saturday sketchbook Archives - Arrow Hill Cottage

SATURDAY SKETCHBOOK: GIRL’S SHARED BEDROOM

The upstairs of the cottage is very simply laid out. It will contain two bedrooms (one for the boys, and one for the girls), plus a bathroom accessed from a small hallway.

I previously introduced the boy’s shared bedroom, and the hall bathroom. Today I would like to share the details of the final upstairs space – the girl’s room.

The room is 140 square feet total, with basic overall dimensions of 10′-4″ deep x 14′-4″ wide. A small portion of the rectangular area is used by the bathroom shower – giving the girl’s bedroom a bit of an irregular shape.

Though it is not a large room, the feature that will make it seem more spacious is the tall vaulted ceilings. At the very top, the ceiling is 11′-5″ high. It will be finished in the same way that we will finish the boy’s room ceiling – with pine tongue and groove boards, painted white. I am looking forward to this simple yet elegant look.

I mentioned the amazing cast iron metal beds that I got for FREE in this post. They still need some TLC, but they will be showstoppers once they are finished! As of right now I am planning on painting them black, to balance out the amount of white used on the walls and ceiling. The bedding will be simple, with aqua and pink accents – similar to what they have in their current shared bedroom.

In fact, besides the beds, the rest of the furniture and finishing accents that I plan to add to the space will come from their current set up. The pieces work perfectly and have sentimental value.

Their dresser will sit on the short wall behind the door. It was a gift to me as a little girl, from my grandparents. It will provide two drawers for each girl and house their shirts and pants.

On the wall behind the dresser will be a small accent mirror. I imagine the girls might at some point fight over bathroom space getting ready – so this will make for a convenient ‘overflow’ spot.

In the smaller ‘nook’ space of the room will sit a glider rocker, which used to belong to Craig’s grandpa. We had it reupholstered before our oldest child was born, and used it in the nursery for each of them. It’s a very special piece.

Couple the chair with a few floating shelves filled with books, and the girls will have a perfect little spot to cozy up and read.

The birdcages above are also from the girl’s current space. Each of the paper cranes, which symbolize peace and longevity in Asian culture, were hand folded by me – during the months we waited to complete the girl’s adoptions from China.

Their closet will be accessed through two sliding barn doors, which were found in a small barn/shed on the property of the very first home that Craig and I purchased as a married couple. They are rough right now; But as part of my Summer Project Bucket List, they should be whipped into shape soon.

Inside the closet, the ceiling slopes quite dramatically, from 6′-6″ at the doors, all the way down to the floor. There is just enough head space though for each girl to have her own hanging rack (one on each side) , plus a shared cabinet with baskets to hold socks and undergarments. The extra space in the closet has a pretty low ceiling height, but will be useful for shallow bins holding rarely used items, such as Christmas decorations.

So that’s it! Now the entire second level of the cottage has been designed and drawn up in 3D! Designing with the third dimension has really been key for me throughout this entire process.

I love the way it all flows, and the simplicity of the layout. I went into the design process with the hope that it would create very little ‘wasted space’ – and I succeeded! I think all five of the kids will enjoy hanging out here.

FRONT ENTRYWAY DESIGN IDEAS

A front entrance for guests is a great feature to add to any home. It doesn’t need to be a large space, but having it laid out well is important. Today I am sharing the front entryway design ideas I have for Arrow Hill Cottage.

Although our home will have an attached garage, and our family is most likely to enter and leave in that direction, I wanted to make sure to include a straightforward front entrance – where we expect visitors to enter. I’m not sure about you, but our garage has a tendency to become cluttered and dirty far faster than any other space we own – and we don’t want our visitors to experience our day to day.

ENTERING FROM OUTSIDE

As you can see in this image, the front door will have a prominent position. Although the house is not symmetrical, your eye is drawn to the small gable above the door.

In case you noticed… yes, I am still #teamplanter, and it remains as part of the design, at least for now. If you have no idea what I’m talking about – go ahead and visit THIS POST to learn all about the debate.

The large stone pillars and double columns frame the view. I’m sure there will be some sort of feature light fixture here also, but I haven’t made any decisions on that yet. And yes, I am dreaming of a light blue bead-board ceiling for the porch. Love.

I have chosen a solid wood door. Because there will be windows directly next to and above it (transom), I felt that including a smaller pane of glass within the door itself would complicate the arrangement. The windows should provide plenty of natural light (this wall will be south-west facing)

INSIDE THE ENTRYWAY

Stepping through the door, you are welcomed with a space approximately 6 feet deep by 12 feet wide. The room is partitioned from the dining room by a pair of built-in cabinets and columns.

