Creating a hone that feels warm, welcoming, and quietly magickal is a dream for many, especially those who embrace the cottage witch lifestyle.
From performing seasonal cleansings to crafting nature-inspired charms and decor, there are SO many easy ways to weave magick into your everyday surroundings.
In this article, we’ll share 30 cottage witch tips to help you cultivate a gorgeously cottagy atmosphere and help make your home a true reflection of your spirit, your intentions, and your connection to the natural world.
We’ve spent some time sourcing a few resources that may help along the way, and included some affiliate links. When you purchase through them, we earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.
So let’s get ready to witchify your home, cottage-style!
House cleansing and purification tips
Yeah, tidying up can be boring, especially if you’re a collector of wild and wonderful things!
BUT the cottage witch knows that keeping the energy of your home clear is super-important. Without regular cleansing, stagnation can build up, and negativity lingers.
1. Perform regular cleansing rituals
From simple spoken words, to elaborate seasonal cleansing, ritualise your cleaning routine. You could align your cleaning with the phases of the moon, your menstrual cycle, or the days of the week (Monday is a traditional day for tending to the house and home).
Also read: 20 Things to do on Moon-day
2. Cleanse your home with smoke
Regularly cleanse your home with incense or locally sourced herbs, to clear out negative energy. Always be sure to use ethically harvested ingredients, or make your own smoke bundles. Herbs to use include:
- Juniper
- Rosemary
- Mugwort
- Lavender
- Sage
- Cedar
Haven’t made your own smoke bundles? Try:
3. Use salt bowls
Place small bowls of salt in the corners of the rooms in your home. These will absorb negative energy and prevent thoughtforms from taking root in your spaces.
4. Clean with moon water
Collect moon water during full moons for rituals and cleansing.
5. Sweep with intention
Use a broom to sweep your space with intention, always sweeping away from yourself, and ending up sweeping out of the door. As you do, visualise the removal of negativity and the invitation of positivity.
Need a real broom? We love:
6. Cast spoken cleansing charms
Spoken charms are short, usually rhyming verses that are infused with intention, and when cast aloud, create powerful ‘bubbles’ of energy. They’re especially powerful when uttered over and over, as you work. Here’s a sweet cleansing charm I use:
“With this broom, I sweep away,
Negative energy, be gone today.
Bring in the light, let peace take place,
My home is blessed, a sacred space.”
Home protection tips
The cottage witch knows that once your home is cleansed, protection is the next step. With all that shiny, juicy, witchy goodness inside… warding against any negative influences is a must.
7. Connect with your house’s spirit guardian
Form a relationship with your house’s spirit guardian.
Find or create an effigy that represents this spirit, such as a small statue or drawing. We love these –
- Natural obsidian raven – the most beautiful raven effigy, small and perfect
- Gorgeous wooden cat sculpture
- Alabaster statue of Vesta (stunning white stone)
-
Bronze finish Hestia (Greek Goddess of Home and Hearth) statuette
Place it in a visible spot, and make regular offerings like fresh flowers, food, or small tokens.
These simple acts of honouring your guardian, while making requests for protection, will honestly, be one of the most powerful things you can do to create a nurturing and safe space.
8. Hang a charmed broom
Hang a broom near your entrance as a symbol of protection, and to symbolically sweep away negativity.
9. Place a mirror in your entrance
Hang or place a mirror in your entrance hall, opposite the front door. This will help to ‘bounce back’ any malevolent spirits or energy looking to enter.
We love these hall mirrors –
Antique metal mirrored sconce
(my absolute fave!)
10. Keep energy in flow
Rearrange furniture periodically to promote better energy flow and keep your space feeling fresh.
11. Place a garlic clove in each corner of your home
Garlic is known for its potent protective properties. Placing a clove in each corner of your home is a traditional witch’s practice believed to ward off negative energy and protect your space.
12. Cast regular protection spells
It’s a great idea to cast regular protection spells to keep your home boundary safe and secure. These can be as simple as scattering salt and whispering a few words. Or as elaborate as a seasonal ceremony involving “beating the bounds”.
