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At The Picket Fence with Vanessa Hunt

Where Ideas for your Home Meet Inspiration for your Heart

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November 9, 2013

Cottage In The Oaks ~At The Picket Fence Parade of Homes

 

Happy Saturday! We are so excited and honored to have our friend Daune from Cottage In The Oaks here with us today for another At The Picket Fence Parade of Homes, sharing her beautiful…well….cottage in the oaks! 

at the picket fence parade of homes
Welcome to Cottage in the Oaks! Handsome and I discovered Oak Cottage when we were engaged, and we fell for it immediately.  We knew it needed a lot of TLC, but that didn’t deter us at all.

We live in an Acadian cottage……{a French cottage} in Eastern NC. We love all of the character that goes into the design and architecture of these cottages.

The brick and the heart pine floors in our home were all reclaimed from antebellum plantation homes here in the South. If they could talk….I’m sure they have some great stories to tell!  We love items that tell a story, and are especially drawn to European vintage and anything that has history.

We love having visitors……so, come on inside!

//HOME TOUR//

Our front porch is our favorite ‘room’ in the cottage! {We call it our Therapy Room.} It’s large enough to have a dining room table on it….and we eat there whenever possible.

//FRONT PORCH//

Cottage In The Oaks Front Porch

Our home is often full of teens and friends…….so, the living room is the spot for movie nights and great fellowship………..

//LIVING ROOM//

Cottage In The Oaks Living Room

In the summer and early autumn we don’t like having just a big, black hole when the fireplace isn’t being used…..so we fill it with stacks of bundled vintage books. When the cold weather arrives we take them out and enjoy toasty fires.

Cottage In The Oaks Autumn Mantel

Cottage In The Oaks Living Room

Cottage In the Oaks Vignette

Just as most European kitchens, our kitchen is tiny! So, we have had to be very creative with using every bit of space. It’s a hard-working room……

//KITCHEN//

Cottage In The Oaks Kitchen

Cottage In The Oaks Kitchen Vignette

Cottage In The Oaks Farmhous Sink

We have several vignettes that serve different purposes….and are loving the Autumn Beverage Station right now! All the fixings for our favorite warm beverages in one place.

Cottage In The Oaks Beverage Station

Handsome built a wonderful wall-to-wall sideboard with tons of storage in our dining room…….it has not only added great character in the room, but provides much needed storage for serve ware, etc.

//DINING ROOM//

Cottage In The Oaks Dining Room

Cottage In the Oaks Dining Room

Cottage In The Oaks Dining Room

Cottage In the Oaks Number Chair Covers

Cottage In The Oaks White Centerpiece

The kitchen may be tiny, but the master bath is wonderfully large…..we enjoy that! The sink is from the late 1800’s, and was a part of the cottage when we purchased it. Score!

//MASTER BATH//

Cottage In The Oaks Master Bath

Can you have too many vintage, French apothecary jars? I think not!

Cottage In The Oaks apothecary jars in cottage bathroom

We wanted a home office that was efficient and hard-working, but we didn’t want to see wires, cords, etc. all over the place. {It is also a ‘through space’ in our home…you have to walk through it to get to the bathroom, etc.} Handsome built an L-shaped desk that we could hide all of the wires and cords……and we used vintage items to store office supplies. So, it also ends up being a nice sitting room…not just an office.

//HOME OFFICE~SITTING ROOM//

Cottage In The Oaks office

All of these fun, vintage cigar boxes and cubbies hide things like paper clips, extra cords and cables, etc.

Cottage In the Oaks office

We love our garden…and have worked to create an English cottage garden from the time we have moved in 18  years ago.

//ENGLISH COTTAGE GARDEN//

Cottage In The Oaks Garden

It’s a joy having celebrations in the garden……it’s a special place to be and we’ve created so many wonderful memories there.

Cottage In The Oaks Party in the Garden 18

Wow! We could sit in that garden all day long! Thank you Daune for sharing your beautiful home with us today.  Be sure to visit Daune at Cottage In The Oaks and follow along with her on Facebook! You can also visit her wonderful Year of Porches and Year of Mantels, so many inspiring ideas! 

 

You can see more of our Picket Fence Home Tours! Stay tuned next week for another fabulous blogger home tour!

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9 Comments Filed Under: Home Tour, Parade of Homes Tagged With: decor, decorating, home tours, parade of homes

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Comments

  1. Michele/Finch Rest says

    November 9, 2013 at 6:09 AM

    Oh what a perfect cottage/blogger to feature – what a nice way to start my day! Thank you – it was such a delightful read – and now I am heading over to oogle and ahhhhhhgle more there now.

    Have a truly wonderful weekend!

