Saturday, April 06, 2013

I have a plan!

My Cottage Floor Plan - Part 1


In this month series, I'll share with you all the ideas I had about organising the downstairs of my little cottage when it was renovated.

La série du mois est consacrée à l'organisation des pièces à vivre. Une question qui m'a occupé l'esprit de longues heures quand j'ai refait le rez-de-chaussée du cottage.


Not everyone has the same needs. It all depends on your everyday habits, how many people live in the house, the atmosphere of your home, the way light flows in the rooms (or doesn't!) and so many different things that it can be overwhelming to make decisions, whether you need to make them because you're remdeling or because you're building a new house.

Tout le monde n'attend pas la même chose du plan d'une maison: cela dépend de vos petites habitudes quotidiennes, du nombre de personne qui vivent dans la maison, de l'atmosphère des lieux, de la façon dont la lumière entre par les fenêtres (ou n'entre pas!) et de tant d'autres choses que prendre une décision peut donner le vertige, que l'on doive le faire lors d'une rénovation ou d'une construction de maison.


My first tip is to go back to basic or to your instinct. By collecting pictures of rooms that spoke to me, I was able to get a pretty good idea of the atmosphere I wanted in the cottage. As you can see, I'm usually drawn to cozy rooms... But everybody was advising me otherwise! Open floor-plan is all the rage in France right now!

Mon premier truc a été de me faire un petit book de photos qui me parlaient pour une raison ou pour une autre, souvent pour une raison inconnue au départ, d'ailleurs. Cela m'a aidé à me faire une idée de l'atmosphère que je voulais chez moi. Je suis naturellement attirée par des espaces cozy, quand tout le monde me conseillait de créer un espace tout ouvert moderne... Cas de conscience!


I'm sharing in this post some pictures that have been in my inspiration file for a long time, pre-blogging time at least, so I don't always know where they come from.

Une des ces photos vous attire-t-elle l'oeil? Savez-vous définir pourquoi?

Is any of them speaking to your heart? Which ones and why?

Thank you so much for visiting! 

Merci de votre visite. A bientôt, pour de nouvelles réflexions sur la rénovation!

See you in the next post for more tips and news from my own cottage!


I'm linking with:

           Dwellings-The Heart of Your Home                            

27 comments:

  1. Magali, this is a post close to my heart. We have our kitchen/dining/lounge open plan, cottage style AND I do not like it at all. I love the first two photos, somehow though the first photo seems to fit in with your cottage (maybe it is the stone wall). I like the idea of a cosy lounge and in our new home this is absolutely what I will arrange. Can I copy number two photo, please? I love it? Your cottage is so beautiful and I admire the thought you put into decorating and always trust your instincts! Have a lovely weekend, Ann

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  2. the 2nd one looks really cosy to me..
    have a lovely weekend!
    x

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  3. Bonjour Magali,
    j'aime beaucoup la deuxième photo ; à la fois douceur des couleurs et cocooning! le foot stool : super !
    et l'idée de la malle comme table de salon me plait bien aussi,
    je te souhaite un bon week-end,
    amicalement,
    Marry Poppins.

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    1. La deuxième photo semble avoir l'adhésion de tous les lecteurs! J'avais envisagé depuis longtemps une malle comme table basse... Ce n'est toujours pas le cas, mais cette photo me rappelle à chaque fois qu'il est temps que je traque une jolie malle, peut-être au vide-grenier prévu demain s'il ne fait pas 0°C!!!
      Bon dimanche,
      Magali

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  4. We have lived in houses with both open and separate rooms. The one big issue against open is trying to make dinner when others are in the livingroom trying to watch tv. The exhaust fan is running, or the dishwasher, or the microwave, etc. It can get quite noisy and messy. The house we live in now the living room is separate, just around the corner. We do not have a separate formal dining room but the table and sideboard are in the kitchen area, separated by an island. We like this set up the best. I hope this gives you some help, I love the first picture, it looks like a bright but cosy living room. Patty/BC

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    1. I think this is quite a good compromise. Thank you so much for stopping by and taking the time to give your point of view.

