Adorable Cottage Gets a Wonderful Update

I have a soft spot in my heart for cottages, especially cute little Cape Cods. Southern Living recently showcased this lovely home (located in Atlanta) on their website.  Here’s how the exterior looked prior to being purchased by its current owners.

 

Check it out now!  You can see they really stayed true to the character of the home.  The porch overhang looks like it was beefed up just a bit…looks so much better, doesn’t it?  I LOVE the cedar shingle roof.  It adds so much to the curb appeal of this home.  As much as I love a cute Cape Cod painted white, I have to admit, the darker color gave this home a much more sophisticated, elegant look.  Do you like the new color or do you prefer a lighter color for a Cape Cod?

One of the smaller changes made that really had a pretty big impact on the exterior appearance, were the little shutters added to the dormer windows.

This was the only “before” pic I found of the kitchen.  You can see sort of a back porch area through the doorway.  I kind of like the red floor tile.  Amazingly, the renovations to the home didn’t involve enlarging it or adding on.  The owners asked their architect to stay within the original footprint of the home.

The kitchen AFTER the renovation…  Notice they went with drawers for the lower part of the cabinetry, instead of just cabinets with doors.  Drawers make everything so easily accessible.  I love the little kitchen table at the end of the island.  What a great place to grab a meal or jot down that week’s grocery list.

 

This bank of cabinets was original to the home.  The architect just altered the center cabinets so they would hide the refrigerator. I love seeing a refrigerator done this way…it just disappears. 🙂

 

How do you like the wooden plank walls?  Gives it “farm house” charm, doesn’t it?  I am so loving all the white.  It seems the older I get, the more I am drawn to white or very light walls.

 

The range is a Cluny 1400 by Lacanche.  I’m not familiar with that brand.  It looks quite fancy, though.

 

The porch was made into a beautiful and functional Butler’s Pantry.  Love the walnut countertop.  Though we can’t see it, the flooring is brick.  Notice the wonderful Dutch door.  Can’t you just see the top part open with a pie cooling on top. 🙂

 

The island has additional refrigerator drawers and a bookcase for cookbooks.  Notice where the copper cookware is stored.  What a great way to hang your cookware without placing it in the center of the room where it can feel overwhelming in a smaller space.

 

Let’s take a look at the dining room, BEFORE…

 

And, AFTER:  Wow!  Love the muted colors of the linen checked fabric.  Doesn’t this make you want to just go slip cover something NOW.

 

I’ve been thinking of recovering my dining room chair seats…maybe I should just slip-cover the whole chair.  Love the corner cabinet.  We only get a little peak into the living room…looks beautiful, doesn’t it?

 

Here’s the Before and After layout of the lower part of the home, in case you’d like to do a comparison.

 

What a beautiful renovation!

Photos are from Southern Livingdotcom but unfortunately the article is no longer available.

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Comments

  1. For the Love of a Cottage says

    Thank you so much for this lovely post. I do, indeed, love this home. The new owners did a fantastic job.

  2. I'm in love!

  3. Richard Cottrell says

    Finally a house with some personality. Seems like all homes we see in magazines, blogs, etc., are all white, lack of color, no accessories and no personal touches. They all look like a hotel lobby. Thanks for sharing, these owners did an amazing job. Richard at My Old Historic House

  4. Anonymous says

    This is a beautiful redo….thanks for posting it now i need to find the issue it is in to save for my files…..thanks again.
    Love your site…

    Pam in SoCal

  5. Elizabeth and Gary says

    What a lovely home…I agree with you I like the house painted white. The kitchen is beautiful I love the light cabinets, my favorites. I've been trying to talk my husband into having our kitchen cabinets painted white but he likes the oak, but I will keep trying and one day he will brake, oh yes one day…LOL
    I really enjoyed reading your post today..
    Have a sweet day and hugs, Elizabeth

  6. Bonnie Bee says

    Susan, you ALWAYS have such an eye for the details.. and kindly point them out for us to enjoy, too!!!!
    another blue ribbon post..

  7. its so so pretty!

  8. Love Being A Nonny says

    Love. Love. Love. Thank you for sharing. I too love the shutters on the windows. I also love the slipcovers. Actually, I love everything about this home!!!

  9. I'm in love with that kitchen (and the rest of the house!). Thank you so much for sharing!

  10. I love what they did with their home!!! I have a dream home or two in the Roswell (daydream I mean) 330 Roswell Farms Road #MLS 4203147 and 375 Farm Path #MLS 4250612. The prices are so much lower in Georgia I can hardly believe it!!!

