Stardew Valley is the quintessential cottagecore game. It's a life sim that lets you live out the romantic fantasy of living off the land and being harmonious with nature. If you've not heard of cottagecore before, it's a visual aesthetic birthed from the internet that focuses on cottages, flowers, home gardening, sewing, baking—anything to do with living a humble life while looking cute.
Stardew Valley mods: Custom farming
Stardew Valley co-op: Farm with friends
Games like Stardew Valley: More life sims
Best indie games: Our mixtape to you
Modders from the Stardew Valley community have run rampant with this aesthetic, creating a wealth of mods that can completely change your farm into the ideal cottagecore fantasy. I've spent a lot of time digging through Nexus mods and have listed my favourites below.
Some of the mods listed will need other support mods to be installed alongside it, with Content Patcher being a big one. Make sure you check the description of each mod to make sure you've installed everything you need. If you want a quick refresher on how to install mods, check out our Stardew Valley mods guide.
With all that out of the way, let's start the magical cottagecore transformation sequence.
Wildflower Grass
Never thought I would write about the importance of videogame grass but these grass mods are a must for getting that prime cottagecore aesthetic. You'll first need to install the More Grass mod created by Satozaki, and then add the following packs.
Wildflowers are a must in any cottagecore fantasy so Realistic Wildflower Grass and Witch's Garden Flowers by Squiver, and Wildflower Grass Field from DustBeauty will give you luscious, flowery grass that will have you frolicking in no time. Installing CatCattyCat's Winter Grass will also make sure that luscious grass will grow all year round and not shrivel up and die during the cold.
World Recolour
Stardew Valley has a lovely bright art style, but for cottagecore we want more of a naturally faded photograph look which is where DaisyNiko's Earthly recolour comes in. Trees, grass, foliage, and even buildings now have a more subtle, earthy hue. If that mod is a little too earthy and you want a little more saturation, Grapeponta's Vibrant Pastoral Recolor is another great option.
Flowers Everywhere
This Flower Valley mod by both paradigmnomad and KAYA fills Pelican Town and the surrounding areas with flowers. What I love about this mod is that it doesn't just cover the ground with blossoms, but every building and farmhouse also has flower vines growing up its walls.
If you're after some brighter flowers, check out Ali's Flower Grass, Hisame Artwork's Blooming Trees mod, and Lumisteria Flowers and Crops for some pops of colour on your farm.
Crops and Foraging
Realistic crops and foraging is a mod that changes up the colours of Stardew's vegetables and crops so that they look more like the real deal. They don't completely get rid of Stardew's colourful sheen, but it does make them a little easier on the eyes.
Another mod that changed my Stardew life is DustBeauty's Succulents, a mod that lets you not only display succulents but grow them too. You can place potted succulents anywhere you like and, although they take a long time to grow, they have a chance of dropping multiple produce.
Buildings
If you're looking to spread your cottagecore influences past your own farm, then switching up the style of Pelican Town's buildings is a must. My favourite is Way Back Pelican Town by Gweniaczek, which makes all of the game's buildings have an old-fashioned vibe to them. It's still in alpha but it's a fantastic mod. If that's not quite your style have a look at Yellog's Wood Buildings, Hadi's Spanish Revival Buildings, and Enchanted Gardens by naeldeus.
Animals
Kwillow seems to be the master of animal sprites as they have completely revamped Stardew's animals, giving them more variation than ever before. They've done cows, sheep, goats, and pigs with different types of patterns and colours. I recommend Elle's New Barn Animals if you'd rather have your animals looking a little plumper and cuter, and if you want to go full Harvest Moon with your animals check out IdentityPollution's Cuter, Fatter Cows mod.
Furniture
There are so many furniture packs for Stardew Valley and choosing which ones will suit your farm really comes down to colour palette. My favourite is Hesper's Industrial Kitchen and Interior, which has a great combination of old-timey kitchenware and white furniture that matches all the plants I have in my home. I also love Spotteddotted's Witch Furniture, which has lots of leaves and natural room decor, and Yellog's dark wood and cream furniture if you're going for that chic old granny vibe.
Crafting
To say that I hate the giant cheese sticker on the front of Stardew Valley's cheese press is an understatement. But, with Ankokou's Primitive Artisian Equipment, that sticker is now gone. This mod overhauls all of Stardew's crafting items, giving them a more natural look that blends in better with your farm and garden. I do occasionally switch to Gwen's Medieval Craftables, as this mod has vines and flowers growing up the side of most of the items which is a great touch.
