Do you have a piece of art or specific pieces of furniture you will bring to the cottage? If so, that, along with the age of the cottage, the wood ceiling and stone fp, plus a few inspiration pictures can serve as a starting point for the rest of the cottage. Here are some random ideas/thoughts that may (or may not!) help: The age of the cottage lends itself a bit to MCM, which you seem to like. I think MCM plays pretty well with a bit of Art Deco, and with Japanese style too. Are you drawn to minimalist type interior? Japanese design often seems quite minimalist. You list 'rustic' as a neutral, just the location and the use of wood in the cottage make it rather rustic, so you certainly don't need to add any further rustic elements if you don't love them. Do you like live edge wood at all? You see that a fair bit with Japanese design too, and with some MCM. I'm thinking George Nakashima. He is an architect and designer (I think) who according to Wikipedia " His style is considered an extension of the Arts and Crafts movement and ... Mix"es> Japanese, American and International Modern style he designed furniture lines for Knoll and Widdicomb-Mueller "using timber organically and deliberately chose boards with knots, burrs and figured grain."[3] Too arts and crafts perhaps? I often see rocks/pebbles used in Japanese interior (and exterior) design. You could continue that theme, starting with the fp of course. I have a Japanese inspired master bath that includes live edge counter, pebbles and wood flooring, it all works together well I think. How you given any thought to the kitchen? Fitted or unfitted? Do you like any of the images below? Once you have your basic elements (i.e. inspiration pictures you love, some art or furniture you will have at the cottage) you could start a separate post for ideas. I'm sure you'll get lots of input. Good luck. Here is a link that might be useful: Nakashima

I don't know who made the cabinets - previous owners had them installed. They were about ten years old when we moved in and we started having problems immediately - top hinges coming loose and the door pivoting on the bottom hinge and breaking that. And the hinges are Blum which is a reputable brand. 15 years past that now and haven't been able to replace them - four children to launch into the world. Meanwhile, the chipping and heat-related delamination are accelerating. The townhouse we lived in before that had woodgrain thermofoil cabinets - they were only five years old and they were even worse because the particle board core would actually crumble at hinges and joints. Particle board is weak, weak stuff. And heavy. The other thing about plastic which is what Thermofoil is, is that grease really clings to it. It smudges from your hands and the cooking vapors grease it up. My mother's sixty year old varnished wood cabinets are far easier to keep clean, and the hinges and joints have never failed. Honestly, you're better off with wood cabinets and a laminate counter, than laminate cabinets and granite counter. The granite counter will just make the cabinets look cheap. If budget is an issue now, much easier to upgrade counter later, than cabinets.

SLOW is how it's going. They didn't get started till maybe the third week in Feb and it's been raining ever since! No one around here has ever seen so much rain. Also, they're doing as much of the work as they can (along with my husband). I don't how all this is going to pan out. They are going all over the state looking for OLD things like doors, clawfoot bathtubs, wood, door knobs. They found an old OLD refrigerator that they're going to take the door off of an make into a pot rack :o I don't even know what to say so I mostly say nothing at all. She wanted an OLD house but finally saw all the potential issues with that idea so they're building a new house with OLD material. She doesn't want new that looks old, she wants old! Pier and beam homes are very rare here in Texas. Every framer or concrete man they've shown the plans to have tried to talk them into pouring a slab. It costs quite a bit more to do pier and beam too. They couldn't be talked out of it. It should be an interesting year.

Farmdale Cottage: - It's cute, but it's going to be expensive because of all the jigs-and-jogs around the perimeter. All that lovely exterior detail will drive the price up too, which negates your plan of keep-it-small-and-modest-in-price. - I don't like the idea of walking straight into the middle of the dining room. Guests would have to walk around the table to reach ... anything. No table for their keys, no place for their coats. - The master bedroom is smaller than most children's bedrooms, and the master bedroom looks equally small. But the little nook in the master bedroom is cute. - The living room also looks too small; given that the living room also serves as the hallway to several other rooms, you're going to have to leave at least 3' of walkway around the edges, so you'll have only about 9x9 for furniture placement in the living room ... look at the living room pix closely; it appears to be two love seats and two small chairs placed close together ... no lamps, no coffee table, doesn't look at all inviting. - The kitchen looks surprisingly nice compared to the rest of the house. Capeside Cottage: This is essentially the same house, only it turns the dining room into an exterior porch. Again, this is an expensive-to-build house. The guest house creates a large amount of exterior wall, and that's considerably more expensive than interior walls. Other than that, the above comments all still apply. Overall, I have to say, I don't go for Southern Living house plans. Loads of flash, not much substance. Overall thoughts: If you want a modestly priced house for a growing family, I'd suggest you keep these things in mind: Simple shape, simple roofline, single eating area, and a shared bathroom for the kids. Here's an example pulled from the internet at random -- I'm not saying this is THE ANSWER for you -- I'm showing it to you as an example of a more simple, inexpensive choice. This house gives you larger bedrooms, way more closet space and bathroom space in the master, and a much larger living room ... yet the whole thing is only 1850 ... 225 more if you build the bonus room.