Cottagecore: Inside the trend that's taking over homes and simplifying lives

Tired of feeling anxious and want to escape to a simpler world of cute cottages, dainty picnics, homegrown vegetables and the smell of freshly baked bread?

Don’t fear, #cottagecore is here – and if the 383,000 Instagram posts are any indication, this idealised version of farming life is a welcome balm for the soul during the pandemic.

“In times of stress, where our capacities to cope feel taxed by the magnitude and complexity of the challenges we face, it’s not surprising that we yearn for a simpler life with fewer (perceived) challenges,” says Professor of psychology at the University of Melbourne, Nick Haslam.

“So I suspect some of the lure of cottage life in the country comes from an escapist belief that it would be simpler and less stressful.”

Meet three people happily embracing a more old-school style of life.

Bringing ‘granny skills’ to the next generation

Rebecca Sullivan has been trending in her own way for years.

While others happily drool over photos of cottages, fresh sourdough and foraged mushrooms, Sullivan is living the real thing.

She once called a Cotswold cottage home while studying at a UK agricultural college. Now, she lives in an off-the-grid straw bale house on a 90-acre property in Clare, South Australia.

Since 2010, the self-taught cook and author has been running a business called Granny Skills, bringing women of all ages together to grow food, make soap, brew stock, weave baskets and pickle cucumbers.

The business was inspired by her great-grandmother Lilly, who passed away aged 100. When she died, Sullivan was given a small box of her things, including certificates she’d won in the 1930s for her Victoria sponges.

“I was pretty heartbroken that I didn’t know my great grandmother was this amazing cook,” Sullivan says. “I just really regret not spending that time with her, not asking these questions.”

The 39-year-old believes we’ve lost an entire generation of skills, largely because of our perceptions of being time-poor.

“But my grandma had three jobs, and five kids and she still did everything from scratch because she couldn’t afford not to. She just didn’t spend her time on Facebook.”

Loving the simple life

Clare Christensen lives in an inner city Brisbane apartment, but cherishes the simple life – happily making jam, baking homemade bread or arranging a fresh bunch of flowers.

“I did a floristry course last year and absolutely loved it. I’ve also been a long-time baker,” says the 32-year-old.

“Then during isolation I wanted to do a food-preserving course, just because I really loved that concept – those old-school grandma skills of being able to bake and preserve.”

When her brother pointed out that her interests seemed to match those of the growing #cottagecore trend, Christensen quickly jumped on the hashtag and began scrolling.

“It’s just really nice. It’s those gorgeous shots of people with their picnic baskets out in greenery or surrounded by wildflowers in their little floral dresses. It’s just really pretty and calming,” she says.

“There seems to be this whole subgenre in cottagecore with people obsessed with frogs; I’m not totally into that one. I’m more for the fluffy lambs.”

Christensen suspects her interest in more traditional pursuits began during regular childhood trips to her family’s hobby farm.

“Every three weeks we’d go down to the Southern Highlands of NSW and have a bit of a country escape and I think that has very much had an impact on me growing up.”

From Victoria to Italy

For many years, Matt and Lentil Purbrick lived on an idyllic farm in the Victorian town of Tabilk, spreading the word on the joys of gardening, cooking and other skills through workshops and books including Grown and Gathered.

However, it’s only now that interest in some of their traditional products, such as grain rollers and recipes for everything from sourdough to spelt and kombucha scones, has boomed.

“It’s been such a beautiful thing to see,” says Matt. “I think it [the pandemic] has been a really important pause, for people to say, ‘Hey I do have this time’, and get a chance to practice these skills.”

Last May, Matt and his wife moved to a little island off Italy, where they own a small vineyard and happily grow produce and trade with other villagers.

“Generally they’ve got a much slower attitude to life – so people do bake and they do preserve food and they do keep animals,” he says.

The couple lives in a 450-year-old house, just a 10-minute scooter ride from their plot of land.

However, Matt says people interested in a more traditional way of life don’t necessarily have to turn their lives upside down but can instead make small changes incrementally.

He says when people are able to get away from a fast-paced, processed style of life, food usually becomes tastier and experiences richer.

“I think it’s very innate in us – we’ve been doing these things a lot longer than we haven’t, so it’s just very fulfilling for people to try these things.”