Innholdsfortegnelse for Southern Cottage 2023 i The Cottage Journal

A PERSONAL TOUCH In this special edition of The Cottage Journal, we’ve pulled together a collection of our favorite Southern style ideas and unique home tours from years past. Friendly homeowners from across the South gave our team a warm welcome into their personal homes and shared special stories of how travels, family, and more influenced each of their decorating styles. Inside the pages of Southern Cottage, you’ll discover beautiful homes and gracious entertaining spaces, each of which highlights the hallmarks of classic Southern style. Vintage pieces and playful patterns can make bold statements in any home’s décor. One of our darling featured cottages in North Carolina is the home of Margaret Jordan, who uses her 1953 ranch-style home as a creative canvas. When hunting for treasures, she doesn’t shy…

First impressions were of the utmost importance to March + May Design’s Rachel Anderson, who took the lead in furnishing Elizabeth and Jon Macklem’s cottage in the quaint Southern town of Fairhope, Alabama. The home’s open-concept layout left no room to hide, meaning the view from the front door needed to be a memorable one. “It was already such a charming foundation,” Rachel says, noting that the home was built by its previous owner, founder of Fairhope Building Co., who “put a lot of care into it.” The goal, then, was to work within that foundation to create a space that would be personal to—and functional for—the young family. Layering atop the blank slate of white shiplap and rich hardwood floors, the team introduced a mixture of quality furnishings and…

Juli and Robert Clendenin spent a majority of their married lives in the country and are now completely immersed in their quaint but bustling town of Franklin, Tennessee. The couple is always involved with something in their neighborhood—be it races, festivals, or parades. “We moved here from our home of 19 years, the home where we raised our four children,” Juli explains. “We lived on 20 acres with no neighbors close by.” While the pastoral solitude was perfect for their family then, once the couple became empty nesters, they decided to move closer into town, and the choice of location was an easy one. “We’ve always loved downtown Franklin,” Juli says. “For years, we would drive around downtown and dream of owning a house here.” Their nearly 100-year-old Craftsman bungalow…

In Pat Camp’s opinion, good home design centers around good kitchen design. “It’s such an integral part of a home that that’s the place you should really start,” she says. So, when she and her husband built their home, creating their ideal kitchen was crucial to the plans. For Pat, ideal meant efficient, simple, and classic. She gave up kitchen space in order to accommodate a full ground-floor office for her husband, who works from home. But she found that she didn’t mind the limited square footage, as it helps to keep crowds from gathering as she cooks. “It’s not a place where people congregate; that’s just how I prefer it,” Pat says. The size certainly hasn’t hindered the kitchen’s functionality. Pat worked with a local designer to orchestrate the…

When your home boasts bountiful beautiful views from an abundance of windows, it just makes sense to design a space that draws from nature’s charms—and that’s exactly what Atlanta, Georgia, designer Clary Bosbyshell did in this Haynes Manor neighborhood home, where classic blue hues reign. Woven among the timeless Southern elements Clary is known for, the varying shades walk the line between neutrals and focal tones, appearing in everything from paint to upholstery. The palette is the perfect backdrop for Clary’s textile choices, which range from modern geometrics to classic florals. Displayed together, the contrasting shapes and styles combine to create a curated spirit throughout the home. In the living room, a textured linen on the sectional and a solid sky-hued coffee table balance bolder choices like the Greek key…

Stumble across this quaint Tennessee cottage on an afternoon stroll, and you’ll likely expect the inside to reflect time-tested style and a classic spirit designed to last—and you’ll be right. But the classic appeal Nashville designer Julie Couch introduced to this Southern charmer comes with a side of contemporary elegance and plenty of light. Spilling into the living room, the sunlight sets the bright and airy palette aglow with a welcoming ambience that paves the way for an abundance of sweet pastels. Subtle shades like the pink velvet armchairs to one side of the fireplace imbue the design with a feminine elegance, and expertly layered finishes fill every inch of space with interest. From the Greek-key rug to the warm wooden beams, floor-to-ceiling textures and patterns are thoughtful details that…

