Our Floating Cottage
Here at The Floating Cottage, our favorite cottage of course is one on top of the water, thus the namesake of our blog. Everything just seems better when you are on or near the water and I cannot imagine a better life than our life at the dock. Last year my husband Mark and I made my 20 year dream of owning a houseboat come true. After looking on and off for several years we finally found the perfect boat for us. Now it is long weekends of family bonding, good food, laughter, music, and friends, all with that peaceful view of the water. Many nights we gather round and listen to our friends play music and sing, many mornings there is potluck breakfast and mimosas.
Several houseboats will be featured on this blog, but first up is the one we call home. When we get there on Friday evening our stress diminishes, our breathing slows down, and our smiles get bigger. Furnishing it and making it our own has been a fun process over the last two years. We started with a clean slate by donating all the existing living room furniture to our college age daughters for their apartments. Then the three week whirlwind shopping spree began. I wanted some comfy upholstered chairs for the bar to encourage long lingering. The blue chairs with the rope design were an Atlanta Craigslist score, 6 of them that had been used to stage a house for only $500. The sixth one is used in one of the bedrooms as a desk chair. We added a linen sofa with chaise and storage coffee table from DT McCalls in Cookeville, Tennessee, as well as a leather chair I picked up from a neighbor’s yard sale.
Homegoods is a great place to pick up nautical type accessories in the spring and summer months. You never know what fun piece you might find. I was so excited to find this seahorse lamp! With 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a front porch, back porch, and an entire top deck to decorate I needed a lot of accessories! The jute rug with fringe is from Overstock.com and the cowskin rug layered on top is from Ebay. The Nashville Flea market is another good place to find cowskin rugs. Look how relaxed Lakeland’s sweet puppy Mittens looks on the rug.
I added a pretty mirror over the bed to act as a headboard and add depth to the room. Our youngest daughter loves the comfy down comforter and the beautiful view of the water out the back door. I love to sip my coffee in bed and look out at the light playing on the water in the morning!
It’s still a work in progress, and it seems like all us girls down at the lake are always helping each other with remodeling and design ideas. Leave your comments below and let us know what is your favorite part!