Also read: The Most Simple Protection Spell EVER!
13. Plant protective herbs
Having protective plants near your front door or inside your home can make your home a safer space as certain carefully chosen plants can ward off negativity.
By strategically placing them at entry points, you invite their protective qualities to guard your home from unwanted intruders, of both this realm and other realms.
Suggested protective plants:
- Rosemary: Known for its cleansing properties and ability to repel negative energy.
- Lavender: Offers calming effects and is believed to protect against unwanted spirits.
- Cactus: Its spines symbolize protection and can deter negative influences.
- Sage: A powerful herb for cleansing and warding off negativity.
- Aloe Vera: Not only healing but also thought to bring positive energy and protection.
- Bay: Traditionally used for protection and purification.
- Mugwort: Known for its protective qualities in dreams and spiritual work.
- Yarrow: Believed to provide protection and enhance intuition.
14. Make a witch’s bottle
Witch’s bottles are a powerful and personal way to create protective energy in your space. These traditional witches vessels can be filled with herbs, crystals, and personal items that resonate with your specific intentions and preferences, making them uniquely effective for you.
Here are some traditional ingredients:
- Organic dried rosemary: For purification and protection, it helps to clear negative energy.
- Himalayan salt: A powerful protective agent that wards off negativity and purifies spaces.
- Black tourmaline: A grounding crystal that absorbs negative energy and provides protection.
- Obsidian chips: A powerful stone for shielding against psychic attacks and emotional harm.
- Garlic: Known for its protective qualities, garlic wards off negative energies and entities.
- Cloves: Guards against psychic attacks and negative entities (shop clove essential oil here)
- Thorns: Thorns from a rose or other plants symbolizes defense and protection against harm.
- Charcoal: Absorbs negativity and blocks curses.
- Iron nails: Traditionally believed to ward off evil spirits, iron nails can enhance the protective energy of your spell jar.
- Black salt: Powerfully protective, witches’ black salt is often used in rituals to absorb negativity and protect against malevolent forces.
- Crushed eggshells: Symbolizing protection, crushed eggshells can help create a barrier against negative influences.
- Holly or oak leaves: Both these plants are traditionally seen as protective, with holly representing defence and oak symbolizing strength.
- Vervain: This herb has a long history of being used for protection against harm and negative energies.
- Rue: An ancient herb for protection and removal of curses
- Vinegar: To pour into your witch bottle once other ingredients are added.
Cottage witch house decor tips
Cottage witch decor is one of the most creative ways to witchify your home and make it your own.
Think rustic, natural elements that bring the outside in – dried herbs hanging from beams, jars of crystals and stones on windowsills, and beeswax candles to add warmth and charm.
Layer in soft textiles like woven blankets, linen curtains, and plush, textured cushions to create a space that feels lived-in, comforting, and magickal. Incorporating items with personal meaning will add intention and energy to your space.
15. Make witchy crafts
Devote time to crafting beautiful, meaningful decorations for your home. Work with natural objects, herbs, symbols, sigils and any other elements that call to you.
You could also host a crafting circle with your fave witchy sisters, aka coven, and create together!
16. Keep your decor seasonal
Change your decor according to the seasons. Spring, summer, autumn and winter all have their own qualities, colours, textures and flavours, and they are always changing!
Ensuring your decor stays seasonal will help you appreciate the beauty and magick inherent in each season. Follow the wheel of the year and use the 8 sabbats as your markers when decor needs to change.
Need a guide to the Wheel of the Year? Download Seasonal Spellcraft!
17. Hang a seasonal wreath
Hanging a seasonal wreath on your front door is a beautiful way to mark the changing seasons. Whether you buy or make your own, ensure it reflects the essence of the time of year, using materials like fresh flowers in spring, vibrant leaves in autumn, or evergreen branches in winter.
