The Cottage - How small is big enough?

"Honeysuckle Cottage" Photo by Dawn Robinson-Walsh Some Rights Reserved

How much room do we really need 
to live joyfully?

That's the question Captain and I have been asking ourselves and each other the past month.  

I knew when I entitled my last new cottage post "Our New Cottage - Is This It?" that the chances were very good that it wasn't "It"; that we hadn't yet arrived at THE cottage.  By that I mean a pleasing, livable cottage design that wouldn't break the bank.

"Piggy Bank/Breaking and Entering?"  Photo by Pascal  Some Rights Reserved

Even with excellent credit and a big down payment, when we saw the costs from the lender to build the "Is This It?" design (construction loan and closing costs + final mortgage and closing costs), we knew we wouldn't be moving forward.  

We're not comfortable with spending that much cash now, plus incurring the burden of the final mortgage.

"If Mamma Ain't Happy" Photo by Patrick Q  Some Rights Reserved

Not at our age.

In truth, we'd like no debt at all.  Which means in order to meet that goal we'll have to build small. 

Very small.

Farmhouse Exterior by Peachtree City Architects & Building Designers Our Town Plans

Now, I love small homes.  Cozy has always appealed to me more than spacious, so I don't consider downsizing a punishment.

"The Entrance" Photo by Nicolas Boullosa  Some Rights Reserved

But I'm also realistic enough to know that there is a point at which "tiny house" loses it's appeal for me.  I've followed the Tiny House Movement for the past four years, and I greatly admire people who can live debt free in 102 SF of space, but that's not me.  

I know this to be a fact.

So. . .

How small is big enough?

Blaentrothy Cottages - The Wash House

When I saw this Welsh cottage I showed it to Captain and said, "I think I could live in a cottage floor plan like this."

Blaentrothy Cottages - The Wash House

An open floor plan.

Blaentrothy Cottages - The Wash House

Kitchen open to the living room and dining nook.

Blaentrothy Cottages - The Wash House

Blaentrothy Cottages - The Wash House

Small, functional kitchen.

Blaentrothy Cottages - The Wash House

No corridors.

Blaentrothy Cottages - The Wash House

Bedroom directly off the living room.

Blaentrothy Cottages - The Wash House

The bathroom is off the living room, on the opposite end of the cottage from the bedroom.  I'd change that to make the bath accessible from the bedroom.

My friend Magali at The Little White House on The Seaside pinned this floor plan for me.  (Isn't she thoughtful?  I just love her, and her blog.)

The Weekender by Home Design Central

This is a 600 SF cottage which, coincidentally, has similarities to the 528 SF one bedroom cottage plan we just finished, and which is now in the hands of our builder for pricing.  

If that plan flies, I'll show it to you.

In the meantime I've been connecting with small home dwellers; people who have chosen to live simply, many of them debt free. They're smart, kind, creative people and I'll be sharing their homes, lifestyles and tips for small space and simple living right here at A Joyful Cottage in a new blog series:

 "Living Large in Small Spaces"  

We'll be touring Tim and Leslie's 540 SF cottage this Saturday.  

If you're not yet a follower of A Joyful Cottage you may want to become one so you don't miss any of these fun and informative posts.

So, what do you think?  I'd love to hear your thoughts about downsizing, living in small spaces, simple living, etc.

I party with:

Amaze Me Monday at Dwellings
Tweak it Tuesday at Cozy Little House

Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style
The Homemaking Party at Hope In Every Season
Home and Garden Thursday at A Delightsome Life
Share Your Cup Thursday at Have a Daily Cup of Mrs. Olson
Home Sweet Home at The Charm of Home
Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Cottage
The Art of Homemaking at Strangers & Pilgrims on Earth

Excellent Dutch Apple Pie

Hello Cottage Friends,

I've been MIA for over a week as we work through more set backs with our new cottage.  

It's back to the drawing board, literally.  

I won't bore you with the details, just let me say that building a new home in this economy isn't all that fun.  Unless you have a bazillion dollars holed up somewhere.

I'm okay though, because. . .

When the going gets tough

The tough get baking.

Yesterday I made a Dutch Apple Pie for our Bible Study group, and the pronouncement from those that tasted it was "Excellent!"  

So, of course I'm going to share the recipe with you.  

That's what cottage friends do, right?

