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!
Cottages with open fireplaces, cozy spots to nestle, and warm conversations welcome the holiday season. Plans for new home projects are put aside for the moment to enjoy one another and focus on the present. Collections of everything from ornaments to tree toppers shine during the holidays. In the story “Open Heart, Open Door” on page 65, the homeowner shares her love for using treasured antiques and collectibles like shiny icicles to create memories for her children. The cottage featured in “Red & White Holidays” found on page 39, has a clean, white palette with bright red accessories. From simple to lavish, the many charming interiors featured in this issue can inspire your family’s celebration too. Here are some of my favorite ideas for Christmas décor: trees with tiny white…
If Priscilla Hillman’s home glows from wall to wall when the holidays roll around, that’s because there was a Santa Claus Room in her childhood. Why does she love Christmas? She begins the saga of how a battalion of bearded, gift-giving belsnickels came to dwell on her mantle (not to mention the tinsel, twinkling lights, and garlands galore). On Christmas Eve, she would journey from her home in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, wrapped in itchy blankets to fend off the chill before arriving at the house of a much-loved aunt and uncle. Every room of their cavernous mansion was decorated to spark the imagination of little relatives who still listened all night for the clatter of reindeer hooves on the roof. But the grand finale came after climbing the stairs to…
When you enter the shop White Flowers in Homewood, Alabama, you think perhaps you understand what Alice felt when she fell through that rabbit hole. There is something rather other worldly about the atmosphere with its white painted tree branches, fireplace, mirrors, doors, floors, and furniture. Then there are the pristine displays of gifts and accessories and stacks of the signature T-shirts that started it all. “I originally designed these floral prints to hang in our house,” says shop owner Diana Hansen. “Then I decided to make the prints into T-shirts so I could wear them. People kept asking me where they could get them.” Before she knew it, Diana and her husband, photographer Eric Hansen, were making T-shirts out of his studio space and working around the clock to…
Jody Clineff was faced with a dilemma. Given the simplicity of the un-retouched circa 1680 home she bought with her husband, Steve, she is sensitive to the primitive mood of the place. Communing with the timeworn patina and imperfect plaster of a First Period New England home has become a way of life for the couple who often scours flea markets to find just the right furnishings. The ambience is kept plain on purpose, but the holidays beg for a special splash. Jody finally came up with a fitting solution to her decorating dilemma: when it’s time to deck the halls, she pulls out her growing inventory of feather trees with a slew of period ornaments to match. It should be said that Jody’s antique–acquiring inclinations don’t stop at feather…
Genia Gilchrist knows how to draw the line between work and home. Although her Nashville, Tennessee, antiques shop, Gilchrist Gilchrist, wears a comfortably cluttered aesthetic, her house is just the opposite. It’s streamlined and unfussy—even at Christmastime, the season of excess. “Less is more,” Genia says, which for her translates to one Christmas tree instead of several, small clusters of greenery instead of sweeping garlands, and simple wreaths instead of lavish ones. In short, it’s about quality over quantity. The look complements the relaxed style of Genia’s home, shared with her husband, Glenn, and their 17-year-old son, Nash. Although the early 20th-century structure had been updated when the Gilchrists bought it, the changes were too modern for their liking. “I like to make [things] a little more timeless,” Genia says.…
Step into Sherry and Johnny Eldridge’s home at Christmastime, and their love for the holiday is unmistakable. Every room shines with treasures and trimmings, antique knickknacks, and symbols of the season, all unified by a pale, shimmery palette that adds an appealing top note of winter. “It’s my favorite time of the year,” Sherry says. “[I love] getting to see all of the things that we’ve collected. To me, it’s when our home looks the best.” The couple’s holiday style wasn’t always so ethereal. When they first bought the home in the late 1990s, they decked the halls with classic jewel tones. But gradually, Sherry lightened the décor and infused it with cottage flair: painted and distressed furniture, soft textures and silhouettes, and pale hues. As the look of the…
