Inside Views.

I'm going to start my video series this month of our little cottage in the big woods. For now, two shots of a view I had the other day when I was sitting at our dining room table. Both are at the front of our cottage. Our little living room is across the hall from the dining room. In our other house, we had double french doors on the living room and I loved when my kids were little, we always had a beautiful, sun filled tidy room. We lived in the family room that was just a step down from our kitchen and nook. It filled the entire back of our house and was comfortable and our favorite place. The living room was our special spot at the end of the day, or when guests popped in. Where our Christmas Tree landed, and the best place to read a book on a rainy day. The move for designers and home builders to delete formal living rooms and dining rooms from homes now may work for many. But not for our family. We had to design this cottage because every house plan we looked at had no living and dining rooms options, which was sad. I love these intentional, comfortable spaces and so glad we advocated for both.

The second photo is looking thru the french door to the butler's pantry (aka the tea cupboard) and the kitchen. My apron is hanging on the right side. I'm so thankful we again advocated for what we wanted. In this case, a vintage inspired kitchen, with solid wood cabinetry painted a sage green, with ivory accents to match our AGA range from England. Black granite to keep the look with the black top of the range. We continued the cabinets in the laundry room, which is the sliding door at the back of the hall, as well as in our bathrooms, the desk under the stairs and the bookcases in the family room. The only cabinet that is different is the half bath on the main floor. We bought that unit and painted it to match the other cabinetry. A uniform look with a vintage style. And our own eclectic design all over.

More to come this month as Spring begins to emerge.

~ Chy