Saturday Spotlight: Lin from A {tiny} Cottage In The Woods

Hi, everyone!   Kris from Junk Chic Cottage and I wanted to do a regular feature on our blogs, something unique that hasn't been done before.   So we came up with an idea to 'spotlight the real life behind the blogger' in a more personal way.

There is so much talent and inspiration in blogland, and we thought it would be fun to bring you a closer look at the person behind the blog.

Every week on Saturday we will spotlight a blogger and have them tell us a little bit about themselves and their blogs.  You will be able to see and read about each of the bloggers on both Kris's and my blog. 

      

I'm so thrilled to have Lin from A {tiny} Cottage In The Woods as my guest today!  Lin is such a sweetie and I'm a huge fan of her gorgeous, French style!  Please sit back, relax, and enjoy getting to know Lin better.

Hi. I'm Lin from 'A {tiny} Cottage In The Woods'. I was delightfully surprised when Susan invited me to share my story on "Saturday Spotlight: Life Behind The Blogger" ~ thank you so much, Susan!

Today I'm sharing the story of how we came to live in a tiny cottage in the woods. A story of childhood dreams ~ and of a dark cloud with silver linings.

Dreams

When I was a little girl, my family spent weekends and vacations in the Colorado wilderness, and it was always a dream of mine to one day live in nature.
 

 ~ my twin brother and me in the Colorado wilderness ~

I also loved art, and was that happy kid with paint splatters on my clothes and little pieces of paper and glitter glued to my hair.

At 17, I received an offer to audition for a full scholarship at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, but instead chose to follow my heart and study Fine Arts. As the years passed, marriage and babies and responsibilities took priority, and my childhood dreams fell quietly aside.

A Dark Cloud

 ~ a dark cloud... the recession ~

Fast forward to 2001, my husband and I both worked in software development and we lived a comfortable life in the suburbs. Our two older children were grown and living on their own, and our youngest daughter was in private school, finishing her senior year of high school when the dotcom crash and recession hit. We saw software companies and jobs in our area evaporate into thin air, and for the first time in our lives we were unable to find work. We'd been through recessions before and thought we'd be able to weather this one out as well, but after two years of living on savings, we had to face the facts. We put our home up for sale, put our belongings into storage, and moved to our undeveloped mountain property to live in a small travel trailer.

Silver Linings

At first I was overwhelmed by fear. What would we do? But in time those feelings began to lift. I found comfort and balance living in nature's beauty,

 ~ surrounded by nature ~

and I came to see that my husband was absolutely right. We hadn't "lost everything" ~ instead, we'd gained so much more.

We became closer and we learned to live simply. We built business websites and sold artisan products that we'd made. And knowing that we couldn't live in a trailer forever, my husband suggested that we design and build an off-the-grid tiny house ourselves ~ learning how to build a home step-by-step, paying cash for materials while we built, and trusting that it would all come together in time. We started drawing up the floor plans and with help from family, two years later we received the certificate-of-occupancy and moved in.

~ building our tiny cottage in the woods with a whole lot of patience and love ~

On my blog I share DIY decorating projects, nature photos, and new work we're doing on our cottage. This year we plan on installing walkways and a patio, adding more plants to the cottage garden, doing some interior finishing work, and I'll be refinishing some furniture pieces. The years I spent studying art and classical music greatly influenced my decorating style, which is a mix of rustic and romantic French-Nordic farmhouse-cottage style.

  ~ flowers from my garden, my refinished DIY French basket, and crown embroidery ~

And I'm once again that happy "kid" with paint splatters on my clothes and little pieces of paper and glitter glued to my hair, so I share some art, crafts and tutorials as well.

 ~ Valentine rose wreath, paper butterflies, and a couple of my watercolors ~

Today, our eldest daughter works for a newspaper, co-owns and operates an outdoor cinema company, and writes freelance in her 'spare' time. Our son is a carpenter/landscaper, and he and his wife live in Japan with their one-year-old baby girl. Our youngest daughter lives in CA and has two little girls.

And my husband and I will be celebrating our 33rd Anniversary together this year ~ happy and so very grateful to be living in a tiny cottage in the woods.

Thanks again, Susan, for inviting me to share my story!
xo,


Lin, thank you so much for sharing with us!  You are such an inspiration, and I adore your 'tiny cottage' and your beautiful style!
Please visit Lin then head over to Kris's blog to read about Diane from Cottage Wishes.
Have a great day :)