Innholdsfortegnelse for Cottages of White 2016 i The Cottage Journal

Welcome to our special issue, Cottages of White, which is filled with home interiors covered in layers of whites, antiques, and unique finds. Light-strewn rooms have a sense of serenity and comfort with an all-white palette, and plenty of inspiration and cozy decorating ideas are to be found. Traditional or shabby chic—white will forever be loved for homes and gardens. Whether your inspiration comes from treasured white linens or a beautiful slab of marble in your kitchen, find shades of white that suit your taste. White paint tones provide subtle changes during the day as the natural light changes outdoors. One cottage homeowner said, “I just had paint for each room tinted and mixed at my own discretion as we painted our home; some rooms required a few more drops…

Though the design plan for Kelli Kelly’s home may be a symphony of quiet colors, there’s more than a whisper of stylish zest in this refined space. When Kelli moved into her charming cottage five years ago, she felt as though some of her furniture wasn’t a good fit for the new space. So with the help of friend and decorator Lisa Flake of Caldwell Flake Interiors, she found the inspiration she needed in the silvery white hologram-like artwork that now hangs above the mantel. The art was the creative spark that led to the beautifully sophisticated yet highly livable design for the home that Kelli shares with her children and pets—yes, children and pets. Kelli’s smart decision to use a white leather (that can easily be cleaned) to upholster…

Diana and Eric Hansen are only the second owners of this unique cottage. “It had been empty for about three years before we bought it,” Diana says. “I had been in the house 12 years earlier, and Eleanor showed me around and pointed out the pieces Georges had made. I never dreamed then that I would be living in the house one day.” The cottage boasts a rich history of well-known guests. Aviation pioneer Amelia Earhart was a school roommate of Eleanor’s who visited the home, and when Georges and Eleanor studied art in Europe they befriended authors Ernest Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald who also visited the cottage on occasion. Designed in 1921 as a studio, the ceiling of the main room was 26 feet high to accommodate Eleanor’s…

Homeowners Will and Kathryn McCraney knew they loved their 1921 Mississippi cottage before they even moved in. “When we were still in graduate school, I walked by the house and told the people who lived there, ‘If you ever sell your house call me,’” Kathryn says. “They called two days later!” The McCraneys have since created an inviting home with charming curb appeal that is carried throughout the cottage’s interior. Layered in a crisp palette of white, the McCraney home offers a family-friendly environment by pulling in cherished heirlooms and handmade pieces that add loads of warmth and a personal touch. “I think if you love your house you can put your personality into it, and my personality is a little bit old and a little bit new,” Kathryn says.…

When these homeowners retired to the charming town of Fairhope, Alabama, they wanted to build a space where they could relax and entertain. With the help of interior designer Sharon Hixon, the couple resourcefully designed their new build around what they already had but added cottage features like large front and back porches, five-panel doors, and lots of open living spaces. “I like to see from the front to the back of my home,” says the homeowner of the Creole-style cottage. “So that’s where we started.” No matter how charming the rest of their Southern cottage may be, “everyone ends up in the kitchen,” the homeowner says with a smile. And with just a quick look around, it’s easy to see why. The cottage boasts a large open-concept kitchen that…

Growing up adjacent to a massive meadow and spending her youth wading through its wildflowers, Martha Swiss couldn’t imagine a life that wasn’t surrounded by billowing clouds of blossoms. Given that floriferous ideal, Martha and her husband, Larry Ivkovich, took the first opportunity to opt out of suburbia and buy property farther afield. An acre in size, the location was comfort food for a soul nurtured in open fields. Initially, it was spacious, windswept, and a totally blank canvas where she could flex her botanical creativity. And there was no doubt in Martha’s mind that she would dig in immediately to establish gardens. As a lifelong gardener, she was frustrated by her extended work day. By the time she returned home from her publishing job in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, it was…