I'm also going to give you some tips on how I get a flaky pie crust every single time.  I've been making my crusts this way since I was 19 years old and I've never had a crust fail.  (I'm a grandmother, so you can guess how long I've been doing this.)

Excellent Dutch Apple Pie

(Adapted from Food.com recipe)

PRINTABLE RECIPE

This recipe works best with a 9" pie plate.

1 unbaked pie shell (recipe follows)

Filling

6 1/2 cups peeled, cored and sliced Granny Smith apples 

1 Tbsp lemon juice

1/2 c granulated sugar

1/4 brown sugar, packed

3 Tbsp flour

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground ginger

Topping

3/4 cup flour

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar, packed

1/3 cup butter, room temperature

Preheat oven to 375°F.

In a large bowl mix sliced apples with the rest of the filling ingredients.

Spoon into prepared, unbaked pie crust.

In a medium bowl, with a pastry blender or fork, mix flour, both sugars, and butter until coarsely crumbled.

Sprinkle topping evenly over apples.

Bake at 375°F for 50 minutes.

Pie Crust

Makes dough for one double crust pie, or 2 single crust pies.

Extra dough can be refrigerated up to 2 days, or freeze up to 3 months (thaw dough and roll out while it's still chilled).

2-1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp salt

3/4 cup Crisco

4 - 5 Tbsp cold water

In a bowl stir together flour and salt.  Using a pastry blender (two table knives or fork), cut Crisco into flour until particles are about the size of small peas.

A word about Crisco:  It's the only shortening I use for my pie crusts.  Crisco's not paying me to say that.  I just believe it's the best shortening brand to use.  Period.

Pour cold water into a cup.

Tip: Add an ice cube to the water to make sure it's very cold.

While stirring lightly and quickly with a fork, sprinkle water over flour mixture 1 Tbsp at a time (up to 4 Tbsps) until all flour is moist. If mixture seems dry and crumbly, sprinkle 1 tsp of water at a time until the mixture is moist, but not wet or sticky.  The dough should be at the point where it will hold together if pressed between your fingers.

Gather up the mixture with your hands and form into a ball.  Divide the dough in half and flatten each half into 4" round.  Wrap each half in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.  

My most important tip for flaky, no fail crust!

Do not roll out your dough on a floured board.

Roll out your chilled dough between two pieces of waxed paper.

Friends, my late husband's grandmother was a fabulous cook and baker who made melt-in-your-mouth pie crusts.  Grandma Peggy shared her waxed paper secret with me one day when I was a new bride.  I tried it, and from then on my crusts have been every bit as flaky and tender as hers. 

Can you see that flaky goodness? Yum.

I'm sorry I don't have a prettier piece of the pie to show you.  Captain brought this serving home for me in a little plastic container. I've got a cold and didn't want to infect our friends, so I didn't attend the study. 

I love the aroma of home baked apple pie.  Cinnamon, ginger, butter, brown sugar -- the best air freshener there is.

Do you make homemade pie?  

I party with:

Amaze Me Monday at Dwellings
Tweak it Tuesday at Cozy Little House
Treasure Box Tuesday

Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style
What's It Wednesday at Ivy & Elephants
Home and Garden Thursday at A Delightsome Life
Share Your Cup Thursday at Have a Daily Cup of Mrs. Olson
Creative Ways Link Party at Posed Perfection
Home Sweet Home at The Charm of Home
Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Cottage
Craft Frenzy Friday
The Art of Homemaking at Strangers & Pilgrims on Earth

Every Room In The House Party - #9

The "Laundry Room" in our last cottage

Hello Cottage Friends,

Happy September, and welcome to Every Room In The House, where we party all month long in a theme room.  Except this month we're going to party unscripted -- no theme.  But more about that later.  

Last month we partied in The Laundry Room, and I must say we had a teeny tiny group of partiers.  From the  comments I received it seems most bloggers, like me, don't have a laundry room they care to show off. 

That's okay, though, there were some great laundry rooms shared and we're going to take a look at them before we start the September party.

The Top Three Most Viewed Posts

Terry at Forever Decorating gave her less than desirable pass-through-to-the-garage laundry room a whole new cottage look in My Laundry Room Transformation.   

Hangin' Out Under the Stairs from Have a Daily Cup of Mrs. Olson is Jann's under the stairs playhouse for her grandchildren, complete with a retractable clothesline from the 1940's. These lucky grands have a super fun place to play.

