apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

wow. looks real good.

It's all great but that exterior is a fantastic transformation, you must be really proud, it's lovely.

The exterior is so, so, so beautiful, wonderful, amazing.

wow. just wow. I hope in this new age of "economic austerity" or whatever we are in will will see more timeless and well built examples like the above.

Viva la simple housing!

What a lovely, sweet home. Great job!

A cottage of one's own! A girl can dream.

love it and hope we can see more soon!

I love that wall with the horse/cowboy art/artifacts.

Love the red sink cabinetry and the yellow shelve above. And the sink itself is fabulous.

just adorable and so whimsical!..

This little cottage is my dream. Unfortunately, in the Bay Area, my dream goes for $1 million. Lucky you, and great job.

Haha, I have the same couch from World Market. Adorable cottage! I would love to own one. Maybe someday...

what a beautiful home, congratulations. I'd love to know what part of St. Louis this is- I'm in Benton Park, and though B.P. is lovely, there are no such teeny cute home around me, just lots of brick townhomes!

Lois' little cottage highlights the wonders of having a diverse housing stock. At 400 square feet, such a house is perfect for a single person.
In most places it is against zoning codes to build a habitable house of less than 800 square feet. In some areas they won't even allow homes less than 2,000 square feet. I think there is a lot of demand for urban cottages.
Fortunately, a handful of cities have adopted alley-flat ordinances that allow for diminutive accessory dwellings. Hopefully, we'll see more of this housing type get built in the future.

Lois, wow. I am so happy for you. This is a wonderful example of seeing through to the happy potential of a nest, and fulfilling it. Your cottage looks so cozy and inviting. Love the colours.

Oh it is so sweet. I just adore it. I have never met you but your home seems to be a perfect reflection of *you*!

I just adore teeny places like this! Great work, Lois, and thanks for investing in your little corner of the 'Lou!

i love the idea of living in a cottage. I think you did a beautiful job painting and fixing it and making it your own. I personally love gardening, but i am not too taken with scalloped borders, but it does fit in with the cottage feel i suppose. i like the kitchen, snd love the shelves to the right and above. and the colors in the living room rock. although the room would probably look bigger with 'slimmer' furniture. But it looks so livable there that I wouldnt complain at all if I stayed there. ... sorry im rambling. its beautiful. ocngrats, and thanks for sharing.

awww... how cool. love to have a wee little cottage of my own... and a studio to boot! way to go, you

the mirror over the door is an interesting idea

Your cottage made me so happy! Especially the word "cottage." I love seeing a beautiful, cozy home that is decorated inexpensively! You did a wonderful job with it, and the exterior is what dreams are made of. Thank you for sharing it with us!

It's wonderful, congratulations!

Thank you all for your wonderfully encouraging comments. I am in the part of St. Louis very near Ted Drews...St. Louis folks will know where that is.
I continue to work to improve my cottage and figure out more space-saving ways to live here.
Thanks again!

Love the kitchen. Cool vintage/cottage style--colorful and fun and USEFUL.

I feel claustrophobic just looking.

Your home is adorable! You did a wonderful job with the renovations! Thanks for sharing!

WOW! I'm from central Illinois, and I know how TINY these houses can be.....many were coal-miner's homes, but over the years were added on to.

I love the mirror over the door.....looks like an open transom and helps the kitchen to look airy.

Nice, nice, job.

Hi Lois! My dad said you had an adorable cottage these days - what a kick to see it here! It looks very cozy and well-loved.

-Erin O

What a lovely home you have created. I adore the yellow color you used on your kitchen cabinet. I know you mentioned it was an "oops" can - do you happen to recall the color's name/brand?

I miss summer...

Very nice cottage, and I love the idea of using the "oops" paint. This may be out of line, but did you use an architect for the design, and what does this kind of remodel usually run?

I would like to renovate my cottage, but am not sure if it's worth the cost. My place is ~19' x 22' with a small add-on for the laundry area.

Thanks in advance.

Thanks for the paint comment. I'm sorry, I don't know the names or numbers of any of the colors. I'm not great at accurately detailing all my changes.

As to the cost: I've probably spent ten thousand give or take over the course of the years making this little improvement and that one. Doing much more to it would not be wise, I think 'cause it just sits on rocks with a small crawl space underneath.
Regarding laundry, however, when I redid the bathroom, I bought the smallest stacking washer/dryer and now have a bath/laundry room. Works great for my purposes.

Darling cottage. Brava.

Lovely little place!

I bought my house 5 1/2 years ago, at the near-height of the housing boom. There were some tiny cottages for sale, but I couldn't afford them. So I ended up with a 1,400 SF 3-bedroom fixer-upper home - not giant by any means, but far more space than is needed by a single woman with a dog.

I dream of having a tiny 600-foot cottage where everything is built perfectly for one person. Built-ins, light bright windows, double uses for things. If I could reinvent myself as an architect, I'd only build tiny but perfect dwellings.

::Sigh::

Mary

Love the kitchen and everything else. The change of the exterior is amazing.

Love your Cottage- so cute. And the outside is so nice. I use oops paint too. Can't beat it. Thanks for sharing.