  11. That's a perfect makeover! Always amazing to see a grand update like this. Thanks!
    Rita

  12. Sizzle and Zoom says

    This is very pretty and charming. I was very surprised how well it turned out from the before photos.

  13. The Country Nest says

    Susan,
    What a great post. I love the inside, but the white looked so Cape Cod. The new exterior looks southern to this old New Englander.
    I enjoyed the post so much.
    Hugs,
    Donna

  14. Days at Buttermilk Cottage says

    I'm feeling some serious house-envy right now. I love the "white cottage" look, but am blown away with the color they chose. I like to think I would have that kind of foresight, but I'm not sure I would. I love everything they did to this house, but am particularly impressed that they maintained the original footprint.
    Best,
    Susan

  15. Nita {ModVintageLife} says

    This is a beautiful home and I love the choices they made inside but and its a big but….some homes are meant to be white and a cape cod like this is meant to be white. I absolutely hate it in brown. If you want a brown house, buy a bungalow…do not buy a colonial and paint it brown. In my own neighborhood there is a very nice 1940's colonial that they painted green last year and it makes me mad every time I drive by it.

    I am really rather shocked that they went this direction as the inside is so traditional and subtle in colors. Their back patio is gorgeous. They did so many things right here…just do not like the color choice outside.

  16. The Real Me! says

    Oh that's gorgeous! To me a kitchen makes it or breaks it.

    Thanks for showing it to us.
    Have a great night.
    Kim

  17. Howdy Susan!
    Sweet Summer blessings to you.
    Really like this post and what they did to make their house darling.

    I've seen so much white as of late on the decorating scene, and that's alright…i like it. Now I'm seeing the greys creeping in…i'm still trying to decide if i could live with so much grey.

    Oh well…

  18. I really love what they did inside. I'm just not sure about the outside. I also think a Cape Cod should be white, but there's something else that bothers me about the exterior. I think what it really needs is not those silly little shutters that don't even fit the dormer windows, but a much beefier fascia above the dormers. The roof line just sort of disappears above (the pointy part). It seriously needs a nice, thick fascia (the boards that come down below the roof shingles).

  19. Gorgeous! Never would have guessed that potential was there, I have to admit. What vision!!

  20. Ocean Breezes and Country Sneezes says

    I really enjoy smaller homes, I'm not a huge fan of wasted living space. I could be very comfortable in that home!

  21. Cape Cods are my favorite! This is a wonderful house and good for the owners keeping the house as is!

    As someone who painted their bathroom gray/grey I felt like I was jumping on the gray/grey bandwagon, but the tile seemed to call for gray/grey walls. My second choice had been the same blue on the walls of my bedroom. For now I am loving my gray. I think colors come and go like anything else. I also painted my kitchen and den Swiss Coffee-which is basically white to brighten a dark room.

  22. Our current apartment has huge drawers in the kitchen on the bottom and I'm sold- if we ever settle down, that's what I want.

  23. Wow, what a transformation. The end results so gorgeous. I just love what they did here. The wall of cabinets with the frig in hiding is perfect, just love that. I love the range too, but the little pantry is going is what I love. Thanks for sharing this. I would love to live there……

    ~Emily
    The French Hutch

  24. I love the house, they have done some amazing work. However, when I see painted brick I immediately think, "they have taken a no maintenance and turned it into a high maintenance" Love the shutters on the dormers.

  25. I love everything about it except that I do believe I like the lighter colors on the exterior of Cape Cods. But it's just lovely.

  26. Curtains In My Tree says

    I can only dream of doing a house makeover like that

    Isn't it wonderful what a person can do if he or she has money?

    I like the grey walls in the one room

  27. I'm LUV'n all those TRAYS on display…LUVly!! franki

  28. I'm with you on loving cottages, Susan. Actually, however, I'm a traditionalist when it comes to white houses. LOVE white….more quaint.

    They did a great job on the kitchen transformation, and the little house, in general. Adorable. Susan

  29. Hi Susan, I am surprised you call that a cottage, here in the UK that would be a family house. I lived in a cottage for a number of years and you went straight into the lounge / diner from the front door and then into the kitchen. The stairs led from the dining area to two bedrooms, one double and one single and a very small bathroom. What do the American class as a cottage?

    I love the white, I am all for clean modern lines. Jackie in Surrey, UK.

