24 July 2007

tiny houses



I have a thing for small houses. Love small houses. There is a great neighborhood near our new apartment full of the cutest little houses.



I think a batty old art teacher must live in this one.



For the past few years, Twin and I have talked about the mythical "little cottage" of our dreams, which will have tiny shutters and two dormer windows and a wee little chimney pot. So cute you could puke--this is what we are aiming for.

Our new apartment is a house-apartment-cottage sort of thing. A step in the right direction. And now that every last box is unpacked (yippeee!), now comes the fun part. Also the slightly overwhelming part, as I think about which curtains need to be hemmed and which windows need new curtains all together, how to work the darn drill and the ever-mysterious location of studs, and what my new bedroom will look like, as I have graduated to a grown-up big-girl bed (or returned to it, having been forced to sleep in a twin bed the last few years thanks to the closet-size of my Brooklyn bedroom). The plans are amorphous and I just need to sit down and start somewhere, anywhere, and I'll pick up some momentum. It is exciting. I'm pumping myself up for this, can you tell?

Kitchen curtains. That's the place to start. I've got the fabric all picked out.

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oooo... I like the little batty art teacher-y one the best. Wouldn't Sparky be happy parked next to that one?!

Amanda Jean said...

oh, those are cute little cottages!

Sarah said...

I've always loved little cottages too! I'm so excited to see what you two do with the place - I'm at a point in my life where all I want to do is claim some space for my very own and make curtains and pick out paint and the like. I guess I'll just have to live vicariously through you for awhile.

sulu-design said...

Love the little house thing, too. Hoping to live in one myself soon. I'm dying to see the inside of your new place. Happy curtain-making!

maryse said...

i love the art teacher's one best too. but they are all adorable. i dream of living on such a street in such a house some day.

beki said...

Tiny cottages are the BEST! Have fun putting your new place together.

Anonymous said...

i love little cottages, too. do you get cottage living? tons of inspiration in there.

can't wait to see your place come together.

Unknown said...

I love tiny houses too, they are so charming and warm. I'd love that too but with kids and a spouse I don't know if we'd all fit! Beautiful Pictures!

Dinah said...

I love small houses too. My favorite is the first one I think. I'm excited to watch your work inside your new place. I hope you'll share with us as you go along.

Maura said...

hi julie! on that street, there is a "whimsical women" sale once or twice a year - i'll send you an email when i get one. there are a lot of artists on that street - and they all sell there wares at one person's house (backyard) at that time. i love those houses, too.

Maura said...

also, the old mayor of chapel hill lives in the corner house on oakwood... across from the park. just cool to know. maybe he is still the mayor. i don't know. but they have a great neighborhood group. we used to live over on rogerson for a while.

molly | mommycoddle.com said...

oh! i want the last one!

studs: 18 inches apart, right?
and my mom always says start in one corner and work your way around. that's how I tackle my cleaning episodes, maybe it will work for house settling-in, too!

i will never tire of small cottage/house pictures. keep them coming.

Unknown said...

i too love little houses. those look right up my alley!!

Julia said...

Ach! I am in Chapel Hill this very weekend, scouting to move from the NYC metro area (Stamford)!!

I hadn't checked your blog in a long while, and this is a funny coincidence!

Your pictures of cute little houses look like the ones I've been taking the last few days ... maybe we'll be moving into one someday next year!

Congratulations on moving to this charming town -- I'm jealous!

PS wasn't that storm crazy?

Julia said...

If anyone needs an exclamation point, feel free to borrow it from my last comment. Sigh.

PĂ©itseoga said...

I like the last one best! They look quite big though!
A typical small house here is 2 stories and has 2 bedrooms and one bathroom, plus kitchen and living room, and they are usually terraced... My husband grew up in a small detached cottage, it had two rooms (one the kitchen-living-dining room and the other the bedroom) and a bathroom. He shared the bedroom with his siblings, and his parents had a pullout bed in the kitchen-living-dining room. they live in the irish country side. When they later had 2 more children they built a bigger house right next to it, it has 3 bedrooms, kitchen, bathroom and living room. The old house is now used as a shed for the bycicles and farming utensils...

Alicia P. said...

Oh, I just love this blog. That's all. So glad to see you back.

amisha said...

i can't wait to see all the wonderful things you make for your little cottage. and loving these little houses! our house here in florida is a little cottage type of house and we love it. it is hard to imagine that in 2 weeks i will be in a nyc twin bed, but... :)
xo