The Cottage Journal features decorating ideas, style tips, creative inspiration, and delicious recipes - and now you can enjoy every single page on the tablet! Create a warmer, more magical home with the beauty of nature and The Cottage Journal!
Welcome to our summer issue. It is filled with pages that will inspire and hopefully delight while you are enjoying time on the beach, relaxing on the porch, or just taking a break with The Cottage Journal! Collections are one of our favorite subjects, and several of our homeowners mention that antiques and treasures have become family heirlooms. One of our features, “Timeless Appeal,” on page 31 shows how travel can influence the home environments we create. This family loves to combine old glass bottles, aged wooden pieces, antique artifacts, and oddities in their newer home to preserve uniquely designed home accessories. In another story, “Creative Pursuits” on page 65, a couple purchases treasures they love mainly as keepsakes or for their beauty. They are also great conversation pieces for…
“There’s something about the dawn. For me, its the perfect time.” —STACY BASS For 12 years Stacy Bass has worked as an editorial and fine art photographer. Her first book, In the Garden, was a best seller in nature photography. In her second book, Gardens at First Light, Stacy captures 12 beautiful private gardens in morning’s early light. Accompanying the stunning images, writer Judy Ostrow shares the thoughts and ideas of the people responsible for the gardens. Both homeowners and landscape architects explain how plans became reality and the challenges the properties presented. Within the 224 pages you’ll also find the Garden Reference Guide with drawings by James Gerrity that just might inspire you to create your own beautiful garden. Published by atHome Books, images reprinted with permission from Gardens…
Summer colors of the seashore fill this cottage at the New Jersey shore: navy blue, the same pink as the inside of shells, sandy neutrals, and the bright white of summer clouds. Built for more than just a vacation retreat, this home is planned for the busy lives of the vibrant young family who lives here full time. From the street, a picket fence encircles the gray clapboard home with broad stairs reaching up to the spacious front porch. The cottage has two stories, with the open living area on the ground floor and bedrooms above. The third floor has a single room reminiscent of a crow’s nest that looks out to the sea and the moored boats at the dock. Open floor plans are a popular choice for cottages…
“We believe that beauty and sustainability are intricately linked and that time-honored and environmentally friendly techniques are of the utmost importance to us.” —STACY BOROCZ Homeowners Stacy and Joe Borocz share an affinity for just about anything that combines European history with everyday objects. In fact, through their Atlanta-based company, Europe2You, they frequently explore the outdoor markets and curio shops of the United Kingdom, France, and other European countries for accessories and furnishings that exemplify the quintessential Continental lifestyle. As expected, the couple’s own abode abundantly reflects this joie de vivre spirit. Yet, as with most things, there’s a twist. “The story of our house is interesting and a bit backwards when compared to most people’s appreciation for older homes,” Stacy admits. “Initially, we searched for a place with old…
“We made a house that would really blend the outside and inside.” —AVEREE HICKS As the couple prayed about the right place to raise their family after finishing medical school, they were ultimately led back home, where their young boys could fish and swim and have a good place to grow up, surrounded by both of their families. “It was the best move we ever made,” Averee says. Before their final move they had lived in several houses that had not been suitable for their lifestyle so they figured they could design their dream home if they had somebody to help them with the specifications. “We knew we wanted to build a house that would sustain us through children, empty nesting, grandchildren, and old age,” Averee shares. “And we actually…
New construction comes with pluses and minuses. In this case, the upside was a 3-bedroom, 2,500-square-foot house on the picturesque Tred Avon River in Easton, Maryland. The downside was easy to fix. “Our clients came to us in 2011 to upgrade the builder-grade features of the home, redo the floor plan to suit their lifestyle, and help them decorate,” says Jamie Merida of Bountiful Interiors, who worked on the house with his senior designer Denise Perkins. The cottage’s color palette is mostly shades of blue: navy blues in the main living area and aqua blues outside on the porch and patio beyond, all punctuated by pops of orange. “The homeowners wanted a relaxed level of sophistication,” Jamie says. “This area is rich with tradition but doesn’t have the stiff formality…
