If yours is like most cottages, its décor is a mash-up of the furniture you had at home before you got new stuff, drapes you got on sale and a shelf full of books you bought as ‘summer reads’, but never read.

And that’s great. Cottages are nothing if they aren’t casual. Having a formal décor can go against the relaxed, ‘everything’s cool’ attitude that we need to get away from it all.

But that doesn’t mean you can’t get ideas to give you some direction for any cottage decorating that you happen to do. And, in keeping with the relaxed approach to everything about the cottage, instead of stressing over swatches and fabric samples, we just quickly googled ‘cottage décor tips’ and checked out the images that popped up. Here’s just some of the ideas we found in the first few shots.

1. Go All White and Accent with a Contrasting Colour

If you like the light airiness that a cottage can offer, make the most of it with by painting the walls white and using white as the colour of larger pieces of furniture. Accessorizing with neutral, earthy tones, like the shades of brown and beige in this image, keeps everything calm and cool.

2. Bring the Outside In

Everything’s just beachy in this cottage living room. It all comes from the beach-nature-themed accessories and the sky blue colour accents.

3. Use a Texture Theme

Normally we think of colour themes, but there’s nothing wrong with theming textures too. In this case, the sisal rug works well with the wicker furniture, end table and serving tray.

4. Celebrate Wood

There’s a certain coziness that you get from the ‘cabin in the woods’ decor of this cottage bedroom. Instead of painting them over, bring out the natural wood tones and grains you probably have in abundance at the cottage.

Now it’s your turn.

You don’t need to go to too much trouble to redecorate your cottage. Just take a look at what’s out there and, if you find something you like, use it for inspiration.