Special Sections

Mission Statement
Cottage Living leads the way toward a new American dream, a lifestyle defined by an appreciation of quality over quantity, a pride of place, and living large while leaving a smaller footprint—what we call “life just right.” Our brand represents where life is moving and helps its readers get there today.

The Good Life
This lead section of the book reflects the new American dream of living large while leaving a smaller footprint. It opens with Pride of Place, a column that celebrates towns and neighborhoods that have achieved a strong sense of place and community in the midst of generic urban sprawl. The next three columns—New Old House, Labor of Love, and Hidden Potential—focus on the building block of every community: the individual cottage. From a remodeled kitchen to a newly constructed house that looks like it’s always been there, these stories emphasize quality of space over quantity of space. The columns Express Your Style and Get Comfortable focus on room-by-room decorating and lifestyle solutions. The section closes with Cottage Industry, which promotes the work of women who have turned their passion and creativity into a thriving small business. The Good Life embodies our vision of communities, homes, and personal spaces that aren’t too big or too small but just right.

The Joy of Gardening
This section brings cottage style to the curb. It represents the best of outdoor living and style in dramatic makeovers from entire landscapes to simple weekend projects. The Cottage Gardener column provides design inspiration and planting advice from a featured green thumb that applies to any house. Romancing the Cottage focuses on the specific plants, architectural elements, and spaces that can make a cottage garden so enchanting.

Escape + Discover
Escape + Discover reflects the variety of options we offer in our travel pages: ESCAPE for those who wish to relax and enjoy the scenery; DISCOVER for those a little more adventurous who like to explore and become a temporary native. The Roads Less Traveled column features a long weekend getaway in an easily accessible but lesser-known locale, always providing details about restaurants, accommodations, active excursions, and nearby day trips. Home Away From Home is the column for everyone who wants to vacation in a cottage—and who doesn’t? We scour the country for cottage rentals—in the mountains, on the coast, in the desert, in national parks, in small towns and urban settings—and give readers the inside scoop about when to go and what to expect.

Our feature well
Celebrates the best of Cottage Living, with a healthy dose of our 3 Cs: Comfort, Community, and Confidence. We show the prettiest, most inviting cottages and the way that people live in them – the way they really live. Our well also highlights the best in cottage neighborhoods and communities, and the families, friends, and neighbors who make them special. The interiors that we feature are brimming with decorating ideas to inspire readers and encourage them to create their own version of cottage style.

Home Cooking
A critical part of Life Just Right is dinner at home—a weeknight supper or casual get-together with family and friends. Our Home Cooking section reflects the importance of savoring and sharing from our cottage kitchens. Warm Your Soul is classic American comfort good with a twist: those favorite home-cooked recipes you remember from childhood but updated with fresh, healthy ingredients and timesaving methods. Fresh Every Night is a seasonal weeknight menu using recipes created by our contributing editor Sara Foster. Local Flavor is the “cottage industry” of the food section, featuring a grower, winemaker, or other artisan who specializes in a food or product. This column puts a face with the food, emphasizing the importance of local ingredients and craftsmanship and creativity involved in the products. We also provide destination information so readers can see and taste for themselves.

Find It Fast
Find it fast is our comprehensive resource guide for all of the paint colors, furnishings, accessories, and much more shown in our pages. We provide Web sites and phone numbers of manufacturers or retailers so readers can easily buy or get more information about whatever they’d like to purchase for their own cottage, as well as contact info for architectural firms, landscape design firms, artists, and more. When our editors run across an item that is discontinued or no longer available, they do their best to suggest a similar look for readers. Along with the sourcing, readers will find helpful sidebars and tips in this section.

Dear Cottage Living
Our popular back page features a reader cottage in desperate need of more curb appeal. Our contributing editor, an Atlanta architect, takes a look at the submitted photo and provides a sketch and recommended products that will enhance the cottage exterior and take it from drab to fab.