If you’ve been following our journey for a while then you know that Thomas and I live in Northern California in the summertime (April through august) and Birmingham, AL during the other seasons. Thomas’s current job takes us out there while he works and helps operate a guest ranch – so we get to call a cozy little cottage “home” a few months out of every year.

Just because we only live there for a few months doesn’t stop us from making it a place to rest, retreat and host our friends. This summer was my favorite version of our “home” yet so I  thought to share it with you all.

When we arrived, our kitchen cabinets were wood, and because our house sits back in the forrest, it tends to be pretty dark and lacking natural light. To lighten up our home, we decided to paint the cabinets white and add faux subway tile to the walls and it made all the difference. The details of our French oven/stove, the French country cookbook and more made it the perfect space to greet friends, make cookies and frozen pizzas, and enjoy the morning light.

The living space was tons of fun. We had countless movie nights, Bachelorette premieres, gathering of friends and afternoon naps. We added our favorite pieces from Carolyn Johnson Art and an inexpensive brass mirror to the wall behind the sofa. This coffee table is perfect for the minimal look while also being functional our Cord and Cotton rug added the color we needed to lighten up the space.

Right behind the living space was a tiny room that we used for guests. We had a friend visit us from the west coast, my mother and sister in law and my mom so we kept the room full!

The wooden accent wall was the perfect touch for a “treehouse in the woods” and the other wall was decorated with our favorite posters from Magnolia Homes.

Our bedroom was the lightest, brightest and biggest room of the house and we loved that! We kept the bedding light with accenting with our Cord and Cotton rug, again. The walls were covered with windows and invited all of the light in every morning. This was Remi’s favorite room, too! We added greenery with this faux fiddle leaf fig tree potted in this basket from The Basket Room, we loved the colors and the size! At first we used it for our cycling gear/storage and loved how it hid what we needed to be accessible in the most precious way.

This home was cute, quaint and stuck in the middle of the forrest with trees surrounding it and the sound of a creek not too far away! We miss it so much and the memories made there but will treasure the ones we make and create back here in Birmingham.