  30. Tracy@GeneralSplendour says

    OMG! I love this house so much I would marry it! The AFTER is gorgeous but I personally prefer the white color of the before picture. The rooms are gorgeous and yes I agree that it is a house you would see in a magazine or Natalie Wood running up to in Miracle On 34th Street. 🙂 It probably even has a swing in the backyard. Hee hee

    Gorgeous post!

  31. Susan (Between Naps on the Porch) says

    Jackie, Actually, that's what Southern Living called it. 🙂 Just click on the link at the end and it will take you to the article. Houses have gotten pretty big these days…at least the new ones often are. So anything that isn't really big often gets called a cottage, I think.
    Cottage seems to have morphed into more than just a house size/design these days. It's really more a way of living now…more casual, relaxed and cozy. At least that's my interpretation. 🙂

  32. FABBY'S LIVING says

    Oh, Susan, this cottage is gorgeous, so cozy and beautiful! I love the kitchen, it's so adorable! The entire remodeling is fantastic! We had two hidden refrigirators too, at our huge kitchen at a big house we had when my girls were growing up. Yeah, it was like a secret. Thanks for sharing. Love, FABBY

  33. I seem to be bucking the majority.
    I do love white cottages, but, I think, this really does update the home and still maintains the coziness. They did a great job with the kitchen and the front and back landscaping.

    The gray dining room is very inviting. I just painted our master bedroom in a greige tone…tried many, many color samples…also many beige and gray tones. Beige too blah and the grays I tried were too cold. The greige surprisingly turned out to be a cozy yet sophisticated tone for a bedroom. We also added cut crystal finials and some mirrored picture frames for a little bling.

    Susan: I clicked over to Southern Living, and while there, checked our their Style post on living rooms. I am wondering if you noticed one that seems to be exactly what you mentioned for your den…two round top niches and a centered fireplace. I think it's titled "Achieve Balance"

  34. Brandon @ Southgate says

    I am consistently amazed what a difference really good shutters can make to a house. A house I pass every day recently got a new set of beautifully built, properly sized shutters with hardware to replace the old big-box vinyl variety, and it instantly went from a builder-basic to a timeless family home.

  35. Cape Cod Rental says

    This is such an adorable cottage. Cape Cod is home to many beautiful little houses!

  36. Princess Kate says

    I love everything about this little cottage. Just beautiful. They did a fantastic job.

  37. emily johnson says

    can you give me the color of the exterior brick. love love love

    • Emily, I was going to recommend that you check the article where I found the pictures but unfortunately, when I clicked on the link to visit it, it appears Southern Living has removed the article. Sorry, wish I knew. It is pretty! If you visit a Benjamin Moore or Sherwin Williams store and bring up this old post on a phone or iPad, I bet they’ll be able to suggest a color that’s similar or like it.

  38. I have that same exterior photo saved from way back. So glad to see the interior pics. Thanks. Sheila

  39. Mary from Virginia says

    Fun and amazing make overs! I wish I had the know how and vision these folks have! I love a good transformation. =)

  40. Marilyn in Mt. Vernon, VA says

    I love, love, love the second home. To me, it’s perfect — so warm and in such perfect taste, and it’s a nice size…not too large, which is what I like at this stage of my life…or any stage, really. The taupey painted exterior with black shutters/door is among my favorite combinations. I wanted to paint our previous brick home in that color scheme, but we moved before I could. I think my husband planned it that way (: Thanks as always for sharing such wonderful houses.

  41. oh my… love, love, love it

    The kitchen is so cozy and cute.. and I noticed the shelves that look a little like the matching niches (not sure if thats the proper name) you bought for your future library.
    They have similar shaped shelves which I fell in love with when I saw yours.
    Such attention to detail and so pretty.
    I’m like you Susan.. LOVE cottages.. could look at pictures of them all day long.
    Thanks for this one… it’s lovely 🙂

  42. bobbi duncan says

    When can I move in??? So sweet, and one of many lovely cottage style homes Atlanta has in and around it’s downtown center. Isn’t it amazing what can be done to completely change and brighten a home? Loved everything, but would keep a white exterior. Adorable, just adorable! I am so hoping that this new trend for some of us wanting smaller homes grows and continues, although we would probably still pay a high amount for a home that size where we live. Once builders know there is a trend they seem to charge hefty prices, just like when they build those “Main Street” communities. You can build for less on a lot, but then you don’t get that cozy neighborhood feel with mature landscaping. Thanks for sharing this home.

  43. any way you can find out what the exterior paint color is that the owners choose?

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