Everyday getaway: From rustic cabin to cosy retreat

Here's how you can create your own cottage style studio space.

1 Ensure there's lots of light; use spare window coverings, paint walls white, open doors.

2 Spark your creativity by surrounding yourself with tools of the trade: papers, paints, artists' brushes, etc.

3 Indulge in a comfy seating area for visitors (or you!).

4 Keep existing elements. The wagon wheel suspended from the cabin's ceiling is now a chandelier for votive candles.

5 Go reclaimed with storage. Use old china pots, enamelware shelves, picture frames, etc.

6 Make the setting fit the job. A drafting board is the work area here, but it could easily be a potting bench, a sewing table or a writing desk.


What makes this space 'cottage style'?

• Unfinished or well-worn edges for patina
• Natural elements used in whimsical ways
• Romantic painted furniture and floors
• A love of heirlooms
• Utilitarian 'found' pieces used as decorative accents

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