Steal the style… Cottagecore

Embrace the quaint and romantic, as you transform your outdoor area into an idealistic rural escape with Cottagecore chic. Follow our top tips:

Wholesome country-style planting

Create swathes of soft native plants that attract bees and other beneficial insects to your cottage garden. Play with height and texture by combining delphiniums, lupins, foxgloves, hollyhocks or phlox with hardy geraniums, campanulas, dianthus and bushes of lavender for incredible scent and a bright, heady mix of pinks, reds, blues, purples and whites. All of these plants act as fantastic companion plants for roses, so feel free to add a few showstopping specimens. Create interest and maximise floor space by growing climbing roses or honeysuckle up walls, fences or an arch.

For a really easy fix, create your very own wildflower meadow by sowing wildflower seeds in a bed or containers. There are so many mixes available on the market now and all you need to do is scatter the seeds on prepared soil and remember to water regularly for a stunning display that can bloom for months. Some species will also re-seed and come back again next year.

Eco-friendly furniture with rustic charm

Cottagecore celebrates a sense of nostalgia and idealised rural life, topped off with rustic décor and traditional styles but it also encourages an environmentally-friendly lifestyle. Upcycling second-hand furniture and outdoor accessories really adds to the vintage look and is a great way of preventing things from being sent to landfill, so keep an eye out for pre-loved items that will add a unique touch to your space.

In fact, there is a way of repurposing waste products and still enjoying a new set of furniture, and that is by choosing a set from LifestyleGarden®. Complement the vibrant hues of your cottage garden blooms with the colourful Nassau collection, with a palette that includes Peony Pink, Honey Yellow and Sage Green – all made from the game-changing ethical recycled material, Social Plastic. The natural, warm tones of the hardwood legs – made from FSC-certified Eucalyptus – look delightful in any cottage garden and, like the rest of the chair, can be recycled at the end of their life.

Our woven ranges also fit the Cottagecore trend perfectly, with beautiful synthetic wicker handwoven over robust aluminium to create a stunning, tactile finish. The unique Petan ® wicker is made from responsibly sourced materials and, because only eco-friendly colour additives are used, the wicker is also 100% recyclable.

For a striking classic style, there’s Bermuda Light or for a more luxurious, modern feel, look no further than our Bahamas collection. If the natural tones of Cottagecore aren’t quite your thing, add a twist with a soft grey wicker set from our Aruba or Haiti ranges.

Grow your own

As you’ve probably gathered by now, Cottagecore is more than just a pretty aesthetic. A big part of the movement is self-sufficiency, so if you’ve not dabbled in GYO before, now could be the time to give it a go.

Start small and you’d be surprised at what you can do with even a little space. Growing strawberries or tomatoes in hanging baskets is a cinch, whilst even a simple herb garden can prove extremely rewarding, allowing you to whip up culinary delights or botanical cocktails using herbs freshly snipped from your garden. Rosemary, thyme, oregano and chives also produce beautiful flowers that are perfect for pollinators.

Cottagecore is very much about working in harmony with nature, so try and garden organically and step away from chemical pesticides and herbicides. There are plenty of natural ways to control pests in the garden, from deterring slugs with eggshells, wool pellets or mulch, to encouraging natural predators, such as ladybirds, hoverflies, and dragonflies, to see off aphids and black fly.