Living Large In Small Spaces - Shabby Little Country Home

Thirty-ninth post in the series 

"Living Large in Small Spaces"

Welcome to another edition of Living Large In Small Spaces.

I'm so happy you could join me today, as I have a very special guest from Germany: Caroline of the blog My Shabby Little Country Home. I was introduced to Caroline after she left a comment on another home I featured in this series. That led me to her blog, and when I saw her uber charming old world cottage I asked her to come and share it with us.  I'm so glad she accepted my invitation. 

While Caroline's home is somewhat larger than many of the homes I feature in this series, most of the individual rooms are small and Caroline has furnished them to live large.

Please give Caroline a warm welcome. I know you're going to love what she has to share.

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Caroline and Bill's Shabby Little Country Home

I met my husband in November 1988 while he was stationed in Mainz, Germany. We got married in 1990. While I was pregnant he had to go to Iraq. He returned after our son was born and due to the troop reduction in Germany we moved to Illinois and bought a house. We all were so homesick that we left the US after only 13 months. We moved into a beautiful and big apartment in an old mill. The rent was sky high, so my hubby insisted on buying a house. 

After looking at I don't know how many houses, we came across our home in 2001. It's located at the foot of the Taunus mountains in a tiny village surrounded by woods. At first Bill thought I was kidding him when I told him "that's the one." He replied that there isn't a straight wall in the house. But that was exactly why I fell in love with it. Our home is a half-timbered house which is about 200 years old.

The size of the house is about 1560 square feet and the garden is about 5600 square feet. 

The house was in poor condition and we invested a lot of time and money. 

As you walk through the front door you are in the hallway which we use as our dining room.

To the left is the front room and to the right is the kitchen and behind it is Bill´s bathroom.

Frontroom

The ceiling in the front room was so low that Bill hit his head on the wooden beam. Since we had a tiny basement under the front room we lowered the floor.

This is where we keep our TV.

Kitchen

On the first floor is our bedroom, office, bathroom and a room in which I do the ironing.

Bedroom

Ironing Room

In the attic story is a big and a small guest room and another small room in which we store our clothes that we don´t need for the season.

Big Guest Room

Small Guest Room

We are still not completely done with our house. My bathroom still needs a full remodel and the hallway floor still needs to be done. Bill had a severe car accident in 2010  with a skull brain trauma, so we cannot do everything on our own anymore. But we hope to get the upper bathroom done this year.

Except for the front room all rooms are pretty small, I think that makes them cosy.

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Thank you so much, Caroline, for sharing your lovely home and personal story with us. I'd say you're living very large in your small spaces. We wish you and Bill the very best.

To see more of Caroline's sweet home and gorgeous gardens (oh my, does she have a green thumb), go to her blog My Shabby Little Country Home here.

Join me next Saturday for another post in the special series

 Living Large in Small Spaces

See more home tours in the 

Living Large In Small Spaces Series here.

From the comments I've received, many

people have been encouraged by the homes and lives 

shared in this series.

If you live in a small space (approx. 1200 square feet or less),

 I'd love to feature your story, too.

Send me an email and let's collaborate.

(See the "Contact Me" page for my email address.)