Before & After: My Colorful Cottage
Published Aug 21 2019 in Cottage Decor, Cottage Living, Cottage Style, Life
If you follow Harmony Farm Candles on Instagram, you'll see that I love sharing photos of cottages I find online. Home is so important to me, and it is to many of you as well!
Looking at pictures of beautiful, unique cottage homes never fails to bring me joy. I appreciate the personal touches the owners have put on their abodes. The time and attention they've so thoughtfully placed into the spaces that make up their homes. Knowing that these cottages are places of love, connection, refuge and for making memories.
Understanding our shared love for cottage homes and living, I recently asked my Instagram friends if they'd be interested in seeing some before and after photos of my own cottage. The replies were a series of resounding yesses and I'm happy to oblige with lots of photos below!
Before we get to the good stuff, I want to mention that my cottage is a work in progress, filled with many hopes and desires, along with a lot of love. Since it's a real home, it's not perfect by any means and I love it for its imperfections.
This is the home that I imagined and yearned for for many years: a modest, comfortable, manageable cottage that reflects my loves of color and whimsy.
It's the home I moved to after a divorce and I wanted it to be haven for me and my son while we navigated a new chapter of life.
This cottage is the place where my partner, son and I are creating a beautiful, creative, cat-filled existence for ourselves in a community we love.
This is the home that's allowed me to feel both rooted and free to fully embrace myself, who I am and my life's story thus far. This cottage home is a dream realized for myself through hoping, planning and an unshakeable desire to create a loving space for me, my family and friends.
This excerpt from David Whyte's poem, The House of Belonging, poignantly captures some of my feelings about my cottage:
This is the bright home
in which I live,
this is where
I ask
my friends
to come,
this is where I want
to love all the things
it has taken me so long
to learn to love.
Lovely, right? Well, now that you've been so patient, let's get to the before and after photos!
Exterior Before
Exterior After
Front Porch Before
Front Porch After
Living Room Before
Living Room After
Dining Room Before
Dining Room After
Kitchen Before
Kitchen After
Office Before
Office After
Master Bedroom Before
Master Bedroom After
Main Bathroom Before
Main Bathroom After
Back Porch Before
Back Porch After
Candle Studio Exterior Before
Candle Studio Exterior After
Candle Studio Interior Before
Candle Studio Interior After
Putting together this collection of photos reminds me of how much work has been put into my cottage. Living with most of the after pictures for several years, it's easy to forget what I started with and how much vision it took to make this home the bright, happy cottage it is today!
Which before and after photos do you think are the most dramatic? Did you have a favorite room or space from this tour? I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments below! And thank you again for coming along on this tour of my cottage!
-Erin
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