Sixth post in the series
"Living Large in Small Spaces"
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(Teri and Bill's Sweet Cottage)
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I'm so pleased to welcome Teri of My Homespun Kitchen to A Joyful Cottage today.
Teri and I became friends back in September when she stumbled upon A Joyful Cottage and introduced herself. Through emails and reading her blog I've come to admire the simple, authentic, large life she and her husband share in their small cottage. I invited this very special woman to share her story with us. Enjoy.
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Welcome to our little cottage. We are Bill and Teri. We have been married 46 years and have lived
in the same little cottage throughout our married life. We have one son, a daughter-in-love and our
grand doggy. They live just a few blocks
from us, of which we are so very thankful.
Our little cottage sits on one small lot on a
corner in our little town. Our home was
built for my gramma. My gramma only
lived here a short time. Due to health
issues she was no longer able to be by herself.
Bill and I were newly married and looking to buy our first home. At that time, it was a starter home; needless
to say we are still living here and love it even more now than when we first
chose this little cottage to be our first home.
I grew up next door, so I didn’t venture far.
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| (Our Little Cottage) |
Our little home was built mostly by my parents, my
uncles and aunts for my gramma. It was
very small. It had a living room,
kitchen, bedroom, laundry room and bathroom.
It was a very basic design. We
knew that it was built well, but again very basic. We have added our little touches to it and it
is our HOME SWEET HOME.
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| (Home Sweet Home) |
We built on a second bedroom and hallway with a basement
under those two areas. Our basement is
used for storage and if we have stormy weather it is a safe place for us to go.
Our living space is 876 square feet and with our
very small basement area our total space is around 1000 square feet.
Our situation is a bit different from the others
who have shared here. We have lived in
our home forever it seems. We did not plan or build our home
ourselves. All those years back, we paid
what now seems like a very small price for our little home. It fit within our budget. My hubby was in law enforcement in our town
for 35 years of our marriage. I was the
keeper of our home. I was a stay at home
wife and mom and would not change that for anything. Our plans were for my hubby to take an early
retirement. With much planning, much
budgeting and living within our means, he retired at 59. We have enjoyed over 11 years now of being
together each and every day, of which I would not change for anything either. We continue to plan, budget and live within
our means.
We are both homebodies. We do love out and about days, little
getaways, but we love coming home to our little cottage even more. As we are used to living in a small home, we
were able to save for our small “home away from home” for our little getaways.
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| (We live small even when we travel) |
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| (This sofa is made down into our bed at night) |
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| (My little kitchen space) |
We have always found it to be of great importance
to live within our means and to live simply.
We have always lived small and have been content with what we have. It is on our hearts to live a more simple
life, living a God centered, purposeful life.
We wish to live each day enjoying what God has given us. We want our home to be comfortable for us, as
well as those who visit. I want to cook
real food that not only tastes good but is good for us. We want to be in control of the food that we
put on our plates. We have a small
kitchen garden on our little plot of land. We enjoy our flowers, herbs, fruits
and vegetables. We want to have control
over where our money goes. We cherish
the simple pleasures of each day … a good cup of tea, a favorite book, quiet
moments together, watching the birds in our garden and yard, plants on our windowsill. We like to spend time with our family and
friends. We enjoy those simple
conversations around the table.
We look back now about our retirement and how we
planned for it. We have been able to
make ends meet, even putting money into savings. There are even more ways that we could cut
back if need be. We are so very thankful
for small and simple living.
I thought that I would share a few reasons why we
have chosen to live small and simple.
Little houses are budget friendly. They are easier to heat and cool, so smaller
utility bills. During the heat of
summer, a small window air-conditioner is all we need to make our little cottage
comfy from the heat. In the cold of
winter we use an electric heater to keep us warm and cosy on most days. We also have a gas wall furnace that we use
if we have extreme cold.
Small houses cost less to purchase. When we purchased our little cottage many
years ago, our payments were affordable and we were able to pay off our
mortgage in a short amount of time. I
might mention that we were able to do this on one income.
Little houses are easier to decorate. We have a rather simple style of
decorating. Our little cottage is rather
old fashioned, a bit country and what we would call homey.
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(This is the bay window in our living room
looking out to our front lawn) |
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| (Our living room … our cosy, comfy, quiet reading space) |
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(The window over my kitchen sink where we enjoy doing our dishes by hand
The kitchen curtain is most always open, just wanted to share with you the vintage look)
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(We eat all of our meals at our kitchen table,
as well as tend to many little projects there) |
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(My vintage cupboard, a birthday gift from my hubby,
which has much storage space) |
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| (Another vintage cupboard, another gift from my hubby, which is used for storage as well) |
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| (Our bedroom) |
Small houses share family togetherness. When our son was small it was easy to keep an
eye on him and I loved to hear him play as I tended to my home keeping
chores. If I were puttering around the
kitchen or the laundry room, I knew what was going on in each small room of our
cottage.
Small spaces help us to enjoy more time
outdoors. Fresh air is good for us. We cherish our time outdoors on our front
porch, patio or puttering in our lawn and garden.
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(Our front porch, a very cosy and comfy place
where we love to spend time) |
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(A little corner of our front porch where
I love to decorate for the different seasons) |
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| (On our patio we have double washtubs that we use to grow herbs and a salad garden some years and pretty flowers in other years, and also a rain barrel to harvest rain water) |
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| (Kitchen garden just off of our patio) |
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| (Another part of our kitchen garden) |
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(Our patio and garden area
We also have a garden shed and compost bin in the back corner
of our little plot of land which is not shown)
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Little houses are easier to keep neat and
tidy. Being clutter free is always at
the top of my “To Do” list. We find that
having a place for everything and keeping it there works best for us.
Small houses are cosy. I love the cosy feel of our small space,
especially on a cold wintry night when we are snuggled inside.
Small houses are easier to clean. I love a clean cottage, not perfect, just
clean, tidy and comfy. I am thankful for
less space to tend to.
This is what has worked for us for over 46
years. During those years that our son
was growing up, our home was snug and cosy.
Now that our nest is empty, it is working well for our retirement years
as well. It is still snug, cosy and easy
to tend to.
Home Sweet Home
A home is much more than a house built of lumber, brick or stone. A home is made
of love, sacrifice and respect. We are responsible for the home we build. We
must build wisely, for eternity is not a short voyage. There will be calm and wind,
sunlight and shadows, joy and sorrow. But if we really try, our home can be a bit of
heaven on earth.
~ Thomas S. Monson ~
Thank you so much Nancy for inviting me to share
our simple and small space living. I
have enjoyed all that has been shared and look forward to those yet to come.
Happy Harvest and Simple Blessings
from Our Little
Cottage to Yours
Teri
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Thank you, Teri, for sharing your cottage, lifestyle and wisdom with us.
Visit Teri's blog
where you'll find
more on "small space living, small budget spending, and basic simple pleasures".
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.
Would you like to share your small space story
or have your home
featured in this special series?
Send me an email and let's collaborate.
(See the "Contact Me" page for email address.)
