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Illustration by Ellen Surrey
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The Yellow Room at 39 Mayfair by Nancy Lancaster and John Fowler (Photo by Simon Upton courtesy Colefax & Fowler)
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An ’80s-era Laura Ashley interior from “The Laura Ashley Book of Home Decorating”
English country cottage-style interiors are trending in 2023. Back in vogue courtesy of social media and with the TikTok-inspired moniker of “cottagecore,” the aesthetic evokes the familiarity, practicality and comfort of the past to create contemporary living spaces.
Interest in English country cottage style was on the upswing before the COVID-19 pandemic, but cottagecore gained momentum as an aesthetic movement during the quarantine. The uncertainty of the time inspired nostalgia for a simpler, more sustainable and slower-paced lifestyle where home is a refuge from technology and consumerism with welcoming, well-lived interiors and well-tended gardens complete with vegetable plots and chicken coops. Shabby is chic; faded fabrics and worn upholstery are part of the appeal. It’s a style embraced by generations and one that you’re just as apt to find in an old family house in the Virginia countryside as in the Cotswolds in England.
The decorator credited with creating the English country look was Nancy Lancaster, a Virginian who became famous for her fresh take on stuffy English style. In 1944, the tastemaker became a partner in the London interior design firm of Colefax & Fowler and was soon known for the interiors she decorated with John Fowler that reused, recovered and repurposed her clients’ furnishings, creating interiors with a faded elegance and air of unstudied coziness. It’s been said that Lancaster, who was born at Mirador, her grandfather’s home near Charlottesville, perfected an aesthetic that was informed by her memories of the grand Southern manors that had fallen into romantic disrepair.
Cottagecore interiors are unpretenious, unstuffy and welcoming spaces where nothing is precious and well-worn surfaces abound.
In the 1980s, Laura Ashley brought English country cottage style back as a design trend when she introduced her vintage-inspired fashions and home goods to the United States. The image of a thatched-roof cottage in the Cotswolds and charming country lifestyle was as appealing to Americans tired of the social turbulence of the '60s and ’70s as cottagecore is today. In her 1982 book, “The Laura Ashley Book of Home Decorating,” the Welsh designer shared ideas for furnishing and decorating every room with her coordinated collections of bedding, wallpapers and fabrics, along with tips on ways to develop a personal style.
Today, cottagecore style is a maximalist dream. Cottagecore interiors are unpretentious, unstuffy and welcoming spaces where nothing is precious and well-worn surfaces abound. They’re functional and stylish. Color can be muted or bright. Cottagecore decor is about expressing your personal style through the unique interiors you curate. It’s about taking the time to craft your own environment, creating an individual composition of fabrics and wallpapers with floral patterns of various scales ranging from petite to oversize, to stripes and plaids, toiles de jouy and calicos. Furnishings, old and new — in different styles from different eras — are collected, not purchased in matched sets. Textures and materials are mixed, matched and layered. Comfort is key: think overstuffed chairs and sofas with ruffled skirts, piles of pillows and cozy quilts. Art, artisan-made objects, books, handcrafted baskets, plants and personal collections add to the mix.
Cottagecore style has a timeless appeal that can’t be replicated in a weekend. It’s a look — and a way of life — that’s meant to evolve over time by eschewing the brand new to take time to shop for just the right vintage pieces.
