This unforgettable Tudor cottage on HGTV’s Fixer Upper with design by Magnolia (Chip & Joanna Gaines) known as the Scrivano House (Episode 4) inspires with an understated palette, mix of vintage plus modern, and original architectural charm. Tranquil and Timeless Tudor Design Details from this house tour may calm your spirit and quiet your mood.

If you thought Chip and Joanna never ventured beyond a modern farmhouse look, let this project inform you otherwise!
Tranquil and Timeless Tudor Design Details From a Serene 1920s Texas Cottage
1. Parisian Grey Exterior Trim
You need not be forced to live with chocolate brown Tudor trim, cottage lovers. This painted trim is reminiscent of a Parisian grey with enough warmth to keep the exterior feeling calm and traditional.

Need an idea for a tranquil grey paint color like this? Look at SW Uncertain Gray or Dorian Gray. See THIS for more ideas.
2. Warmth from Natural Wood & Beams
Don’t you love the magic happening between whispery light grey woodwork and rustic, patina-ed beams and old doors?
The decision to paint over brown stained trim and doors in an older home is highly subjective, and here we see a compromise to bring harmony. So many folks are shy about pairing stained wood doors with painted trim, but the look can be attractive and traditional yet freshened.

Speaking of traditional yet freshened, if you care to learn a little more about a design trend many Millennials embrace, see this story I contributed on the topic!
3. Airy Greenery in Lieu of Dense Florals
Colorful floral arrangements have their place in plenty of interior and more formal contexts, but a simple single stem, branch, or frond can be magically calm and life-giving.
4. Unadorned Windows
When painted window trim is this pretty and you desire to capture the maximum amount of sunlit splendor, skipping the curtains is an easy call.
BONUS DETAIL: Also inspiring me is the way Joanna Gaines freshens traditional style rooms with more modern succulents and plant choices. The rustic cement pot with greenery above keeps the mood lighter, organic, and airy.
Here’s an everlasting succulent option I own and never tire of:

An everlasting succulent like the Agave from Nearly Natural is perfect for freshening a traditional room and reinforcing the “chic” in “granny chic.”
5. Turn Down the Volume
There are so many ways to quiet a room including: a whispery color palette, uncomplicated vignettes, and gestures as simple as reversing the direction of books on a shelf to minimize the busy factor. (And I am well aware a ton of folks think turning books around on a shelf to keep things less fussy looking is an ignorant move…but kids, vintage books shelved here were incorporated for visual texture, not to show off literary breadth!)

6. Choose Light & Sculptural Seating
While chunky farmhouse dining tables work well for function and style in serene spaces, ruggedly heavy wood chairs aren’t the best complement when you’re going for a serene mood. These oval-back, modern, Louis-style dining chairs look light as a feather and sculptural. The addition of the cushions improves their function and keeps the look from crossing the line into austerity.

7. Don’t Underestimate Clear Glass Beauty
Pale shades of handmade pottery and vintage earthenware urns and vases look right at home in a Euro inspired cottage. But to freshen the look of any space mixed with vintage, think clear glass both as a receptacle (for candles and beyond) and as stand-alone understated minimally modern decor.

8. Create Movement Creatively
In serene spaces where clutter-free is a priority, colors are kept understated and atmospheric. Accessories are quiet yet pattern can play a pleasing role when emphasized imaginatively (like this checkered floor).

9. Play Up Bygone Features Like a Butler Pantry
There’s something so ‘everyday enhancing’ about these ‘room within a room’ spaces in kitchens! Designed to work hard and hide clutter, they may even function as command central.

