Cottage Style

We recently purchased this book titled New Cottage Style: Decorating Ideas for Casual, Comfortable Living, by Better Homes and Gardens at Barnes & Noble to give us some decorating ideas. Since the house we are purchasing is already decorated in this style, we felt like running with the style as opposed to going in a completely different direction. What I love about this particular style of decorating is the use of old furnishings and mis-matched furniture to get a 'shabby chic' look. Much of the furniture in this style seems to be distressed or antique with light paint colors. Same for the walls, many different textures with beadboard, tongue & groove, etc. all painted either white or light colors. The book has a ton of reference photos and is especially useful for storage ideas. This house is 1,000 square feet so we need to be efficient with storage. In the cottage style there are many decorative shelves and built-ins that can provide storage. I even have an idea for a window seat in the kitchen that will provide storage and function. More on that later as I'm still packing boxes. sigh. In the meantime, I can get some inspiration from other houses in this book. :) Here's a link to the book on Amazon.com if you want more information.