A cottage is the one place most of us don't want to look like the city. Whether yours is on a lake in Muskoka, in the Laurentians, on the Bay of Fundy or a rental cabin you go back to every August, the art there tends to work best when it's about where you are: water, trees, boats, and the things you do there.
What suits a cottage?
Pieces that feel at home without being themed. A few directions that work:
- Water and shoreline. Lakes, rivers, docks and boats. Calm, and they make a small room feel open.
- Woods and hills. Landscapes in greens, browns and greys, the palette already outside the window.
- Old photographs. Vintage canoes, skis, swimmers and cottage dogs. They give a new place a sense of history.
- Animals and birds. Loons, bears and birches are the classics; a single strong animal print looks less like a souvenir than a row of them.
I'd avoid anything that spells out "lake" or "cabin" in words. The view already says it.
Which frames and finishes suit a cottage?
Wood frames, natural or dark, belong in a room of pine, cedar or log, and they're the default I'd choose. Black frames work in a modern cottage with white walls. Gold and silver usually look like they've come up from the city.
Think about the room's light, too. Cottages often have big windows onto the water, and a glass framed print opposite a lake view will reflect it. A framed canvas or a gallery wrap has no glare. Framed canvas, gallery wrap or glass? compares them.
Where should art go in a cottage?
- Above the fireplace or wood stove: check the wall's heat first. After an hour of a fire, put the back of your hand on the wall where the art would go; if you can't keep it there, hang the art elsewhere. The fireplace guide covers sizing.
- Above the sofa or the big table: the usual rules: two-thirds to three-quarters of the furniture's width, 8″ (20 cm) above it.
- Bunk rooms and kids' rooms: small pieces, canvas, no glass, two hooks each, and nothing above a top bunk where it could be knocked. The nursery guide has the safety rules.
- Log or panelled walls: you'll be screwing into solid wood, which holds well, but log walls aren't flat. Hang from two hooks and check level against the frame, not the wall.
What happens to art in a closed cottage over winter?
This is the question I'd think about most. A cottage closed for the winter goes through big swings of cold, damp and dry, and that's hard on art. Paper can ripple or spot under glass, canvases can slacken, and wood frames move.
My rule: if the cottage isn't heated through the winter, take the pieces you care about most home in the fall, especially anything on paper under glass, and leave behind only what you'd be calm about. If it is heated and kept dry, hang what you like. Either way, keep art off exterior walls that get damp, out of the bathroom, and out of direct sun, which fades everything over time, cottage or not.
Next step
Browse Cottage and lodge for water, woods and old photographs, and see a piece on your cottage wall at approximate scale in Your Blank Wall.
Questions we get asked
We ship across Canada by courier, and the courier asks for a signature, so send it where someone will be there to receive it. If the cottage is on a seasonal or private road, check that couriers deliver there before you order.
Pieces you won't worry about: canvas rather than glass, mid-sized, hung from two hooks. Art for renters has no-hole options if the owner prefers.