photography: Dana Gallagher The new front porch has two huge sliding screened doors. Horizontal wood siding recalls traditional clapboard.

Upon her return to Charlottesville, Virginia, Amy began her search for the ideal fixer-upper. "I basically bought the first house I saw because it was all I could afford," she says. The 650-square-foot cottage had a solid structure—yet it needed new wiring, plumbing, and heat and air-conditioning; an updated kitchen and bath; and a replacement for the back porch. So, her short-lived search quickly became a long-term project. "Most people would've run in the opposite direction," Amy says, "but this house just needed some love."

photography: Dana Gallagher Amy's orginal 80-year-old 650-square-foot cottage had good bones, but needed major renovation.

As the owner of a stylish shoe store and a fine stationery shop, and a graduate of the University of Virginia School of Architecture, Amy has an eye for design. "I knew features that I wanted in the house and how I wanted the spaces to flow,"she says. "I also knew I would enjoy a more modern interior." To finalize her plans for the cottage, she consulted architect and good friend Jim Rounsevell. "Jim is brilliant at details," Amy says. "I had a sense of what I wanted; he had the knowledge to flush out my ideas."

The two decided to knock down a few walls to make bigger, open spaces, eliminating the choppy floor plan. Because the back porch already needed rethinking, they replaced it with a small addition that enlarged the master bedroom and bath. To honor the cottage's past, they refinished the existing heart-pine floors and kept the original wainscoting in several rooms throughout the house.

photography: Dana Gallagher The new front porch has two huge sliding screened doors. Horizontal wood siding recalls traditional clapboard.

photography: Dana Gallagher Pretty bowls on the farm table at Amy's entrance catch keys and mail. Pulled away from the wall, the table's great for entertaining. The picture ledge, 4 inches deep, displays her revolving art collection.

photography: Dana Gallagher A pegboard above the wainscoting is a stylish way to add storage space in the small cottage.