What makes a cottage? The definition is hard to pin down, but for Nell Card and Rachel Vere, co-creators of Life Inside a Cottage: Interior Inspiration From Today’s Cottage Dwellers, out in the UK this week, it has to do with a feeling—of snugness, of nostalgia, of “things having happened.” Anyone who built forts as a kid, they say, knows what it’s like to be inside a cottage.
Longtime Remodelista readers might recognize Nell’s name: She’s been our UK correspondent in years past, reporting in with standout design destinations and homes. Now, in their new book (out in the US in a few days), Rachel and Nell capture cozy, sometimes pleasingly wonky cottages from New Orleans to Cornwall to Japan, both rustic and surprisingly modern.
The cheerful yellow cover is only the beginning of the charm. Join us for a glimpse inside a few favorite cottages:
Photography credits as noted, from Life Inside a Cottage.
Above: On a hillside in Brecon Beacons National Park, near the “bookish” English town of Hay-on-Wye, is the home of arts director Clare Purcell and photographer Finn Beales. It looks more clean-lined than one might expect of a cottage, but its roots are old: It’s a former workers’ cottage dating to the mid-1750s, shored up and modernized by architect Niall Ferguson of Rural Office. Photograph by Finn Beales. 
Above: In Mashiko, Japan, there’s the cottage of antique dealer and furniture restorer Tōru Nihei and his wife Riho. Tucked in a clearing in the woods, it was completely abandoned and uninhabitable when the couple found it, but it had good bones: timber beams, clay tiles, and lime plaster. Now thoughtfully restored, it’s their family home. Photograph by Yuki Sugiura. 
Above: Potter/photographer Sarah Maingot fell into a love of ceramics just before she found this Cotswolds cottage, called Spring Cottage, circa 1720. She’s since enacted a “painstaking excavation” to peel back layers and bring the cottage to life—as in the stone-floored kitchen, here. Photograph by Jasper Fry. 
Above: Found tools against a springy green backdrop at Sarah’s place. Photograph by Jasper Fry. 
Above: At this “spirited stone cottage” in Snowdonia, Wales, “time stands still,” Nell and Rachel write. Other than some thoughtful modern comforts and ample style, little has changed within its meter-thick walls for a couple of centuries. Photograph by Martin Morrell.
On a similar note — great timing — I’ve been thinking about something like this. Will try it.
Tiny tip · I second that — very true.