Southern Protocol

The July/August issue of House Beautiful is about a subject near and dear to my heart. Now, when the March “Pink Issue” came out- I was in heaven- I have kept that issue.  I’m sure no one is  surprised, everyone knows that my entire house has  shades of pinks (& greens).  However, even more dear to my heart than pink is my “small/cottage” house.  The entire issue is dedicated to the fact that “cottage” size homes are reemerging as a trend- the subtext on the front cover is “Living Large in Small Spaces”. I LOVE it!

I have never been one of those people who needed to have a “mini mansion”. When we were buying our first home, we had a 1 year old, one on the way and my husband was starting law school. All of our friends were buying HUGE homes it seemed and  just a few years out of college. We, however, were in a different financial bracket at that time, and bought an adorable “fixer upper” in Avondale. This was 10 years ago~ Avondale was not as hip as it is now~ but of course we saw the potential…we were lucky and when we out grew that cottage we successfully sold it for a profit and began looking for our next cottage that needed us to love on it!

We now live in Old Towne Acres. We are still in the “Old” part of West Ashely, and still live in a brick cottage size house. Sometimes I think having a larger house with 3 children would be dreamy. But reading this House Beautiful, reaffirmed my belief in my cottage lifestyle. I’ve always thought that living in a small but well appointed home- higher end antiques, personality in the color choices, beautiful textured fabrics, and fabulous art~is better than living in an empty mansion.  There are so many perks to living in a smaller home, from the utility bills, to quite frankly, the smaller size forces you to interact with your family more (haha)! Grab this issue- the decorating ideas for smaller homes are AMAZING!