We will likely have our builder or cabinet maker create these cabinets and columns, but This Old House wrote a fantastic post about how you can make this a DIY project. I purposely chose to offset the built-in slightly from the alcove since the wall finish and the cabinet finish will be different. This will help eliminate a clumsy transition from cabinet to wall. The baseboard trim will help to tie everything together.

As I mentioned in this post, we have found that with fewer closets we are less likely to hold onto items we don’t need. This entry is indeed the perfect opportunity to live that theory. Because most of our family’s shoes, coats and bags will be coming in through the back entry / mudroom, we won’t need much for storage near the front entry. Instead of using the recessed space as a closet, I am opting to leave the alcove open and instead will incorporate a bench with simple hooks and a shelf above.

This alcove also lends itself to the inclusion of a feature wall. At the moment, I am thinking that beautiful rustic barn wood would serve as the perfect surprise. The feature wall will serve as a backdrop for a family photo gallery.

This post, from the blog Ivory Lane , has given me a ton of inspiration for the entryway gallery. I love the simple nature of the metallic frames, white picture mats, and black and white images.

ACCESSORIES + DETAILS

On top of the small shelf above the coat hooks, I envision some cute artwork that represents our family. These number squares are amazing.

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I also love sentimental signs and would love to work something like this into the entryway space.

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Opposite the bench area is where I envision our piano being placed. We own a low grade piano that is natural wood and wood grain veneer at the moment. I would love to paint it a soft gray color and decorate it with special accessories – such as the vintage green cottage window that I recently purchased at an antique store. I know there is some debate about painting pianos, but they make it look so easy on Pinterest, and I am really intrigued by the results.

Nobody in our family is a concert pianist, but we do enjoy having a piano to tinker around on. In this location it is available, but set aside so that it isn’t in the way of other daily activities.

For the center of the room I would like to find a special light fixture. I am thinking something with a metallic finish, probably a hanging pendant.

Perhaps something from this collection would work well.

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The floor will require some sort of durable rug that will mostly protect the wood floors. I love the idea of a black and white patterned rug.

This website seems to have a wonderful selection of rugs to choose from.

ADDITIONAL ENTRYWAY VIEWS

And now for a few more views of the entryway. First, a view from above – one that nobody will ever experience in real life. It shows the overall space well.

A view from the kitchen (standing near the stove) looking toward the entry. You can see the kitchen design in this post. The space between is the dining room, of which I am still working on designing. The only thing I know for sure is that I want to include some sort of antique hutch on the long wall.

Another room that is still a blank slate is the living room. Besides knowing that I want to include a large sectional sofa for our large family, there are still a lot of decisions to be made here. This is a view of the entryway as seen from the living room. Again, that large open space will eventually house our dining table.

I am really loving how the main level is laid out. The flow seems like it will work well for our family. In this image you can see the stairs leading to the bedrooms (up) and the family room (down). That blank spot at the landing is where the largest window of the house will be positioned. I’m excited to see the design of the stairs come together.

Maybe I will work on that next!

UPDATE: Our floorplans changed quite a bit since this was originally posted. You can see our revised design HERE.

PIN THESE ENTRYWAY DESIGN IDEAS

feeling inspired? Be sure to save this post for later!

SATURDAY SKETCHBOOK: KITCHEN BASIC DESIGN

I spent some time this week diving into the interior of Arrow Hill Cottage. With just over 18 months remaining before we break ground, I want to get as many details ironed out as possible. I figure that the more decisions that are made on paper, the less surprises that might arise during construction.

This may end up being the most well planned house of all time…. because this mama doesn’t like surprises! Ha!

First up on the detailing docket is the kitchen. I wanted to start on it first, because I know that kitchens are the most complicated room in basically any house on the block. Ours is no different. So many decisions need to be made! You can see the basic floor plan layout of the kitchen in this post. The plan is basically still the same, but some of my initial ideas about which cabinets go where have changed.

This is the view of the kitchen- standing in the dining space. It can be seen, by a long view, from the front door. The blank space you see on the right is the living room, which obviously hasn’t been detailed yet. The connection between these three spaces (kitchen, dining, living room) is great. There is definition of space but the rooms flow freely into one another.

A closer view of the space. I am loving the bright and airy feeling it has so far. I feel like your eye is drawn to the wall of windows, which was my intention. Out those windows will be a beautiful view of wooded acreage.

In fact, standing at the sink – which is a reclaimed piece from Craig’s grandparents home – there will be a panoramic view of nature. I think that this view, and the natural light that will be pouring in, will make monotonous kitchen work seem more bearable. Maybe.

