The Honeymoon Cottage


I was sitting in my pre-furnished aparment,
missing some of "my furniture" today...
and after looking through some pictures,
I realized I never showed you our house.

Not our "flat,"
but our "house" from before we moved.

A 1930's art-deco bungalow
in a preservation district
that also doubled as the best neighborhood in the world.

{They have a block party & parade for everything!}

It was our first home,
other than the upstairs of my parents
and we lived there for two really sweet years.

When we moved out and locked up for the last time,
Tyler looked over and saw me in a panic to hold back some big tears.

Not because I wasn't excited to move to England,
but because it felt like a goodbye to such a sweet time in our life.

We re-did this house all by ourselves.


Not because we wanted a DIY- 
but we didn't have money to pay someone to do it.

So we worked hard to blend new with old,
nice with thrifty,
and things we loved with things we didn't...

But thinking back to the memories we had there...
our little house of 1095 sq ft
will always be a special chunk of time to us both.














Yep.

It was in these cozy walls
{that I repainted at least 12 times, seriously},
that I learned that I'm a bigger fan of a happy home
than a well designed one.

Photobucket
Our Christmas Card, 2008
And that's what keeps me smiling 
as I sit on the teal suede loveseat 
in our flat in Oxford.



*pics are from an iphone. sorry they are grainy!

31 comments:

  1. first, your cottage was ADORBS!!! and That Christmas card is GENIUS!! Totally stealing that!!!
    <3 Cara
    Lilac and Grey

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  2. Love this!!! The bungalow is adorable but the sentiment was worth the visit!! Truer words were never spoken. And of course love the card - charming!!

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  3. Oh my goodness...that would be so hard to leave! You have stellar taste (not that that is surprising!) and your home was just lovely. It was both beautiful and cozy all at the same time! Swoon!

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  4. So sweet and like you the house seems warm, inviting, and just lovely!

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  5. I love your honeymoon bungalow. and your christmas card. so precious.

    we'll be moving back to Basel, Switzerland. close to france though (about a five minute walk) ... and a ten minute car ride to germany.

    can't wait to be on that side again!

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  6. sooooo perfect! i loved this - thanks for sharing.

    such a cute christmas card, too. love!

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  7. Your house was fantastic! You have such great style! And that card, for a second I seriously thought it was some vintage photo you found online :) Very cute!

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  8. Your home was just so gorgeously you...
    i.e- charming in every possible way!! And that Christmas card, honestly the BEST one I have EVER seen- brilliant!!! xo

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  9. My "honeymoon cottage" is around the same age as yours looks- you've definitely inspired me to keep working on mine! Its so cozy but lovely at the same time. Thanks for sharing with us!

    And yur Christmas card is by far the best I've ever seen.

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  10. oh Lauren its so pretty! I remember seeing that photo before meeting you and thinking how incredibly cute it was!Now I know you everything is even a bit better!

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  11. Oh, Angel. It was beautiful. I can see why it was heartbreaking to leave. England is beautiful in the spring, though, and unbeatable in the summer. You'll soon feel better. :)

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  12. your house is so cute! i love the living room

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  13. What a beautiful house - you did such a great job decorating it! Love your Christmas card, too!

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  14. well honeymoon cottage 2.0 will be even more fabulous because I know you're going to ship loads of amazing finds back once you depart!

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  15. Oh my gosh I love your place and all the decor! That is the cutest Christmas card ever.

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  16. what a sweet home :) i lived in that neighborhood when we first moved to dallas!!

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  17. YOu guys are the cutest -- really! What a lovely home...and totally understandable how sentimental it is. My hub and I lived in a 1-bdr apt for a spell, and it was one of my fave times!

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  18. I love your honeymoon cottage! We live in a honeymoon cottage as well... I just hope we get out of it before it turns into our retirement home...haha

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  19. oh how lovely! I would miss it too for sure, but what a wonderful first home memory. Love the couch... :)

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  20. First homes are always the best. It will always be special to you. I wish I had had a little more time in our first "real" home. A 1905 brownstone in San Fran. Oh, I really miss that little gem.

    Let me guess.....M Streets? Lakewood? Please tell!!!
    xoxo Elizabeth

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  21. how cute! i love the poster above the bed. Plus i am so envious of your porch and swing, we need more of that in the UK!

    x.

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  22. What a beautiful home! You did a fantastic job decorating. I would miss such a cute little place too!

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  23. So cozy! I see now why you miss it! I was devastated when we moved out of my childhood home. My Mom had an artist sketch a picture of the house and had it framed for me. You should look into that! A nice little homage to a place you loved!

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  24. Soooooo pretty! I love old homes, too. Before the fiance and I moved to Arizona last year, we lived in California for three years and were blessed to call a 1950s two-bedroom charmer our own. It was heartbreaking to leave it behind, and I cried on the front steps, so I know how you're feeling.

    But at least we have pictures and memories. :)

    www.turnuptherad.blogspot.com

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  25. You are absolutely adorable. What a Christmas card!

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  26. what a perfect first home! You did a wonderful job

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  27. Your Christmas card is so darn cute! :) You had a lovely first home, must have been hard to give up but it sounds like you are enjoying London too.

    Oh, I have that same ikea chandelier in our guest room/my office-love it!

    ~K

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  28. I don't know what I love more..your sweet, sweet honeymoon cottage or that adorable Holiday Card! Seriously...that is just the best, hope that sits in a frame somewhere prominent in London!
    PS: have you posted pics of the London flat and I somehow missed it?

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  29. Such a beautiful place, you did amazing!

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  30. Aww! I love seeing your first place! Wayyy cuter than our first home (shiver). I'm with Sue- have you posted pics of the flat there?

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  31. This is so sweet. I feel the same way about my home now...the first with my sweetheart. We're closing in on one year living here together and I know it will be a sad sad day when we move on to somewhere new (even, like you say, if that somewhere is welcomed).

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