***The before back when the cottage was still a two car garage!***

***The during! Post-demo, with new framing going in.***

What started as an old two-car garage in 2023 is now a guest cottage on our property here in Tennessee. We’re opening it up for booking this March and are so looking forward to a summer of welcoming folks into the magic we’ve found here.

When we decided to do this kitchen renovation, we knew it needed to feel full of character and personal to the property it sits on. If you’ve seen our New Orleans kitchen renovation, you know we’re no strangers to taking some risks in kitchen design.

For the cottage kitchen, it was important that guests feel the whimsy of their days spent in the beautiful mountains and rivers and lakes continued into their nights making dinner in the home. One of the primary ways we added that whimsy was with tiles that have hand-illustrated depictions of the flora and fauna you see on the property here. Ducks, bunnies, mushrooms, apples, cherries, blackberries, crows, chipmunks, guineafowl, and cats are depicted in the backsplash.

The cabinet color was selected as a nod to the cottage’s name, “The Chanterelle Cottage,” and we’ve fallen in love with how the golden color plays off of the blue of the tile illustrations. As for the lighting and plumbing hardware, we chose to mix metals for a look that feels more eclectic. Pretty much every design decision made was to avoid having the home feel too much like a new build, even though that’s exactly what it was, and layering the mixed metal finishes was one tactic to do that—giving the look of an older home that slowly gained its pieces and personality over the years.

As I look back at photos from when the home was just a cluttered garage, I’m kind of in awe at how much we did. I don’t normally say that about my own work. But this project has stretched on for so long, and at times I was really discouraged with the progress, even second guessing whether it was a good idea to do it at all. It gives me a lot of peace to see it done, and to know it was worth it.

Below I’ve got what we used to make this kitchen happen :)

Everything used:

Cabinet Paint Color | Honeycomb by Sherwin Williams

Tile | Blue Garden Tiles on Etsy

Lighting | Wildwood Semi-Flush Mount

Plumbing Fixtures | Connor Bridge Faucet & Fireclay Sink with Washboard