Turning toward the right side of the room, I have placed the range. This is a 48″ wide Wolf range. It is far more luxurious than any appliance we have ever owned; but I have heard only great things about this brand. And, I think it looks wonderful in the space.

The vent hood above would have to be custom made by the cabinet manufacturer. I imagine the ‘pillars’ on either side of the stove to have secret pull out compartments for spices and oils. Another detail that will need to be worked out. I’m envisioning something like this photo.

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To the right of the stove is a tall cabinet. At the moment, I am thinking that the doors of this cabinet will be telescoping, and when open will reveal the microwave and pantry storage.

In the center of the room is the lovely 7 foot long island. Having a large island in my kitchen has been a dream of mine for a very long time.

I want the island to be standard counter height so that it can be used as extra prep space. I am thinking that the counter top will be of the same material as what the perimeter cabinets have – some type of white granite perhaps- but I would like the base cabinetry painted a different color to add interest and to give the island more of a ‘furniture’ look.

The back side of the island will have storage cabinets, while the other side will feature spots for seating. I have a bit of a debate going on in my own head right now. Should the bar stools have backs or not?

I imagine stools with backs might be more comfortable, but they also look a bit more clunky and may not be as visually pleasing. If you have an island with seating, can you please comment below letting me know which style of seating you have (backs or no backs), and what your thoughts are? Thanks!

Let’s just take a minute to admire the ceiling, shall we? I am really pushing for some beam elements. I’m not sure yet if they will fit in the budget, but I want to get them planned out anyway. If we can’t do them right away it may be something we add in the future.

I have not formally chosen light fixtures for the kitchen, but am kind of liking the idea of purchasing multiple ‘similar looking’ pendants and clustering them above the island. An arrangement something like this photo

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Gorgeous, right? I think it would be an unconventional arrangement, but something that might fit perfectly in the house. Cottages are known for their eclectic style, after all.

The final side of the room features a shallow cabinet and counter, which I imagine will be perfect as a breakfast bar or as a buffet during gatherings.

Our property has many mature oak trees, some of which will need to be removed to make room for the house. Craig and I are hoping that we can find someone local that would be able to mill the removed trees into boards. These boards could then be made into special items for the house itself, including the dining room table and possibly the shelving here in the kitchen.

I love the idea of using the open shelves to house pantry items that can be stored in cute glass containers, such as pasta, sugar, and oatmeal. I could also see myself storing our frequently used plates, bowls and tumblers on these shelves. We’ll see how dusty the house gets. If it gets to be too much of a maintenance issue, maybe the shelves will be for display items only.

I love how this family utilizes open shelving.

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The fridge will have it’s own little corner of the kitchen. One thing our kids are really looking forward to is the availability of crushed ice and cold water on demand. It’s the simple pleasures.

One last look of the kitchen – the view from standing in the living room. You can see the stairs off to the side, and I can just about imagine my hungry little children wandering down from their bedrooms for breakfast in this beautiful space. I am loving the design progress I have made so far!

Let me know what you think! Any tips or suggestions?

SATURDAY SKETCHBOOK: THE KITCHEN

With all of the posts lately regarding food, I have been dreaming of a bright beautiful kitchen to cook in! So today I sat down and sketched out some ideas. They are by no means refined, but hopefully they can help you all visualize what we are planning.

First, a quick floor plan. As discussed in THIS post, the kitchen is located in a very convenient spot on the main level. It has direct access to the dining room and is just a short walk from the mudroom which will connect to an attached garage. It also is within view from the front entry – which means I will need to be extra diligent about making sure it stays clean! And in order to keep it clean and organized, the layout and function of the kitchen itself will need to be spot on.

Here is what we have so far

From the front entry you would be looking into the kitchen from the bottom of this floor plan sketch, and would see the three large windows above the sink as a focal point. That sink is something that we are all SUPER excited about – a cast iron original farmhouse sink that was taken out of the farmhouse we are currently living in years and years ago, salvaged from the woods by us, and stored in Craig’s parents shed. It is a ‘one basin’ design with a built in dish drain, and refinished it will look SO great!

The three main stations (oven, fridge, and sink) are arranged in a triangular fashion – a technique referred to as the ‘work triangle’. I can imagine that corner of the island that falls within the triangle will be a great drop zone to bridge the gap between the three zones. I am playing around with the idea of using a microwave drawer on that end of the island as well, but haven’t fully decided on that.

Near the fridge I am planning an entire row of pantry cabinets, with the upper cabinets stretching all the way to the counter. I want to keep the look really clean, and was thinking that the large doors could be telescoping (slide in and out of the way) to reveal a spot for a coffee machine and toaster.

