Leaving city life behind to live fulltime at the cottage, our clients knew it was time to get serious about making the indoors more than just basic functional. They wanted friendly comfort to equal the inviting and whimsical spaces they’d created outdoors. As to be expected, the focus had been the great outdoors – lake-side.
So, we turned our attention inside. We added bright, cheery and playful details with purpose. In a small home, there’s no room for the superfluous – every element needs to be functional as well as a joy to be around. (Kinda like your friends.)
There was a lot of stuff going on at one end of the great room which kind of petered out at the fireplace end of the space. So, we book-ended the fireplace with antique dressers to pump up that side of the room and warm up the greys. The dressers draw the warmth of the wood ceiling from way up high, down to floor level where the action is. Bonus! – The dressers also provide much-needed storage and one now anchors the television which had been floating alone on the wall. (It’s a television, not a helicopter.)
A change of layout, a gathering of well-placed sentimental decor items, a dotty wood-block side table and a pretty in pink area carpet complete the space with a cozy come-hang-out-here vibe.
My clients love turquoise. So we used it strategically, balancing it with bold dark blues and added lots of woody neutrals to keep the energetic colours grounded.
Small spaces can sometimes feel rather rigid and static when there are lots of angles and flat planes. So my clients found some fun circular wall art and we chose globe-shaped light fixtures and boldly patterned wallpaper to roll around and liven up the place.
Explore this playful, yet seriously efficient cottage, below. Click on any image to scroll through larger images.
As always, I hope you’ve found a little inspiration here for YOUR next project!
