The Red Painted Cottage: Let's Go For A Tour Of Our Red Painted Cottage

There is room in the smallest cottage for a happy loving pair.

~Friedrich Schiller

I've been wanting to share our cottage with everyone for quite sometime, so lets begin...

Mr. Cottage and I bought The Red Painted Cottage 12 years ago. It really was on a lark. It was owned by a realtor, so he gave us the pass to get in and look at it on our own. Our mouths dropped once we got inside. A little while later, there was a knock on the door, and there stood a man who was also given a pass to come in and look at this cottage. Next thing I know, Mr. Cottage is telling this guy that we've already put an offer in and it was accepted. Talk about great acting, I just stood there not blinking, but totally shocked when Mr. Cottage said this! For the record, we had not even discussed that at this point. Long story short, Mr. Cottage did call the owner and we did end up with this great log cabin...

Some of these outdoor photos where taken at various times, so you may see different flowers all in the same spot. LOL! Anyways, after we moved in we found out that the original owners had seen this cottage at the Home Show in Grand Rapids. It was all constructed in an indoor auditorium. It was dismantled and reassembled on this property. The neighbors around us, have filled us in with some wonderful stories and of the various owners. We're very fortunate that this wasn't a cottage that was handed down in just one family...

By the time we purchased it, it already had the gazebo, paved driveway, and the front porch had been enclosed to make it part of the large living area inside. The stone chimney and fireplace had also been added since it was first built...

So as we walk by our screened-in gazebo, we have Lily's of the Valley growing by the side of the gazebo decking...

The lights around our gazebo were also there when we bought our cottage, but Mr. Cottage and I found this cute dinner bell that he hung by the door...

As we enter, we have great views of the lake and the screen keeps us free of the stinging insects and mosquitoes...

This is the gorgeous ceiling...

As we walk around towards the front, there's the arbor I bought, in memory of my mother, from the checks that some people had sent me. There's also the lime green front door. It had a stained door that really needed to be sanded and stained again, but a cottage should be a fun place and I decided to make it one...

We had creeping thyme in our yard at the house, but when we sold it, I wanted to dig some up and take them to the cottage to plant. This is how much it has grown in two years. I think we'll be planting some at the condo and getting a few rocks to throw in with this thyme.

The previous owners left this pot, which Mr. Cottage plants with begonia's...

We have a nice little garden area as you walk to the front door. I found this container a number of years ago, and it did have white paint with lots of rust. It's now mostly rust, so Mr. Cottage thought he would do me a favor and spray paint it all white. NO!! I love the rust and it goes so well with our logs and rustic look. Maybe down the road some day, but not now. I'm so glad I found out before he sprayed it...