See More Design Ideas from a Shotgun Cottage by Chip & Joanna
10. Celebrate Existing & New Built-ins
While this charming cottage came with a few beautiful and architecturally brilliant built-ins, Chip and Joanna added new ones as well. This built-in banquette cozies up a corner with restaurant-style (expand the image to notice the foot rail detail!).
Another new built-in, this unexpected tall arched cupboard is positioned smartly between breakfast area and working part of the kitchen, serving as storage, display, and a well-crafted piece of art.
11. Paint Kitchen Cabinetry With Tranquility
The softest whispery warm grey on the cabinets and wood work in this sweet Tudor plays a starring role in telling a serene story. While black cabinets in here might be chic and stunning, there’s a gentleness and tender mood that surfaces when the narrative is as sedate as this one.
Find ideas and paint color inspiration HERE.
12. Live, Sleep & Dream on a Cloud
Bedrooms can be cave-like spaces to simply house a bed and accommodate a tired head or they can SERVE. Serve as a retreat, serve as a haven for daydreaming, and serve as a meditative sanctuary to contemplate or decompress.



13. Symmetry to Soothe
While plenty of cottage designs call for quirky architectural moments and humble simplicity, something special happens when the formality of symmetry is celebrated.


14. Timeless Bath Design Elements
For a timeless look that will not feel dated in a few years, incorporating classic materials like calacatta marble and handmade glazed white tile makes sense economically and aesthetically.
More traditional bathroom design inspiration awaits here.

The hex Calacatta gold mosaic tiles used on the shower floor are the very same ones we chose for our Arizona kitchen’s statement wall. Score them for yourself RIGHT HERE.


15. Get the Look of This Beautiful Home


See this inspiring post with shopping resources, furniture, and decor to replicate or riff on this Fixer Upper beauty.
Also…mosey on over to these Euro-inspired farmhouse decor ideas to score budget friendly, cottagewares!

I independently selected products in this post—if you buy from one of my links, I may earn a commission.
Hungry for more unfussy, laid back, country style inspiration from the Fixer Upper Texan team?
See these design ideas to Get the Look of “The Club House”
I independently selected products in this post—if you buy from one of my links, I may earn a commission.
Peace to you right where you are.
-michele
Shop for items you already intended to buy on Amazon RIGHT HERE, and also find home decor here to keep decor inspiration flowing on Hello Lovely!
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Love everything about this house! It’s a similar vibe that I’m going for in our new home. This gives some great inspiration for me now that we are getting moved in and I’m starting to think more about the interior decor. Thanks, Michele!
Author
Thanks so much for reading, Amy – can’t wait to hear about how you approach the interiors of your lovely new home! Have a wonderful week, friend.
Great post, I love the arched front door. the use of a door in the pantry is very chic, as well. Adding the wooden doors really makes the room.
Author
Thanks, Jason. I just love that butler pantry too! 🙂
What are the colours you’re showing?
Author
You will probably find paint color ideas in this post about that project: https://www.hellolovelystudio.com/2019/01/get-the-look-fixer-upper-tranquil-cottage-decor.html Hope this helps and thanks for reading. 🙂
I love the oval-back black metal dining chairs. Where can I find them or something similar?
Author
Hi there! I love those chairs too and haven’t found the exact chair yet. In fact, the lookalike in a leather version I found is almost never in stock or available in black. They come in cream and gray which is less popular so easier to find. So if you like them, I suggest buying the black immediately: https://rstyle.me/+2r98_hzlimdC7-VSSUnG4Q Also find more shopping resources for this home in this post: https://www.hellolovelystudio.com/2019/01/get-the-look-fixer-upper-tranquil-cottage-decor.html
Author
oops! that link to chairs is for the brown – I read the word ‘back’ as ‘black.’ Sorry about that. The black seems to be discontinued.
Could anyone tell me the exterior colors used?
Once again, the pop up ads are covering the left third of the content of your blog, and they can’t be closed, that I can find. I have followed your blog for years, love your content. These ads should be moved to right side of your blog.
Author
Thanks, Debbie. Workin on it and will message them again. Sorry about the annoyance.
I have watched that episode several times, and never fail to love everything about that darling cottage. It is just perfection. And the cute couple that lives there is adorable too. I hope they are enjoying their lovely home.
Author
I wonder if they still live in this house!?! It’s such a timeless house, and I just love that they made changes for modern living so the house can last at least another 100 years. 🙂