18. Light candles
It’s SO basic! Keep a supply of candles and use them to light up your home with a natural glow. Candles not only create a warm, inviting atmosphere, but serve as a signal of acknowledgement to the spirit realm.
Stock up on coloured spell candles, golden beeswax candles (a little more expensive, but SO worth it) and basic white pillar candles – you can light larger ones again and again.
Our top candle picks:
19. Hang witch bells
Small strings of bells often hung at doorways or windows, witch bells are thought to protect a home, whilst their sound is believed to alert the witch to any unwanted spirits or intruders.
Make or purchase your own witch bells here:
20. Place mini altars in every room
By placing mini altars in every room of your home, you’ll create lots of little micro-sacred spaces that invite intention into your daily life. Adorn these focal points with a handful of meaningful items, encouraging connection to your spiritual practice throughout your home.
21. Make art
Make art that features symbols, or imagery related to your own practice of the craft, such as phases of the moon, sigils, or depictions of nature, and hang these in your home. Use natural materials –
- Twigs
- Feathers
- Hag stones
- Beautiful dried leaves
- Dried flowers and seed husks
You could also set up an ever-changing vision board to inspire and uplift your space.
House rituals and daily intentions
Daily rituals and gentle house magick are at the heart of the cottage witch’s practice.
In a home where every creaking floorboard, flickering candle, and cup of tea carries can carry meaning (don’t you know it!), the simple act of tending to your space becomes a form of extended self-care.
These small, mindful practices help you nurture harmony within your cottage (or apartment) walls, strengthen your bond with the spirit of your home, and weave a little bliss into even the most ordinary moments.
By honouring your house as a living ally, you create a sanctuary where protection, gratitude, and prosperity can flourish.
22. Talk to your house
Whenever you enter, greet your house by saying “hello!” And when you leave, say “thank you, and goodbye”. Your house is conscious, and by communicating with it as you would any other member of your household, it will stay healthy. Homes that are ignored tend to attract negativity.
23. Create (and tend to) an altar space
Create a dedicated altar space for your spiritual practices. Tend to it regularly by leaving offerings, and clearing away any old items or debris from spells or rituals.
24. Ritualise your daily brew
Whether you drink wildcrafted herbal infusions or a good old cup of coffee, infuse your brew with intention. Sip your infusion slowly, savouring the moment while pondering on your desired outcome.
Our fave cottage witch teacups, pots & mugs:
25. Blow cinnamon through the front door
On the first day of the month, blow a small handful of cinnamon through the front door, to invite prosperity into your home.
26. Keep a gratitude jar
Creating a gratitude jar is a beautiful practice for anyone – witch or not! Fill your gratitude jar with notes of appreciation and positivity, especially for manifestations, events, relationships or things related to your witchcraft and spellwork.
27. Journal
A regular journaling practice will help you sift through your daily thoughts, worries, ideas and inspirations. Journaling is also an essential part of your shadow work – unavoidable for witches.
Need journal prompts?
Need a new journal?
28. Do daily divination
Use a simple divination method, such as pulling oracle or tarot cards, runes, or black mirror scrying, each day to gain insight into your current situation or guidance for your intentions.
These are my fave daily divination tools:
29. Keep your book of shadows up to date
Regularly adding to your witch’s grimoire SUCH a valuable practice for the house witch. Whether you document your spells and rituals every few days, or it’s more of an irregular (ahem!) part of your practice, intentional documentation of your personal witch work is a MUST.
30. Honour your more-than-human allies
Honoring your more-than-human allies is a vital witch house tip that deepens your connection to the natural world. From a whispered greeting, an offering at the base of a tree, to an intentional shamanic journey, be sure to acknowledge ALL those who guide and support you. This may include:
- Plants: Houseplants and herbs that offer healing.
- Animals: Spirit animals and pets that provide companionship.
- Deities: Gods and goddesses who inspire and protect.
- Elemental spirits: Earth, air, fire, and water spirits, as well as nature devas.
- Crystals: Mineral allies that enhance energy and intention.
