Hello Fox Hollow readers!

There has been a little whirlwind of excitement swirling here at the cottage.

If you’ve ever taken our Cottage Tour, you’ll know that we have more than one dwelling on our property.

For many years, my mother in law has made it her home.

It’s been a blessing and a joy to have her so close to us.

When my son and nephew were younger there were countless sleepovers and lots of spoiling done within those walls!!

Nerf wars and endless hours of Lego playing and breakfasts fit for Kings. Or at least little Princes.

It’s tucked down behind the main house.. and you can see it from our sun deck.

As you may have already guessed, our big news is…

That the little cottage will soon be vacant.

It’s not a sad occasion. She is excited and it was all her idea, so it’s totally okay for us to be excited too! Plus, she’ll be right across town, and we might actually see her more with the new arrangement so we aren’t sad. Her work these last few years has had her away, more than she’s been home.

While we’ll all miss her, Jim and I are very excited about the prospects this presents to us.

We debated renting it, but we just don’t want a stranger so close.

And, we could really use the extra space!

We downsized a ton moving to this house and most days it’s fine.

But while our house did come with an extra house.. it did not come with a garage. 

Zip, zero, zilch. Not even a one-car.

We’ve since put up a few storage sheds.. 3 to be exact. Not my favorite feature, but necessary. And we’ve each got a carport.

What we really need is a place to work on our projects during the wet months. All 9 of them!

A little guest space would be super too, especially with Austin graduating this year and family coming to attend.

It is with great excitement I announce to you…

I had to name it!

(I love naming things.) I always tease that it’s because I only got to name one baby.

Now I can share pictures of the inside! I never did before out of respect for my MIL. But as soon as it’s empty, I’ll run over with my camera.

About The Name: We hear tell, that there was once a chicken coop where the little cottage now stands, and I thought “The Coop” would be a fun name and keep a little of the history. I also don’t want to confuse you if you stop by, see a project and wonder where in the heck in my house that is! 

Is the name super dorky?

Do you think it fits?

If you’ve got ideas for a fabulous moniker, lay it on me!! It’s not set in stone, yet.

We plan to make the main living area into a work shop so we can participate in more markets and events.

I’ll keep the bedroom and bathroom as a guest suite. The loft will be used for extra storage.

Just this last August, we got to be a part of the first annual Marshfield Vintage Market and it was a wonderful experience! We were hooked. Sadly, we knew we would never be able to do any Fall, Winter or even early Spring shows because we simply did not have anywhere to work out of the weather.

This is a dream come true, and it really reinforces the whole “when one doors closes” thing. It was not our first thought when we learned my mother in law would be moving, but it sure floated to the top!

I can not WAIT to get in and plan out the shop with Jim.. and of course to decorate and pull together a wonderful guest suite for company. It’s going to be a joy to have a dedicated guest room again. I can make due in a pinch, but for times when there are more than one or two people visiting I’m sure the guest suite will be very much appreciated! We have a great backyard for entertaining and we just love having everyone gather here. In fact, we just spent the evening picking up so we can host a joint birthday gathering back there tonight.

This was our wild group of yahoos on the Fourth Of July.

I can’t wait to share my plans and progress.

I’ll be pinning like a crazy girl. Gathering ideas for the decor, bedding, window coverings and lighting…. and just everything. Wee!!!!!

PS: I’m serious about naming the little cottage, if you’ve got something to share, please comment to me! xo

 The Changing Of The Guard

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