Cottage Love - Our Angie's List Weekly Feature

Last November when I blogged about the photo shoot for Angie's List Weekly, the February publish date for our cottage feature didn't seem all that far away. At my age time passes pretty quickly. 

Holy cow! That's us on the cover. (Dennis is cute. I need a haircut.)

So here we are in March (already?) and now I can officially announce that the feature was published in the February 29 edition (Volume 3, Issue 9). Angie's List Weekly (ALW) is available only through mobile and tablet devices, so if you own one of those you can access ALW for free (click here for a link to download on iOS devices or here to download to view on Android devices). 

I'm sure not everyone who reads A Joyful Cottage has access to a mobile device, so I asked Amanda Bell (author of the article and one very nice person) if I could share the article here. Of course there are all kinds of copyright issues involved with that, so once we worked out what I can and can't do, following is a taste of the article. (For copyright reasons I've disabled the Pinterest button on ALW owned photos.)

Photo courtesy of Angie's List. All rights reserved.

Our cottage was one of three Dream Homes profiled, falling under the category Building. The other two categories were Remodeling and Renovating. Those of you who have been following A Joyful Cottage for awhile know that we broke ground on February 9, 2015 and moved into our cottage six months later. You also know that we're still working on landscaping and decorating, so some of what you'll see is work in progress.

After viewing the other two featured dream homes measuring 2600 - 3000 sq ft, I'm pretty humbled that ALW chose to include our modest 700 sq ft cottage. 

As I mentioned in my photo shoot post, the photographer Steve Roundy was fun to work with, and he did a great job of showcasing our cottage.

Photo courtesy of Angie's List. All rights reserved.

Prior to Steve's visit the gallery wall was bare. We designed the cottage to accommodate a free-standing hutch in that space, but at the time of the photo shoot we hadn't found a hutch we liked. (More about that in an upcoming post.) I suggested to Dennis that we hang a trio of his paintings and place the pedestal with sculpture underneath. I think it worked well for this shot.

Photo courtesy of Angie's List. All rights reserved.

Steve was very fond of our farmhouse sink and garden window. Even though it was late fall when he took the photographs, I managed to find some flowers still lingering in the garden to place around the cottage.

Photo courtesy of Angie's List. All rights reserved.

I was my own stylist for the shoot, and as you can see I kept things fairly simple and uncluttered. That's how I like our home to be all the time, so the arrangements are true to my tastes.

Photo courtesy of Angie's List. All rights reserved.

This photo depicts my propensity for alignment. I can't stand to see my pillowed shams crooked. (I know, it's a sickness.)

Photo courtesy of Angie's List. All rights reserved.

In case you're wondering why our personal attire changes from the interior to the exterior shots, I'll tell you that Steve arranged two separate Saturday sessions. (I know you're oh so interested in our fashion. Not.)

Photo courtesy of Angie's List. All rights reserved.

We're standing/sitting on our breezeway in the photo above. Dennis studio is connected on the right.

I like this shot of my man working in his studio. 

Photo courtesy of Angie's List. All rights reserved.

In a few weeks the background in this photo will be much prettier. So will the lawn and the flower beds.

Photo courtesy of Angie's List. All rights reserved.

Our garden shed garnered a lot of interest.

Photo courtesy of Angie's List. All rights reserved.

I forgot how much use the shed got last year until I saw this photo taken through the window from the outside; it served double duty as a greenhouse and place for me to work on DIY projects.

Photo courtesy of Angie's List. All rights reserved.

This is one of my favorite photos, and now I'm using it on my About the Cottage Lover page.

Photo courtesy of Angie's List. All rights reserved.

As I reflect on the article, I realize that Angie's List Weekly presented so much more than a "Cozy Cottage Home" (the title of the article). They captured a simple, but rich lifestyle. And you know, as I look at these photos I feel so grateful to my Heavenly Father. It's all because of Him that we enjoy this sweet cottage we call home.

Thank you for sharing in our joy.