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[Oznell]

This was a fun "Style at Home" feature.  They analyze these photos of different rooms in different houses, and pick out 3 elements that make the room an example of "vintage cottage style".   I don't necessarily agree with every assessment, but it's a good way to sharpen recognition of a diverse decorating style like this. 

In the retro kitchen above, their three key components were:  retro aqua appliances, rustic wood, and beveled subway tile.  (The beams and painted wood ceiling are two more, for sure.)

Screened porch:

Graphic tablecloth, solid placements, and old school screens.

Den:

Patterned sofa, gingham curtains, antique poster.  I LOVE that vintage poster, and have just one myself.  It's a framed travel poster from the Forties called "The South Pacific" that shows a seaplane arriving to a blue lagoon on a mountainous tropical isle.  It's the biggest conversation piece in my little dining room!

Another kitchen:

Blue painted cabinets, retro hardware, nostalgic accessories.  Is that a metal paper towel dispenser--- keen-o!  Love those vaguely Deco ribbed canisters.

Sitting room:

Bright florals, rattan coffee table, bamboo blinds.

Hallway:

Confident colors, white trim, original hardware.  Of course, a fourth vintage cottage component is a painted floor.  Have always loved those, but concerned about how they wear over time.  Anyone here have a painted floor?

Bedroom:

Turquoise glass chandelier, iron headboard, bold pillow shams.  Do not like chandelier!  Whoa, talk about Scandi/ pyschedelic /60's Mod-- those crazy pillow shams!  Combining a midcentury modern item like that Saarinen-esque table with the lacy headboard and homespun bench-- that's so "eclectic cottage".

Another bedroom:

Watery wall color, orange accents, mismatched lamps.  Even though some of the colors are bright, I love this.

Bath:

Beadboard walls, pedestal sink, minty floors.  Beadboard is a favorite cottage item that I have in my kitchen.

Breakfast nook:

Industrial lamp, modern (midcentury) table, Pop art palette.

Another kitchen:

Flat front cabinets, large mosaic tiles, weathered stools.

Dining nook:

Teal walls, warm wood cabinet, checkered tablecloth.

Hutch:

Open shelving, diner-style dishes, milk glass lamp.  I like the typical juxtaposition of the modern chair with the more nostalgic elements, like the enamel soup pot and lamp.

What they are considering to be "vintage cottage style" is a pretty forgiving category, encompassing everything from 19th century, to sweet vintage, to 60's Mod, to midcentury modern and its close cousin, Fifties Scandinavian.  It's one thing I like about the style, all the influences.  But I suppose the common denominator is a concern for cozy comfort, freshness, simplicity, cheerful color, unpretentious nods to the past, and fearless combinations.

[GingerPeach]

This sweet cottage is reminiscent of an old favorite of mine. It was one I thought I'd saved from a magazine years ago. It was a home in the Los Angeles hills redone by someone (I think the article said she owned a decor store or something like that) and tiny, but adorable. 

Her bedroom doors opened onto a small deck area that she'd set up with lanterns on the top boards of the surrounding small fence. Her front yard even had a picket fence.

I haven't been able to find it since. Each time I do a search for even "tiny cottage," the results shown are huge mansions. I need to keep revising my search terms.

Thanks for the reminder, @Oznell 

[DREAMON]

I really like the first kitchen. The only rooms I don't care for are the ones with vivid bright furniture and piant colors.

[jeanlake]

Thank you for sharing. Very nice. This isn't my decor style at home, however, In my mind's eye, I visualize a second home in a quaint town - cottage style. It reminds me of my NC grandmother's house. But she didn't have that fabulous red coffee table!  

[J Town Girl]

I liked all of the rooms except the sitting room.  I'm not a big fan of florals.   I liked the simplicity of the bathroom and I really liked the beadboard.   

I loved the orange chairs in the breakfast nook.   They gave such a happy pop of color to that room.  

Thank you so much for posting these pictures.    Even though my home isn't done in a vintage style, I really enjoy seeing designs and decorative items from homes that I remember from growing up.

[Oznell]

Keep looking for that little house, @GingerPeach --  I went on a long hunt for one I remembered, and finally found after googling a million different key words!

Yeah, @GingerPeach , @DREAMON , @jeanlake , @J Town Girl --  the cottage thing seems to have gotten more high-profile lately especially with the phenomenon of "grandmillenial" (sp?) style.  Apparently a lot of millennials and younger Gen Z are flocking back to "cozy",  and newly appreciative of the interiors of their grandparents and even earlier generations.

What's termed "grandmillenial style" doesn't appeal to me as much, since it seems more "twee",  fussy or cutesy perhaps-- almost a stereotype of nostalgic looks.  But good old serviceable, freewheeling, more eclectic "cottage"--  that's my speed, I think.

[ECBG]

Personally, I never liked turquoise in the kitchen nor the style of cabinets and hardware in the second kitchen.  We had turquoise in the house my parents built as I was going into the second grade.

I do like "peace" of the bathroom and screened in porch with the dining table.

I'd love to have the first physical kitchen. 

[Oznell]

I really enjoy English cottage style too, which is usually subtly just a bit different from "cottage" this side of the pond.  They're so lucky when they have architecture that is several hundreds of years old to enhance the feeling!

I was loving this English sitting room, enjoying the leaning column, etc.  when I noticed the huge, egg-like glowing thing on the dresser-- that's a quirk too far for me!

[Oznell]

And then there's French/Belgian/Nordic cottage style, different yet again, and so charming:

[stevieb]

Thanks @Oznell  for posting so many examples of 'vintage cottage' style in your initial post... In my experience, it isn't always simple to post here... These pictures do, though, bring home to me why I guess I'm no longer much of a proponent of 'cottage style' (vintage or not...) as it's used in common shelter magazine parlance... I guess I have my own vision of what a cottage should look like and it seems to me it's come to mean everything from soup to nuts with a heavy emphasis on any number of aesthetic visions that don't really do much for me... I'll have to give some thought to how I'd describe my own vision or version, as the case may be... As for the first group of photos, in candor, none of them really much appeals to me, though I like some elements and clearly like some better than others...