Creamware was perfected in the mid-1700s as Europe’s economical counterpart to popular but expensive Chinese porcelain. This refined earthenware pottery naturally aquired its name from the creamy color of its appearance. Although many experimenters and developers had a hand in creamware’s birth, Josiah Wedgwood is best remembered for his refinement and successful marketing of the product. He became known as the Potter to Her Majesty after furnishing Queen Charlotte with his creamware line, which he then proudly (and cleverly) changed the name of to queensware. The majority of creamware is plain, but this versatile pottery was also decorated with transfer print designs, as well as monochrome and polychrome enamel colors. Many pieces were reticulated or pierced, which gives the edges a lacy appearance. Creamware can be found today in fine…

TThe Sandquists’ charming cottage sits on 6 acres of beach property that is mostly covered in wild palmetto bushes. That’s why Sherry Sandquist came up with the name Palmetto Cottage for both their home and her business. “I’ve owned an antiques and interiors business for the last 20 years and sell items similar to items I use to decorate my own home,” she says. Junk stores and antiques shops are Sherry’s favorite haunts for finding furnishings. “I’ve always loved white rooms. They lift my spirit just being in them,” she explains. “White opens up all possibilities in decorating, allowing me to totally change the feel of a room just by changing out pillows, art, or accessories.” Nearly four years ago Sherry took the plunge and painted their floors a high-gloss…

A chance to create a stylish setting that is filled with texture and yet calming to its owner proved to be the task at hand for Pandy Agnew, the decorator of this cozy cottage. From the chandelier in the dining area with rustic roping details to the rattan-backed breakfast chairs, the eye is entertained. The elements of surprise are having wall sconces, a narrower dining table, and strategically placed mirrors to make the small space seem larger and reflect light throughout. “We pushed the refresh button and lightened up the space as we took off a couple of decades with this [new] interior,” Pandy says. They used varying tones of wood to add to the quaint interior design. Purposely designed without area rugs, the warm wood shines while giving the…

An all-white design scheme presents a peaceful appearance to be sure, but Linda Johnson’s home proves the point that a dash of color can truly bring a space to life. The home’s neutral background allows cherished wood furniture, like the antique gateleg table and burled chest in the central room, to capture its proper attention. From vivid orange cookware displayed in the kitchen to bright bouquets of fresh-clipped blooms scattered throughout the house, Linda has created a home that is both relaxing and cheerful. In the master suite, Linda accessorized the bed with vintage linens found in an antiques shop in England’s Cotswolds. Shams featuring red turkey stitch bring a sprinkling of color to the sunlit space, as do the blueand-white ginger jar lamps and floral cushions propped in a…

Sunlight pours through every window of Katherine Trammell’s enchanting home, illuminating serene interiors that reveal a true artistic touch. As a fifth-generation artist, Katherine has an understanding of both the obvious and the subtle contributions of color to an overall decorating scheme. To that end, she has used various shades of white throughout the house to maintain a soothing flow between the spaces. “I wanted the interiors to be bright and clean,” Katherine says. “There are lots of windows, and because of all that light, our home feels ultrahappy.” The Trammells worked with architect Dean Robinson to capitalize on the abundance of natural light and to create a more open floor plan to better suit their family. His ideas included moving an awkwardly placed doorway and converting the formal dining…

Snowdrops may be nature’s most impatient creation. Winter is still very much present when they puncture the thin crust of snow in a thaw and come up shivering when winter is by no means vanquished and temperatures might still plummet. In Britain, Galanthus spp. (as they’re designated botanically) have been called February fair maids and dingle-dangles. In France, they’re known as perce-neige (or snow piercers), which gives you some idea of their lack of prudent timing. Native to Europe and western Asia, these intrepid white bloomers that we know as snowdrops are the first subtle hint that winter’s fury is fracturing. Huddling close to the earth, snowdrops have all sorts of tricks up their sleeves to battle brutal weather. The fact that they face downward protects the blossoms from filling…