On the other main wall will be the range/oven station. Again, I am playing around with the idea of bringing the cabinets straight down tot he counter to keep things clean. The left cabinet I can imagine housing spices and cooking oils, and the right cabinet might be the perfect spot for the dishes to be stored.

In the middle of all the action will sit the crowning jewel of the kitchen, the island. It may have a different finish than the rest of the cabinets and perhaps a butcher block island. I haven’t thought through all of the details yet, but I do know that at 3’0″ wide x 7’0″ long it will be large enough for all five kids to sit at!

Just for fun, I made another sketch of the kitchen – kind of looking at it from above. I think it shows the layout pretty well.

If you want a better idea of what types of colors and finishes (and organization tips) we are considering utilizing in our kitchen, go check out the Pinterest board HERE!

SATURDAY SKETCHBOOK: PRELIMINARY DESIGN

If at first you don’t succeed – try and try again. That’s the mantra anyway.

In architecture we call this stage ‘Preliminary Design’. We know that it might not be quite right, just yet; But eventually the pieces will all come together.

If any of you reading this blog have mistakenly thought that we came up with the design for our future cottage overnight, let me put your minds at ease. It’s been a labor of love for years. YEARS! Let today’s sketchbook installation serve as proof. This sketch was done almost 10 years ago to the day!

I have an entire folder full of proof, in fact. Sketches done on little scraps of paper. In pencil and in ink. Sketches of floor plan ideas and exterior details. Sketch upon sketch upon sketch. And although I am not a fan of clutter, I don’t think I will ever have the heart to throw them. They are a sacred collection.

Though they informed the design choices that eventually led us to that perfect layout we were looking for, each sketch has merit of it’s own. And someday I would love to revisit each idea and come up with a set of simple plan books based on them.

Someday

SATURDAY SKETCHBOOK: ARROW HILL STUDIO

I have been working on some art pieces in preparation to open my Etsy shop, Arrow Hill Studio. This is one of the most recent sketches which will be cleaned up and re-formatted into the art style I am working with right now – layered paper cut designs. It is my goal that by the end of July I will have the shop up and running and I can share more of my creations with all of you!

SATURDAY SKETCHBOOK: CHALK ART

Today’s installation of Saturday Sketchbook is a perfect example of how this busy mom gets in some relaxing art time while hanging out with her kids.

It was a cloudy and cold afternoon yesterday and the kids were all outside coloring on the driveway. It seemed a good opportunity to do some sketching myself and I was about to head outside with my sketchbook in hand. Then I thought ‘why not sketch with chalk?’ So I sat down beside my 5 little munchkins and set to work. As I continued on, they began throwing out some outrageous complements such as “That is the coolest thing I have ever seen!” and “You could sell that drawing for ten thousand dollars!” They asked questions like “How did you learn to do that?” and “Can you teach me how to draw?” I witnessed them bringing to life their own personal creations which included a large butterfly, a wagon wheel, and a robot guy. And, most of all, we were able to spend time together.

The sketch isn’t nearly as important in comparison – but here it is anyway…. daydreaming of our future front porch. I can about imagine sitting on that porch swing reading a book and grabbing a cold lemonade from the yellow side table – maybe doing some sketching there someday as well.

And my all time favorite photo of the sketch – surrounded by all the doodles from the kids. Love!

SATURDAY SKETCHBOOK: THE PLANS

I would like to formally introduce you to a new weekly blog feature that I am calling ‘Saturday Sketchbook. You can look forward to weekly sketches of what is currently on my mind. It will vary from a new art piece, a quote that has grabbed my attention, and possibly most of all – house design snippets.

Today my sketchbook is showcasing the floor plans of the cottage. These plans are literally the investment of years of designing. In many ways, I believe laying out the plans is one of my most favorite aspects of designing. I see it as a puzzle of sorts – the pieces eventually are combined in the right way and everything just fits.

If anyone is wondering ‘How can she continue this blog for another 2 years if she already is finished designing the house?’ Let me tell you, this is far from over! Though the plans are mostly set and the exterior has a basic framework, there are so many more details that need to be worked out! Built-in/cabinet design, wall colors choices, appliance selection, well…you get the idea! It is going to be so much fun to see these plain white plans and exterior images come to life!

I will explain more about our plan choices in future posts. Some of you may be thinking ‘She forgot to add a master bath!’ or ‘What?! a pool in the basement?’ – I’ll explain, I promise.

And remember, as details are added, I will be updating the galleries on the Cottage Design page – be sure to be checking there often!