Cottage Style Kitchen
8 Ideas for a Unique Kitchen Space

If you love antique-inspired details and décor such as leaded glass windows, patina-rich butcher blocks, cast iron pans, and beaded boards, the cottage look may be perfect for you.

The style combines charming wood, brick, and even tile accents with bright palettes. Wicker works, crowded open shelving, furniture-style details, floral flair, and open floor plans characterize these spaces.

Create a space that matches your style by mixing and matching the most appealing features for a unique design.

Cottage kitchen spaces were traditionally relatively small and often dark since older building designs prioritized warmth and comfort over glass swathes. Therefore, these spaces looked lived in, and people decorated them functionally – think open shelving. They formed the heart of the home and ultimately had a lived-in appeal.

While modern kitchens aim to look clean, flawless, and untouched, cottage ones go for an inhabited-for-centuries appeal. If you plan a kitchen facelift or renovation, consider the following eight ways to infuse cottage comfort and beauty into your home.

When it comes to your cupboard doors, shelving, and worktops, go natural. Wood is readily available and comes with different paint colors to help you achieve the cute cottage look and color palette you want. You can also consider marble or granite for your worktops. As for your flooring, wood is still an authentic look, but tiling and stone still work as well.

The cottage kitchen palette is light and airy. Opt for crisp, classic white for a traditional look. You can also choose soft yellow, light khaki, or pale turquoise for a fresh and appropriate finish. Additionally, mix it up with cabinetry colors – for example, one shade on the kitchen island and a contrasting hue on your cabinets.

Open shelving remains true to the traditional cottage kitchen style by being more practical than decorative. Back then, open shelving was affordable and useful because it offered easy access to dishes and other utensils. Today, it provides both aesthetics and practicality. It makes spaces feel larger and houses home accessories and kitchen implements.

Nothing screams cottage kitchen more than the beaded board. The grooved paneling style adds architectural interest to the walls and cabinetry and has so much visual impact that you don’t need much else to create a cottage effect with it. Paint it with soft colors (cream or white) for a classic hue and sand it slightly for an aged or distressed look.

Farmhouse or apron-front sinks feature a board, shallow face with an extra-deep bowl to accommodate large plates, pots, and stacks. Streamlined styles are classic, but today’s market versions feature modern decorative detailing.

Older homes featured cabinets characterized by freestanding presses, and pie safes. To recreate that old furniture style, add detailed features to your built-ins. Include bun feet under the lower cabinets and corbels under the upper ones. You can also use a contrasting color to paint a built-in hatch to create the illusion that it’s not fixed.

Hardwood flooring was once the norm in many homes, and it complimented the cottage kitchen style perfectly. Here, you can opt to leave the planks bare for the hardwood grain’s natural beauty or paint the floor in either a solid color or pattern such as a checkerboard. Still, hardwoods are not the only cottage kitchen flooring choice since linoleum, slate, and vintage-looking tile can also work.

Low-hanging pendant lights help your kitchen feel cozy – select models with a retro feel or with shades of seeded, frosted glass, or brushed nickel. Additionally, mix the pendant lights with vintage-inspired sconces or lamps.