Innholdsfortegnelse for Summer 2021 i The Cottage Journal

FRESH EVERY DAY Summertime invites the opportunity for spending extra hours outdoors. With that in mind, we have pulled together an amazing collection of beautiful spaces to help inspire you this season. From the warm touch of sea breezes on the coast to the fragrant scents of flowers and fresh cut grass in the garden, summer brings many welcome changes. Balancing a home that is both pretty and peaceful was our top priority in this color-filled issue. On page 15 you’ll find some helpful tips to add a touch of coastal style to your home—no matter its location. Whether it’s collected antique mirrors, nautical artifacts, or vintage artwork, the right finds can add just the touch. In “A Charming Transformation” on page 91, a Birmingham, Alabama, backyard pool house turned…

Not far from the wood-planked boardwalk of Bethany Beach, Delaware, you might stumble upon Bikinis & Birdwells, the charming vacation home of a young, active family who truly loves having fun—this much is obvious from the cottage’s casual and welcoming aesthetic. Fittingly, the interior of the house was inspired by the family’s busy lifestyle and surfing, a sport the children are passionate about. The nautical stripes and contemporary style blend to create the perfect “hip” atmosphere, as designer Marnie Oursler of Marnie Custom Homes describes it. The original home at this location was a duplex-style property, but after the family lived there for a few years, they wanted something new. The current house was designed with many of the same intentions of the original, but with an updated approach. Marnie…

Major life events deserve celebration. When these Minnesota homeowners were ready to welcome their retirement, they called on interior designer Bria Hammel to give their 1990s cottage-style home a makeover to mark the occasion. “Our clients came to us looking to renovate and refurnish the home they built over 20 years ago,” Bria says. “After recently settling into retirement, they wanted to use this renovation as a way to celebrate this fun, new chapter in their lives.” The homeowners love to host family and friends, and with the birth of their first grandchild, they wanted to make sure that this home was livable and ready for entertaining. “This house was one of our biggest renovations to date. The home already had amazing bones, and because of that, we didn’t have…

Painting the landscape on canvas is a pursuit favored by many fine artists because of the challenges presented by the continuous changes in light and colors of nature. In the fine art world, this popular style of painting on location is called en plein air, and its roots can be traced back to 19th-century French impressionism. A resident of Sarasota, Florida, plein air artist Dominic Avant enjoys not only being immersed in the landscape but also adding to the depth of his paintings by introducing figures. The marriage of natural light from the outdoors and the narrative qualities of the portrait allow him to create pieces that combine his two favorite subjects. He treasures incorporating the storytelling sensibilities of the figure while allowing light to enhance the mood and essential…

Sea-Inspired Style Page 15—Interior designs by Julie Sweeney, Coastal Haven Design. Page 16—Dining room and centerpiece interior designs by Julie Sweeney, Coastal Haven Design. Seascape paintings interior designs by Anne Dutcher, Anne Dutcher Interiors. Page 17—Oyster-shaped pottery by Alison Evans, Ae Ceramics. Vibrant in Virginia Pages 27–35—Interior designs by Carrie Miller, Lapis Ray Interior Design. Pages 29–30—Walls painted in Hunter Green by Benjamin Moore. Sofa from Sarreid Ltd. Pages 33–34—Barstools from Serena & Lily. Stargazer Cottage Pages 37–48—Interior designs by Kelly Kole, Kandrac & Kole Interior Design. Renovations by Kyle Garland, Robbinsville Custom Moulding. Floral arrangements by Stephanie Boxberger, Stoney Hollow Farm. Pages 37–38—Sectional from Bernhardt. Coffee table from Uttermost. Page 39—Front door in Animated Yellow by Pella. Page 40—Window treatment fabric from Lacefield Designs; fabrication by Custom Creations. Pendant…

Both Lauren and Chip Seeger grew up in rural communities, so when it was time to start a family of their own, they decided to build a home in a thriving suburb of Arlington, Virginia. They wanted to raise their two elementary-age children in a place surrounded by schoolmates and friendly neighbors. “My childhood home was on a tobacco farm in Maryland’s countryside, a good 30 minutes from the nearest grocery store; Chip grew up in once rural Vienna,” says Lauren. “We really wanted our kids to experience growing up in an area with a vibrant sense of community.” The couple had been living in Arlington—and loving it—when the opportunity arose to build their dream home a few blocks over on a quiet tree-lined street. “I had helped them furnish…

Few places across the United States conjure a more immediate romantic notion than the idyllic island of Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts. There’s something undeniably magical and majestic about a towering coastal lighthouse anchored near a sparkling shoreline surrounded by tall island grasses blowing in the breeze. Artist Nancy Motley Walton has found a way to capture a piece of that magic in her plein air watercolor paintings by the sea. “Sometimes I’m in control, and sometimes the paint’s in control,” she says. “That’s how you come up with these wonderful results.” Nancy has been working in watercolor since 1991. “I started my journey into painting in my early 30s after being in the field of decorative arts working primarily with oil,” she says. “When I started in watercolor, I was hooked.”…