After 25 years of living on the West Coast and traveling abroad, Leslie and Tim Maier decided to “come home” to South Carolina. With sweeping marine vistas and plenty of rich history, the Lowcountry was the perfect place to settle, and the Maiers found their own piece of heaven on Brays Island in Sheldon, South Carolina. Leslie grew up in the South and was eager to create a space that felt like home while finding ways to incorporate family heirlooms and travel treasures. “I always loved the idea of having a cottage that looked like everything had been passed on from prior generations,” she says. With the help of interior designer Sheena Jenkins of SF Jenkins Interiors, Inc. in Port Royal, South Carolina, Leslie was able to make her vision…

When Ragan Cain purchased her charming home, dubbed Breeze Hill Farm, in 2016, the pool house in the backyard needed more than a little sprucing up. But with inspiration and creativity overflowing, Ragan, the voice behind The Frances Flair blog, got to work giving the dilapidated shed a whole new lease on life. Ragan felt the space would make the perfect potting shed, but she didn’t want to lose the practicality of the pool house. “I wanted a spot for friends and family to escape from the sun—somewhere that could hold up against wet feet and children’s Popsicle sticks,” she says. With this in mind, Ragan made sure that nothing in the cottage was too precious, opting for antiques that donned patina from years of frequent use. To find the…

When Chris Jackson and her husband, Ronnie, purchased their Alabama abode in 1975, the young couple was enamored by the neighborhood and saw great potential in their red brick ranch. Over the years, the home has undergone a grand transformation as the Jacksons have painted and planned, renovated and restored. The couple even raised the roof line, unveiling an architectural beauty that fits the feel of their Tudor-style street. Preferring a cozy, clean-lined, and neutral-toned aesthetic, Chris has created a warm and welcoming home filled with abundant seating, storage, and room for an expanding family. A new den and screened porch have allowed the family to add to their home without sacrificing the framework of the house they first fell for. No doubt a labor of love, the years of…

This 1953 ranch-style home in North Carolina is packed with playful color and vintage charm. For more than 20 years, homeowner Margaret Jordan has been thoughtfully layering each of her rooms with unique collections and found treasures that hold a story. She describes her decorating style as a blending of traditional, hip, and a whole lot of happy. “My home reflects my Southern heritage, my travels, and my many, varied interests,” she says. The painted pink front door gives a friendly peek at the vibrant personality that awaits inside. Stepping into the living room—Margaret’s favorite room in the house—you’ll find comfortable, stylish furnishings surrounded by art, chinoiserie, oyster plates, tobacco leaf porcelain, and needlepoint pillows. “This is where I really like to play with color and art,” Margaret says. “I…

Mary Catherine Folmar and her husband, Tyler, renovated their kitchen several years ago when they first moved into their house. Mary Catherine says, “I love a white kitchen; it’s light, bright, and clean. And since this kitchen was not so big, having it light makes it seem more open.” They kept the hardwood floors, staining them dark to contrast with the walls and cabinets. Corian, a solid surface material, was chosen for the countertops and the top of the island. Mary Catherine loves the look of marble, and the Corian pattern White Dove accomplishes that look and feel without the worry of the high-maintenance natural stone. For the backsplash, however, she decided to go with tumbled marble, thinking stains would be less likely. Cabinets line two walls of the room,…

For more than 40 years, Tena Payne has created stunning ceramic pottery. From her spacious studio in Leeds, Alabama, the owner, instructor, and lead artist of Earthborn Pottery crafts each of her unique works of art with the philosophy that everything she makes is born of the earth—all she does is rearrange it and put it back in the fire. “I want it to look like a rock that has just been polished. Like something a caveman would eat on—fossils and all,” Tena says of her works. This is one of the reasons why she stamps her signature ammonite fossil on each of her red clay vessels before firing them in one of the studio’s many kilns. What began as a hobby soon took off as Tena’s creativity and passion…