    Reply
  2. Claire @ A Little Claireification says

    November 9, 2013 at 7:41 AM

    What a gorgeous cottage and wonderful tour. Just packed with personality and so many things to see in every picture – I love it! Thanks for sharing Daune and her lovely home with us!! xo

    Reply
  3. Mimi says

    November 9, 2013 at 10:32 AM

    I absolutely love this home. I feel like I can move in as is. Love the comfortable, modern, rustic, elegance about it all. Quite lovely!

    Reply
  4. Martina says

    November 9, 2013 at 12:09 PM

    BEAUTIFUL home inside and out!!

    Reply
  5. Yvonne @ StoneGable says

    November 9, 2013 at 5:48 PM

    Amazing! I could look at this home for hours and still need to come back. So much inspiration! Thanks for a delghtful parade of homes!

    Reply
  6. Carol Reddin says

    November 10, 2013 at 4:58 AM

    What a great home! Would love to experience sitting in the garden – taking in the sights and smells!

    Reply
  7. Daune | Cottage in the Oaks says

    November 10, 2013 at 7:53 AM

    You all are the sweetest! Wish you all could come on over and have some tea on the porch with me! 😉 Thank you Vanessa and Heather for featuring our cottage….wished we lived closer. Hope you’ve had a wonderful weekend!

    Reply
  8. Cindy says

    November 10, 2013 at 12:41 PM

    Beautiful home full of vintage touches…charming!!!
    Blessings,
    Cindy

    Reply
  9. Ranell says

    January 30, 2014 at 10:57 AM

    Thanks for sharing your beautiful home. I love your back yard space!

    Reply

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Our son just turned TWENTY and I can hardly wrap m Our son just turned TWENTY and I can hardly wrap my head around the fact that we’ve completed two decades of parenting! I’ve had time to reflect on this season of life and shared some of my thoughts over at @club31women.

“Someday, years from now, we will watch home movies of the year 2023. And it will seem like I am peeking into the life of another family. I will have vague memories of those moments but my life will be so consumed with what is currently happening that it will seem like another lifetime. So, I embrace this season…this day…this moment. And I choose to declare that the emotional war in my heart between ‘what could have been’ and ‘what might be yet to come’ is over. I’m waving the white flag. I want my children to know that it is good and proper that they grow up and leave the nest. I want them to know that I can celebrate the passing of time rather than resist it even if there may be a few bittersweet tears that spill over from time to time.”

Head over to their devotional page to read the rest and I hope my words bring you encouragement for wherever you are on your parenting journey. 🤍
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“In early June the world of leaf and blade and flowers explodes, and every sunset is different.” John Steinbeck
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Grateful today and every day for those who were vigilant to the point of death in the preservation of our freedom and the principles upon which our country was founded. May we honor their sacrifice by being vigilant too. #memorialday
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Now we’re ready to head into this beautiful weekend! ☀️
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But, as I was exiting a store, I passed a couple who were in their late 60’s/early 70’s and holding hands as they walked through the parking lot. I happened to glance over just as the husband lifted his wife’s hand up and planted a kiss right on it. It was a moment that reflected such love and tenderness and it was made sweeter by the fact that they weren’t spring chickens. I felt honored that I had been the one to observe and appreciate that moment.

What an incredible thing it is that as humans we are able to hold so many emotions in our souls all at once. To feel sorrow for the pain a friend is enduring, grieve the decline of a culture drifting further from the Lord, ponder how to navigate a challenging school situation, marvel at and enjoy the beauty of creation right outside my door and feel joy at getting to see a tangible example of lasting love while walking through a parking lot.

I truly believe that as we mature in our lives and in our faith, we learn to embrace the tension that comes with the collision of different emotions and recognize that they can all coexist at the same time without one taking something away from another. Simple joys make the hard stuff a bit easier and hard stuff makes us appreciate those simple joys even more.

What’s a simple joy that you are thankful for today?
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*Friday night I joined some wonderful ladies at church for a time of fellowship and yummy desserts. I made a strawberry lemon coffee cake and it was amazing if I do say so myself. ☺️ We are new-ish to this church and have just felt so warmly welcomed and folded in which has been very healing.

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How was your weekend sweet friends? 🌸
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And, not only do I feel myself seeming to physically rise up from a slumbered state to greet the sunshine we've been longing for, I find that it seems like my house is rising up too. Every room, every nook and cranny (even though I now see dust bunnies that I missed during my cleaning on the dreary days), every leaf and flower outside...it's all coming to life and breathing fresh hope into my spirit. What a gift it is to be able to enjoy this home in all of the seasons of the year and of our lives. Now, I'm going to head outside and clean our deck and maybe there will be some time leftover for those dust bunnies!
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If you’d like the link to order them, just leave a comment with the word ‘bottles’ and I’ll send it your way. They’re even on sale right now! 🙌🏻
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