Jann also shared her own big girl laundry room with Laundry Room Whites.  Lots of whimsy and vintage charm to see in Jann's laundry room.

More Laundry Room Inspiration

Cecilia and her husband have been refurbishing the house on a farm they own.   If your style is farmhouse you'll love her laundry room, starting with the weathered, frosted glass door that says, "Laundry Room - Staff Only".  Check out this fun, rustic laundry room in Laundry Room Mostly Done at Cecilia's blog The B Farm.

Magali at The Little White House on the Seaside gave us a look at both her "laundry rooms" in My Beautiful Laundry Rooms.  I'm not going to spoil the surprise by describing her laundry rooms.  You just have to see for yourself how Magali splendidly manages the laundry in her Brittany, France cottage.  

About her laundry/mudroom Anne at Design Dream by Anne writes, " It's taken me 4 years to complete the space (including the complete renovation of the 1920's badly-remodeled-in-the-1980's bathroom), but I am so thrilled with it now!"  When you see this charming, cheerful room in Affordable, Easy DIY Floor for the Mudroom you'll join me in saying, "Well done, Anne."

I love to see how others create beautiful spaces on a budget, and Marie's $500 Laundry Room Makeover at The Interior Frugalista was a treat.  Her list of how they saved money on materials is inspiring.

Our apartment laundry room is pretty bland, so I shared a little about my mom's laundry set up on the farm where I grew up, as well as some inspiration for our next home in The Laundry Room.

That's a wrap for August's Every Room In The House party.  A heartfelt thank you to all who linked up last month.  You're all wonderful and I appreciate you so much.

If you were featured, please grab this button.

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Thank you to all who visit and leave comments.
It makes me happy to read them.

Ready to start September's party?

 This month we're partying in whatever room you choose.

That's right. . . I'm not going to tell you where to party,
you choose the room you want to party in.

Show us your DIY projects, makeovers, room or whole house tours, decorating tips, vignettes, inspiration, etc.

This should widen the party door, don't you think? 

The party will be open all month.  Bring a friend!

Please remember to put a link in your post back to A Joyful Cottage.  That's necessary to be featured.

Sharing with Your Gonna Love It Tuesday at Kathe With An E

An InLinkz Link-up

Summer Cottage Chair Makeover

Hello Cottage Friends,

I've been hearing rumblings that summer is over, but I'm not buying it. Not yet.

In fact, I'm kind of rebelling against that idea.

Case in point: my Summer Cottage Chair Makeover.

I've mentioned here at A Joyful Cottage that I gather with a group of crafty ladies at my church once a month.  

When we meet I always grab this chair because it's the most comfortable seat for me.  Lately I've been having some lower back issues, and this chair really helps me while I'm sewing.  Knowing this, my church gave it to me so I'd have a comfortable chair at home.  Very sweet, right?

The chair is very sturdy and serviceable, and with a little updating I knew it would work well in my studio.

On hand I had some ivory craft paint, and a yard of striped cotton upholstery fabric that I found at a thrift store eons ago.  

I took the chair apart, sanded the wood a bit and painted it, then stapled the new fabric onto the seat and back.  You may not be able to tell from the photos, but the paint has a whitewashed effect.

I made a panel to cover the staples on the back and add a little flair. The three buttons came from my button jar.

This makeover was completed in an afternoon.

I'm really happy with the way it turned out.  It will be nice to have a cheery pattern in my studio this winter, not to mention a comfortable chair for my back.

All I need now is to find a chair to replace this one at our church.  

Wish me luck.

I party with:
DIY Sunday Showcase

Amaze Me Monday at Dwellings
Tweak it Tuesday at Cozy Little House
Do Tell Tuesday

Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style
What's It Wednesday at Ivy & Elephants
Home and Garden Thursday at A Delightsome Life
Share Your Cup Thursday at Have a Daily Cup of Mrs. Olson
Creative Ways at Posed Perfection
Home Sweet Home at The Charm of Home
Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Cottage
The Art of Homemaking at Strangers & Pilgrims on Earth

The Laundry Room

Neightbor's Clothesline

Laundry rooms were a lot simpler when  I was a girl on the farm.

My mom used a wringer washer on the back porch for washing and a clothesline for drying.  In the winter she dried the wet clothes on chairs near the floor registers.  When my dad installed a propane gas dryer in the farmhouse "back room", clothes drying in inclement weather became less intrusive. Everyone was happy about that.

