – apples, cinnamon, pumpkins, leaves, and cozy blankets come to mind – just to name a few! These inspiration photos encompass the latest in creative, natural fall decorating ideas.

Cottage Style

Rooms To Love: Making a Splash

Color, color, and more color! This adorable, colorful breakfast nook is a perfect way to start your day, and if the coffee doesn’t wake you up, than the color certainly will. Bright orange, hints of blue, and zesty lime greens create a fun and vibrant space that exudes happiness and cheer. The contours of the chair design, the circular print on the cushions, the scalloping of the curtains, and the varying sized stripes in the rug make a bold and creative statement. Choosing a table with a simple silhouette allows all of these other elements to really shine. This room is a well balanced space, because it achieves both a playful and fun environment, while also showing a sense of restraint.

Articles

We Turned ONE!

We wanted to share with you, all of our faithful readers, that September marks our One Year Milestone! We couldn’t be more excited to celebrate this momentous occasion. And what better way to celebrate than to look back on all of our favorite articles, projects, posts, and cumulative creativity that this blog has shared over the past twelve months. The Distinctive Cottage is proud to be able to continually expand on our original mission: to create, inspire, share, and highlight ideas & trends about living beautifully in today’s home. Here are a few of our favorites to recap a spectacular year in the world of home decorating!

Coastal & Beach House

Rooms To Love: Renewed Antiquity

Mixing old and new pieces is part of the subtle charm in this classic dining room, and reflects the age and character of the homes’ older bones. The tall ceilings, decorative molding around the fireplace, and the wide pine boards are classic architectural details from older Colonial Revival homes. Combining the antique demilune console table with turned legs, and the reclaimed barn board dining table, enhance the timeworn appeal of the home.

Coastal & Beach House

Design Tip: Colorful Dining Room Chairs

Using an assortment of painted chairs is increasingly becoming a popular choice for people who want an eclectic look versus the traditional stained “set” look. Kitchen and dining rooms are typically full of activity, and it’s fun to be able to capture that energy through color. We often encounter clients who want painted chairs in a variety of colors, but are wary of the look being too contrived. Or people who want to introduce just a splash of color versus the whole rainbow.

Articles

Creating Your Own Gallery Collage

The most important rule of thumb when creating your own gallery collage is to have fun! This is a design project that allows you to dictate what you want to see featured on your walls. Choose items that share memories, inspire you, motivate you, and ultimately make you happy. It’s an opportunity to express the people, places, and things you love.

Cottage Style

Rooms To Love: Contemporary Farmhouse Dining

A formal and family-friendly dining room is well sought after and this modern farmhouse dining room is a perfect example of that blend! The traditional ladderback chairs, double pedestal table, and huntboard look like old farmhouse finds, but paired with slipcovered head chairs, a dainty crystal chandelier, and lively window treatments helps to reduce the appearance of a stuffy dining room. Layering fabrics and textures on the chairs creates a casual feel around the more formal table, and slipcovers allow for easy cleaning when the inevitable spills happen.

Coastal & Beach House

Inspiration Board: Sunny Kitchen Nook

This rustic buffet in this sunny kitchen nook is made of reclaimed old pine making it a unique center island for the kitchen. Reclaimed wood has lots of personality with an array of markings from it’s years of wear. The age of this type of wood also makes for a harder surface and is not as penetrable as new pine. There are two types of wood treatments for a kitchen surface: stained and sealed, if not being used as a cutting surface, or oiled, if the surface will be used as a direct prep station. Incorporating a center island in the kitchen adds another work surface and offers a chance to punch up your look with color or detailing. If space permits, add stools for seating and an overhead pendant light – a great spot for morning coffee, after school homework, or late night snacking!