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  5. Ik vind de tweede foto/kamer het fijnste. Ik houd van een kachel, boekenkasten en gezellige makkelijke stoelen er omheen. Groetjes Wilma

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    1. De tweede foto is inderdaad mijn lezers 'favoriet. Ik geloof kachels bijdragen aan het creëren van een gezellige sfeer. Bedankt voor uw bezoek!
      Magali

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  6. I love the look of an open floor plan....but don't really have that myself. I have never really wanted it though. As for the pictures.....I love the second one with the touches of pink in the room. It is very cozy and inviting. The furniture is lovely as well. I also love the open beam ceilings in the third picture. Gorgeous! I can;t wait to see what you end up doing,....I konw it will be just a lovely as these rooms!

    Blessings, Vicky
    Life On Willie Mae Lane

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  7. I have lived in both open floor plans and more closed off rooms. I prefer the more closed off! I loved it when the TV was on a lower level and the kitchen was off by itself. It seemed it was much more peaceful for the TV viewers and the cook! I am drawn to the first photo. I love things that are a little lighter and more spare. They rooms are all so cozy, though.

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  8. Beautiful inspiration, Magali! I see "open concept" all over HGTV but I really prefer individual rooms for their cozy feel too. And since I love to decorate, I feel like there are more opportunities when each room is it's own. Maybe it's because that's what we have with this old farmhouse, maybe if I had an open floor plan, I'd feel differently. :)

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  9. Beautiful photos! I am also drawn to cozy rooms. The open concept may be nice if you have a large family or host large gatherings but the feel of a cozy cottage room wrapped around you trumps this every time for me. I have lived in both types of houses and prefer the smaller/individual rooms but like you pointed out we all have different needs. I love the soft color pallet in each picture and the natural stone and beam elements are awesome!

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    1. Thanks for your contribution to the discussion. I found very interesting that everyone gives a personal opinion on this subject. The comments are even more interesting than my post!

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  10. Love the ideas....Deb Vintage On A Dime

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  11. These are all lovely rooms - looking forward to your series!

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  12. Feedback : my initial response to all three was a preference for the second one though I noticed that the first one seemed to have a steam heat radiator cover of some sort ( I notice things like that right away since I have steam heat radiators :)

    The third one is something richer / probably belonging to a richer / bigger house...but still I liked the second ...it looked COZY!

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  13. Moi j'aime la première. Les fauteuils sont tournés vers la fenêtre et j’aime regarder mon jardin. La pièce est claire, avec un mélange d'éléments douillets, plaid, coussins et d'éléments brut comme le mur en pierre et le torchon en lin. Je n'aime pas la couleur du haut de la cheminée, l'applique et les cadres. Je peindrai le tout en blanc crème, patiné et j'assemblerai les deux tableaux et en rajouterai d'autres pour faire une petite accumulation ...
    Bon dimanche

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    1. Merci pour cette analyse très fine de ce décor. Cette attention aux détails m'a permis de réaliser ce qui me dérange depuis toujours dans cette première image, sans que j'ai jamais pu mettre le doigt dessus. C'est trop "propret": cela manque d'un mug oublié et d'un livre ouvert sur un accoudoir, selon mon goût personnel!

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  14. I thought the first and second photos were of your cottage!

    The third is cozy too, but it looks a little more English.

    I love the walls on the first one, and the lintels on the second.

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    1. I wish they were my cottage! But you know me well now and they are an acurate image of where I want to go.

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  15. The one thing I have learned by living in a small house is that rooms and furniture have to serve more than one purpose. We added a window seat in the dining room. I sit on the window seat and blog or grade papers. The window seat holds extra bedding.

    Have fun making your decisions.

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  16. J'ai bien reconnu sur la photo 1 ton inspiration pour ton coin cheminée. Il est d'ailleurs bien réussi... manque encore quelques trucs à accrocher...

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  17. I already commented but had to come back to say...
    Your home already has such charm with your amazing front entry and stone walls just being two of them! Can't wait to see more...
    Thanks so much for joining us for AMAZE ME MONDAY!
    Blessings,
    Cindy

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  18. These are such fun posts! I think the inspiration file is a great idea. I have done that when looking for porch plans for the front of our hosue.

    I'm so enjoying your blog!

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  19. I really like that last photo. It looks so cozy and inviting. Although they are all beautiful, for me, that one looks relaxing and homey. I'm pretty sure it's the large brick fireplace. It's something I long to have in a home.

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