Today's laundry rooms are about as different from my mom's back room as lye soap is from HE detergent.  

Traditional Laundry Room by San Clemente Kitchen & Bath Designers Sue Murphy Designs

I looked at several views of this room before I spotted the actual washer and dryer.

Traditional Laundry Room by San Clemente Kitchen & Bath Designers Sue Murphy Designs

Aha!  There they are.

On the other end of the spectrum, consider the laundry area in our previous home.

Full-size units were stacked in a small corner of the mudroom to save space.  Honestly, I don't think my clothes would have gotten any cleaner in a laundry room ten times this size.  Although having room to roller skate while watching the clothes tumble may have made laundry day more exciting.

This is the laundry room in our rental apartment.  Uninspiring, but it beats going to the laundromat.

In our new cottage plan the laundry is adjacent and open to the bathroom.

Here's a sketch looking head on.  There's a window on the wall to the right of the dryer.

Traditional Laundry Room by Johns Island General Contractors Classic Remodeling & Construction, Inc

This is my inspiration photo.  The laundry area is compact and pretty, with a countertop for folding, storage above and a charming window.  

We're partying in the Laundry Room at Every Room In The House the month of August.  Come and be inspired by the laundry rooms linked there. And, please, share your laundry room, too.  We'd love to see it!

Click here

Sharing here, too:

Amaze Me Monday at Dwellings
Tweak it Tuesday at Cozy Little House

Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style
Home and Garden Thursday at A Delightsome Life
Share Your Cup Thursday at Have a Daily Cup of Mrs. Olson
Home Sweet Home at The Charm of Home
Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Cottage

Emma's Quilt

Welcome Cottage Friends,

I'm  happy to tell you I finished the quilt I last showed you in my a bit of vintage quilt post.  

This quilt is the first bed size quilt I've made since I took my beginning quilting class last October, and is a gift for my granddaughter Emma's 13th birthday.

Memories flooded my mind as I worked on Emma's quilt.

My late husband and I traveled across the country to meet Emma and help her mommy and daddy take her home from the hospital.  Oh, the joy Jim and I felt gazing at our first grandchild. 

She was a beautiful baby, and had her Papa Jim wrapped around her sweet baby finger from the moment he laid eyes on her.  

We finally got our girl -- a happy, funny, bright little "Sweetpea".

Three years later she welcomed her baby brother into the family and took on her role as big sister with pride. 

When Emma was nine Oliver cut his finger and she nursed him back to health with ointment and a bandage. He didn't want to relinquish his finger to her, but she patiently, gently admonished him, "Now, Ollie, if you want your finger to get better you need to let me do this."  

I smile just thinking about it.

We were so proud of her when she started school.

She's always been a good student.

She plays clarinet in band, and in sixth grade was hand picked to play in a special jazz group.

Emma's a girly girl who likes to polish her toenails, yet she's not afraid to get her hands dirty and help around the house.

Quilt back

She likes the color blue, so I'm glad her quilt has some blue in it.  To finish Emma's quilt I did a stitch in the ditch around the quilt blocks. With each block I said a prayer for her.

Quilt Back

I prayed that God will guide her through the rocky teen years and that she will cross over from girl to young woman with grace and poise.

With every free motion machine stippling stitch I sewed on the borders I asked God to keep her safe and fill her with the knowledge of His love.  And I prayed that she will follow Him with all her heart.

I made a label and hand sewed it to the quilt back. (Oh, Lord, don't let my girl ever forget how much You and I love her.)

Emma's quilt will be packed up and shipped tomorrow.  I hope it arrives in time for her birthday, and that she'll enjoy it as much as I enjoyed making it for her.

Happy 13th birthday, Emma.  
From Nana, with love.

I'm sharing Emma's Quilt at these lovely blog parties:

Amaze Me Monday at Dwellings

Inspire Me Monday at Create with Joy
Make It Pretty Monday at The Dedicated House
The Art of Homemaking Mondays at Strangers & Pilgrims on Earth

Tweak it Tuesday at Cozy Little House

You're Gonna Love it Tuesday at Kathe with an E
Do Tell Tuesday at Mabey She Made It

Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style
Let's Bee Social at Sew Fresh Quilts
Home and Garden Thursday at A Delightsome Life
Share Your Cup Thursday at Have a Daily Cup of Mrs. Olson
Thursday Favorite Things
Home Sweet Home at The Charm of Home
Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Cottage