After only a moment spent inside this peaceful shop, it’s easy to feel as though you’ve stepped into a dreamlike world where flowers bloom in the snow and angels flit about overhead. Tranquil music plays in the background, providing a gentle soundtrack for this otherworldly place. Although white can sometimes feel cold or austere, the opposite is true here—snowy white, creamy ivory, and antique ecru swirl together to create a welcoming palette of soothing tones. Here and there, hints of dove gray, pale green, and taupe lend to the nature-inspired décor. The idea behind this serene wonderland in Birmingham, Alabama, all started with a simple T-shirt. When Diana Hansen and her husband moved into a beautiful older home they aquired a spectacular garden. Diana says, “I was so inspired by…

AA beautiful home is essential to Laura Clark’s creative process. As an artist, she relies on her painting techniques—starting with a basic composition and building upon it—to craft the ideal space for her young family. “Good design both reflects and encourages creativity,” Laura says. “Achieving a beautiful design is a challenge that excites me—searching for and finding the right pieces to complete the overall composition in a way that feels balanced and whole and still true to my personality.” Refreshing whites and calm neutral tones serve as her canvas as Laura uses layers of upholstered pieces, sleek silhouettes, ornate details, and modern touches to create the perfect juxtaposition. She leaves windows unobstructed by heavy drapes and utilizes mirrors to reflect natural light around the room, adding to the airy feel…

Landscape designer Scott Gilchrist is just as adept at creating beautiful home interiors as he is at designing dazzling English perennial gardens. Though his indoor décor boasts a decidedly more subdued palette than the hollyhocks and delphiniums growing in the garden, it is anything but vanilla. Scott worked with noted architect Jim Barganier to make a few tweaks to the builder’s spec-home blueprint. With this, his fifth house, Scott has honed and refined his personal style, resulting in a residence that is the perfect mix of formal and casual, old and new, straight lines and elegant curves—and suits the self-professed “neat freak” to a tee. The home’s eclectic composition shines as soon as the front door opens. In the foyer, modern artwork from Sante Fe, New Mexico, hangs alongside an…

Known for its rich architectural heritage and tantalizing cuisine, the Creole-seasoned culture of lower Louisiana also gave us the word “lagniappe,” which loosely translated means “a little something extra.” This description, along with a bevy of Deep South influences, perfectly describes this new home. To keep the crisp white interiors of the home from being too monochromatic, the owners gravitated toward fabrics and patterns in light creams, grays, and muted blues. This color combination sets a soothing, comfortable tone in the living area and throughout the house. With the kitchen, breakfast, and living areas combined into one space, this open plan proves ideal for both entertaining and daily living. Adjoining the kitchen and living area, the breakfast and casual dining nook contains a series of casement windows, which serves as…

Designer/artist/author Terry John Woods remembers a time when he couldn’t see his tabletops due to his penchant for collecting everything from chipped transferware and cutting boards to silver-lustered water pitchers and vintage metal bicycle seats. “I suddenly became tired of living in darkness,” he recalls. And that was the moment Terry edited it all out and whitewashed the walls, furniture, floors, and anything else that could be painted. He swore himself into simplicity—if not forevermore, at least for the foreseeable future. Terry’s home is all about texture. It couples wood against linen, glassware with wrought iron, tin against cement, and tarnished mirrors beside metal. It was always brilliant and intriguing, but when color was minimalized, the dialogue between each carefully selected object and its surroundings gained depth. It was a…

E-mail us at msherer@hoffmanmedia.com, and tell us your cottage story. Please understand that any submissions you send to us become the property of Hoffman Media and may be used, edited, reproduced, distributed, and displayed without further review by you or compensation to you. Additionally, Hoffman Media accepts no responsibility to review any submissions or keep them confidential. A Shop of Serenity Pages 21–26 White Flowers Gallery. Living with White Page 27–35 Interiors by Lisa Flake, Caldwell Flake Interiors. Simply Serene Page 59–64 Interiors by Pandy Agnew, Pandy Agnew Interiors. Modern Elegance Page 65–72 Architecture by Jim Barganier, Barganier Davis Sims Architects Associated. Blend of Old and New Page 73–80 Interiors by Lynn Myers of Lynn Myers Designs. Focus on White Page 87–92 Built by Francis A. Bryant & Sons. Island…