15 Cottage-Style Homes with Cozy Charm

Cottage-style homes are examples of charm and a welcoming facade. Typically smaller than many other types of architecture, these dwellings prioritize comfort and accessibility over size and extravagance.

These cottage-style homes will inspire you to add cottage design to your home’s decor.

Cottage-Style Home Entrance

Colorful blooms and a pretty front gate on a picket fence create a welcoming entrance to this cottage-style home. Planted containers flank the swinging gate, reinforcing the symmetry created by dual sets of bay windows and shutters around the front door. Brick accents on the cottage home exterior and pathway add charming texture and contrast.

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Modern Cottage-Style Home

Interpret cottage style on a modern home with a crisp exterior color scheme and elegant details. A swinging gate and curved stone path lead to this home’s wide front porch, where the bright front door and colorful patio furniture pop against a slate-blue exterior neatly defined by white trim.

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Cottage-Style Characteristics

Cottage-style homes can vary widely, but there are a few characteristics that distinguish this architectural aesthetic. Their diminutive size is one key characteristic, and chimneys often feature prominently in cottage house plans. On this small white cottage, a brick chimney and two small dormer windows add interest to the roofline.

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Cottage Home Styles

Cottage-style homes often borrow architectural elements from other house styles but showcase them on a smaller scale. For example, this home features Craftsman-style details, including the tapered square columns and brick accents, but the modest porch and colorful landscaping set a distinctive cottage tone.

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Spacious Cottage-Style Homes

Cottage-style homes aren’t always limited to small floor plans. Larger builds use distinctive elements, such as the wraparound porch and ornamental brackets pictured here, to play up the charm. Although this house is much bigger than most cottages, the white picket fence and low front porch offer an approachable look from the curb.

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Colorful Cottage-Style Home

Simple updates that don’t cost a lot can pay off big on cottage-style homes. Here, those include window boxes at both lower and second-story windows, as well as a trellis pattern repeated around the front door and on the containers. The bright pink front door features a marbled design for another charming exterior element.

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Cottage-Style Curb Appeal

Little details make the difference in enhancing curb appeal for cottage-style home exteriors. Here, that starts with a white picket fence to accent the home’s creamy neutral color. Time-worn bricks keep the walkway casual, complementing the simple front porch railing and rocking chairs.

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Cottage Exteriors

A screened-in porch can be one of the signature details of a cottage-style home, and the extra details on this exterior make it all the more charming. Those include cross-hatch mullions on the lower section as well as a cheery red door, which provides a striking color contrast to the pastel exterior. A flagstone walkway also keeps things casual and welcoming.

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Garden Ideas for Cottage-Style Homes

Cottage-style gardens often feature exuberant displays of flowers and a relaxed, informal look. Dress up a cottage-style home with these same ideas to play up a cozy, rural look. On this two-story home, trellises break up the height from the sidewalk to the roof trim and bring bursts of color to the shake-shingled facade.

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Small Cottage-Style Home

Small cottage homes can offer tons of charm within a limited footprint. Colorful siding and trim, bay windows, carefree landscaping, and a low wood fence define this quaint home. For cottages that lack a front porch, a front yard can also provide a seating spot and a welcome opportunity to interact with passers-by.

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Cottage-Style Landscaping

Lovely landscaping designs define many cottage-style homes. Here, a casual, overflowing collection of colorful blooms lends a storybook feeling to this wood-shingled cottage. A delicately detailed fence adds definition to the flower bed to keep it from looking too out of control.

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Traditional-Style Cottage Home

An equal mix of traditional style and quaint cottage, this classic home exhibits powerful symmetry and a steeply peaked roofline. The restrained landscaping design keeps the focus on the cozy cottage exterior. Matching window boxes soften the low hedge border, while the inset pavers add a casual element to the otherwise staid palette and details.

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Cozy Cottage Home

This cottage-style home was designed for relaxation. Matching swings on either end of the porch offer spots to enjoy various views. Outdoor ceiling fans keep homeowners and guests cool while kicking back. Along the roofline, two chimneys hint at cozy fireplaces within.

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Beach Cottage Ideas

Depending on its location, a cottage-style home might have influencing aesthetics that help determine some of its details. For this beach cottage, the homeowners chose to dress up the beach wall with details that mimic the home, including white walls and an orange-red brick accent. Black shutters and window shades help ground the white palette, while green house numbers add a subtle touch of color.

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English-Inspired Cottage

Plucked from the pages of a storybook, this quaint cottage-style home uses architecture and landscaping to create casually beautiful curb appeal. A tall stone wall and wide wooden gate provide entry into the midst of a growing collection of flowers and shrubs. The stone facade and the roof’s curvy shingles appear pulled directly from the English cottages of old.