Mixing vintage pieces with more contemporary designs creates a look known as cottage chic. It's an informal style that incorporates elements of country and beach design suitable for any season.

Mix new items with antiques and flea-market finds to create a room with a patina that gives a lived-in, informal, comfortable look. Think of it as a room that invites you to relax. You can set a glass on a table without worrying about using coasters.

"I think the cottage chic look is one of the most appropriate designs for using that flea-market piece," says interior designer Liz Wilson, owner of Liz at Home in New Albany, Ind. In addition to what you find at antiques stores and flea markets, "you can use old pieces that you might have stored away in the attic that you might have not even considered.

"For instance, it's a perfect way to use milk glass in a new way. You could fill a milk glass soup tureen with anything you pick up at the supermarket — green apples or lemons or artichokes — and use it as a centerpiece.

"I've even used old mirrors as a tray and people never realized that it was meant as something to be hung on the wall. It's a very interesting look," Wilson said.

Some items that make a statement in cottage chic decor include beadboard, used as wainscoting or at the end of kitchen cabinets. Also popular in the kitchen are cabinets in a creamy color with a soft glaze.

For a living room or family room, consider slipcovers.

Wilson suggests finding items in your own home. "Some people think they can't cross over that barrier of interior design because they don't consider themselves artsy, but if you think simplistic, then you can create something beautiful. For instance, take out your grandmother's platter and add candles of staggering heights. Sprinkle whole coffee beans around the base of the candles. It gives off a nice scent and looks unique," she said.

A hallmark of cottage chic style is finding a creative reuse of items, such as using a bench as a coffee table or hanging old garden gates as wall art, says Donna Talley, a spokeswoman for Calico Corners, a national custom decorating chain.

"A lot of times people inherit furniture and it's kind of dowdy but the lines are good. So we've had people take something, like their aunt's chair, and put on new cushions and reupholster a piece to make it look like new. That's especially good if it's something with sentimental value," Talley says.

"The new look of cottage chic is less about clutter and more about a clean, classic style. It's definitely not about matching, it's about mixing," Talley says.