There's nothing that makes us feel cozier than cottage-style rooms — in homes from L.A. to along Lake Michigan. Take a look at some of our favorite designs from the archives.
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Media Platforms Design Team
A Cottage-Style Living Room
Designer Ken Fulk replaced one big coffee table with two African drum tables in front of the Ralph Lauren sofa in the living room of a California cottage. "They're better for traffic flow than one of those huge knee-knockers, and easily moved to wherever we need them," says Fulk. The galvanized steel French bistro chairs around the vintage dining table are from the Sundance catalog.
2Media Platforms Design Team
Classic Blue and White
Designer Tom Stringer calls the rehab of this northern Michigan lake cottage Renovation-Lite, because he consciously avoided overhauling its charming eccentricities. A coffee table designed by Stringer holds stacks of old National Geographics. "They added the perfect yellow punch. They're so classic — just like blue and white. But we also knew they'd be great rainy-day reading," he says.
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Media Platforms Design Team
All-American Cottage
Designer Myra Hoefer kept the colors neutral in this all-American cottage. She added bright accents in the form of orange and blue throw pillows. Also designed by Gina Gattuso. Featured in June 2006 issue.
4Media Platforms Design Team
Nantucket Living Room
The exposed rafters and roof boards of the living room were left in their original state to retain the feeling of a circa-1900 fisherman's cottage. Designed by Gary McBournie. Featured in August 2007 issue.
5Media Platforms Design Team
Casual Details
Designer Myra Hoefer and Gina Gattuso relaxed formal pieces of furniture, like these Louis XVI chairs, by upholstering them in raffia with natural muslin cushions. Featured in June 2006 issue.
6Media Platforms Design Team
Cottage Library
A Walters Wicker bamboo game table and chairs with tortoiseshell finish are tucked into a bay window overlooking the harbor. Designed by Paula Perlini. Featured in July 2007 issue.
7Media Platforms Design Team
Practical Table and Chairs
In this Nantucket cottage, the solid blue fabric on the chairs, Romo's Linara, "is practical for sticky little hands because it has a lot of texture, a lot of weaving," says designer T. Keller Donovan. Table and chairs from John Andrew. Featured in May 2008 issue.
8Media Platforms Design Team
East Hampton Dining Room
For the dining room of an East Hampton cottage, designer Tom Scheerer created wraparound scenic wallpaper by enlarging a Currier & Ives print of Newport Harbor. In the romantic breakfast area of the room, leather cushions add height to a linen-covered Empire settee to match antique chairs pulled up to the custom table. Featured in August 2008 issue.
9Media Platforms Design Team
Harvest Table
An 18th-century American harvest table with original paint and 19th-century American shawl-back chairs instantly warm up this classic white kitchen, "command central of a very active household" in a New York summer cottage, designer Robin Bell says. Featured in May 2008 issue.
10Media Platforms Design Team
Napa Valley Kitchen
This small kitchen in a Napa Valley ranch cottage has open shelves, instead of upper cabinets, to give it an airy feel. Designer and homeowner Ken Fulk spotted the vintage industrial pendant lights at the Paris flea market. Featured in July 2008 issue.
11Media Platforms Design Team
Cozy Kitchen
In this Texas cottage kitchen, owners Craig Schumacher and Philip Kirk avoided an extensive kitchen remodel by painting existing cabinets Benjamin Moore Brilliant White and installing inexpensive black and white tile on counters and backsplashes. Featured in May 2007 issue.
12Media Platforms Design Team
Nautical Kitchen on Nantucket
Designer Gary McBournie created a subtle nautical theme without going overboard in this fisherman's cottage. Featured in August 2007 issue.
13Media Platforms Design Team
Family Style
"It's a whole mix of influences, a mix of American and French, a mix of rich and poor in materials," says designer Jean-Louis Deniot of this house. "But mostly I'm trying to create a real atmosphere. Not a fake history, just a sense that it's always been like this, like I've lived here for years and years. I really wanted it to feel like an old family cottage — a little bit classic, a little vintage, a little retro." Featured in June 2009 issue.
14Media Platforms Design Team
A Country-Style Bedroom
Designer Tom Stringer mixed an Osborne & Little red fabric headboard with green bedside tables from Pottery Barn to give a country cottage feel. Featured in the February 2008 issue.
15Media Platforms Design Team
Navy Bedroom
Designer T. Keller Donovan lined the back wall of this navy-and-white bedroom with 14 feet of shutters. Featured in December 2006 issue.
16Media Platforms Design Team
A Guest Room with Character
Designer Tom Stringer used antique French steel beds warmed by gold- and white-dotted quilts in this guest room.
17Media Platforms Design Team
Cream Bathroom
In a small bathroom, a built-in bathtub and cream beadboard walls help the room look charming and inviting. Designed by Barbara Westbrook. Featured in April 2007.
18Media Platforms Design Team
Bedroom with a Touch of Vintage
Two mostly black vintage Louis Vuitton suitcases propped on wood blocks and topped with a tray serve as a night table in this master bedroom designed by Ken Fulk. The bedding is black-and-white with stripes and plaid.
19Media Platforms Design Team
Camp-Style Bedroom
Drawing on memories of a childhood spent on a lake in Michigan, color consultant Eve Ashcraft painted the walls of this cottage guest bedroom cream and the floor Windsor blue. Architecture by Gil Schafer. Featured in August 2007.
20Media Platforms Design Team
Guest Bathroom
One of two guests baths in the South Carolina lake cottage by Atlanta-based architect Keith Summerour and designed by Barbara Westbrook. Featured April 2007 issue.
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