• Cottage style decorating encourages natural accents like this pumpkin arrangement.Pumpkin Decor image by Mary Beth Granger from Fotolia.com
  
  Cottage-style decorating enjoys popularity among homeowners because of its comfortable furniture styles, bright airy atmosphere and inexpensive accents. This type of decorating allows homeowners to decorate with a mix and match attitude while allowing the inclusion of their favorite pieces. This style fits in every room of the house from a screened-in back porch to a guest bedroom.
  
  

Mixing Patterns

• Mixing patterns might be a 'no-no' in some decorating schemes, but not this one. Cottage decorating invites a mixing of patterns and styles in one place. The key to making this type of decorating element work in a room is to keep larger patterns on the larger pieces of furniture, and to add a unifying element like a common color that pulls the patterns together. When looking for the right patterns for your cottage style room, gravitate toward patterns like red and white or yellow and white checkered prints mixed with country floral or calico.
  
  

Controlled Clutter

• Anything goes in cottage style decorating, which means that if you want to incorporate that old painting your Dad loved and place it near the wicker table you found at the local yard sale, you can do so. Controlled clutter typifies the cottage decorating style. If you want to add decor elements to your home, start with large pieces like a huge painting or an overstuffed couch and then adorn the sides with smaller accent pieces to pull the look together.
  
  

Brightly Painted Accent Areas

• You could describe cottage-style decorating as bright and airy, and this includes those secret spots that you don't see when you first walk into a room. To bring bright colors into your room, paint an out-of-the-way corner or closet a rich mustard yellow or deep red. For extra pizzazz, add a country chic wallpaper border or bright wooden accents like hand-painted signs.
  
  

Shabby Chic

• Who would have guessed that the old furniture you find at the flea market would become one of the hottest accents in a home, but those pieces are in. Cottage style decorating encourages people to make use of old, beat-up tables, an antique pie case or even Grandma's old sofa that she used to call the "daveno." Throw some country quilts over the back of the couch, or add granite-style cookware or dried sprigs of flowers in a watering can to give your room some shabby chic accents.
  
  

Bright Fabrics

• Cottage-style decorating features lots of mismatched items, including a variety of different fabrics. When choosing fabrics, look for natural cottons in bright colors or with bold patterns from which you can make slipcovers, pillows and throw blankets. While you can certainly buy new fabrics, cottage style decorating also allows you to recycle your old linens, giving them new life.