Understanding The Trend: Cottagecore Wallpaper and Home Decor

Why Cottagecore? 

Cottagecore is a design trend that celebrates a simplified version of rural life, where there is always time to bake, ramble and create. When you start looking around online for definitions of the term, some common themes emerge.

According to the BBC, “at its heart, cottagecore hinges heavily on modern escapist fantasies, and posts are full of foraged mushrooms, long billowy dresses, gingham tablecloths, baskets of wildflowers, sourdough bread and mossy terrariums.” On The Good Trade, cottagecore features include “a lifestyle rooted in traditional skills — like baking bread, gardening, and sewing your own clothes.” While The Vou sees the trend as full of “rare countryside scenery, nostalgic peasant dresses, rustic handmade crafts, and artisanal creations in fashion and homeware.”

While to DIYers these things may seem neither “escapist” nor “rustic,” those lists do evoke scenes devoid of technology and hustle. And this absence of stress makes cottagecore perfect for dreaming about during a pandemic.

Central Cottagecore Themes

As noted above, cottagecore includes many things you might find in fairytales. What remains, however, is hinted in this quote from Vox, ”romanticism, not fairy tales, is the real influence on cottagecore.”

Romanticism has less to do with candlelit dinners than with placing yourself in a perfect moment or daydream. Having the time and ability to show up in serene places features heavily in the trend, as shown in Books and Quills’ post “25 Nature and Cottagecore Instagrammers to Dream Away With.”

Think of the delight found in floral geometry and the easygoing whimsy of nature. The feeling of going on vacation somewhere remote; the smell in the air when you get there. Romanticism shows up in moments that can occur anywhere with anyone, once you’re fully present in what’s happening in front of you.

Where to Go Cottagecore in Your Home

Woodland creatures, mushrooms and flowers show up again and again in some of our best selling cottagecore designs and this cottagecore collection of Spoonflower designs curated by Artist Community Manager Tara Reed.

As to where these motifs might work best, think of areas in your home where you go to relax, like reading nooks and sunrooms, or places like busy hallways or tiny bathrooms, where cottagecore design themes could help bring calm.

What about Goblincore?

And what if cottagecore seems too sweet for you? Enter “goblincore.” A trend fashion historian Rachel Weingarten explained to Nylon as “if Taylor Swift is the floral-crowned goddess of cottagecore, then Baby Yoda could be the poster child for the lovable aspects of goblincore.”

Goblincore takes the romanticism found in cottagecore, but celebrates a more well-rounded image of nature. As Tiktok user @froggiecrocs told The Guardian about the trend, it “romanticizes the ugly, lesser appreciated parts of the natural world.”

Given the pandemic, it’s easy to see how a neat rural cottage could feel too perfect for some. And how letting nature take over that same cottage for snails and snakes to inhabit might feel more in sync with many of our own energies as the northern hemisphere heads into another pandemic winter.