Last year, you may remember that I featured a sweet Mountain Brook cottage in my Feature Friday, home to newlywed Maggie and her hubby. This area of town is actually on the edge of Mountain Brook proper and these cottages are priced from around $230 to $250K. Maggie’s home was built in 1958.
When you saw the inside last year, it was still lost in orangeness and brownness. Lots of both!  Go on and take a look at the Befores and you will definitely appreciate what Maggie has accomplished in less than a year.
I took a ton of pics, so sit back and relax for the show.
Outside of this cute cottage.
That’s a purple door and a huge burlap and fabric wreath. How cute is that?
Just inside the door is this little inset niche with a light fixture inside, so Maggie added this sweet cottagey aqua blue chest and a mirror over it. 
That old brown trim is gone and the house instantly feels lighter and brighter. After trying out a few paint colors, Maggie landed on Chestertown Buff, which I think is a Ben Moore color. Warm and cozy, it’s a nice feel for this bungalow. 
A painted white chest with colorful artwork and a few choice accessories greet guests in the small foyer. 
Red and yellow florals draw inspiration from the painting.
Hallway connecting the foyer and the rest of the house. 
Here’s Maggie, the homeowner. I think she has done a fabulous job with this place. It now feels like a cozy home, with lots of personality. 
She has found some special pieces to add in the dining room. All these extras really bring some personalization to her home. 
Special artwork inside a wall niche. 
Dining room table. 
Looking through to the living room, it has a nice open feel. 
Apples in a bowl on the table. 
From the sofa, looking back at the dining room. I love these pillows.
Fireplace with some special artwork.
I love how colorful this piece is. 
Looking out to the sunroom. 
Bench in sunroom and check out the brick floors. 
Another cute cottage piece that Maggie picked up.
Green was a good choice in here. 
And this space, oh my this space just is the icing on the cake. I’m sure this beautiful screened porch was a major selling point for Maggie and her hubby. What a fantastic outdoor space this is. My jaw dropped when I saw it the first time. 
Those soaring beamed ceilings and that stacked stone fireplace is just stunning.
Looking back towards the sunroom, you can see a lot of sunshine comes in here. What a space to hang out! There’s a small deck outside too.
And this space connects over to the master bedroom. 
Back inside, this hallway goes into the kitchen. 
It’s adquately sized, an L-shape. 
Plenty of counter space.
With a pass through window out to the dining room.
Down the hallway are all 3 bedrooms.
Stop along the way at the first bath, very neutral and serene.
Handmade artsy vase on the countertop. 
Some pretty turquoise bottles add some color to this space.
Very pretty space.
Next stop, one of the guestrooms has an antique bed and some colorful bedding. Don’t you love, love these dark floors? I sure do.
Nice place for a guest to crash.
Dresser for the guestroom. I love that fish painting.
The master bedroom has a little sitting area in the front, so she added another bed here for extra guests. 
So cute and colorful.
A chest of drawers adds some extra storage.
Even room for a desk and chair. 
This hallway connects that space to the master.
With the master bathroom right off of the hall, it has been updated in a really pretty way. I love the soft serene blue with this natural stone. 
A tall iron stacking shelf adds some great storage and is pretty to boot.
Vessel sinks are sleek and modern.
Master bedroom has lots of light flooding in. 
Dresser 
Armoire and the door out to the deck.
I know you enjoyed this tour as much as I did. I love to show off real-life homes by real-life homeowners, because that is truly what most of us are. Just trying to make our homes feel like home, isn’t what what we all want to accomplish?
Maggie, you did an awesome job! I so enjoyed sharing your beautiful cottage with everyone.
I love how warm and inviting her home is. I have a cottage/farmhouse style home that I am very slowly working on. With little ones and a new baby one the way, it’s been hard to have nice decorative accessories out so my tables are bare for the time being. My 2 year old son can be destructive!
I’m madly in love with those gorgeous wood floors.
Loved this home tour Rhoda. Your decorating posts were one thing that drew me to your blog. I love getting a look at the REAL houses that REAL people live in!
Beautiful home!! I’m with you, that porch is the icing on the cake!!
Love it! Thanks for sharing,
Rene’ xo
Love it! All of it!
Oh my goodness, that screened in porch is TO DIE FOR!!! 🙂
Wow! What a gorgeous house! Every room has so much character – and that screened in porch!!! I would be in there constantly, reading, relaxing…so beautiful! Thanks for this wonderful post. I could look at other people’s houses all day!
Shelley
Love the house…great job decorating it!
Maggie’s home is so pretty! She has an interesting mixture of colors, but because it is not cluttered everything works perfectly! I love it. She is very talented.
Hugs, Cindy
What a charming home! How wonderful to start married life in such an adorable cottage. Maggie is certainly a very talented girl. I love the artwork framed behind an old window…..very unique idea and it works perfectly.
Thanks for sharing, Rhoda!
What an adorable home. I would love to see the floorplan of the house. Seeing homes that are for Real People is what I really enjoy. What a wonderful feeling you get from this home.
Thanks to Maggie and Rhoda!
What beautiful home. The home really changed from the befores, she did a great job.
I saved that porch area in my idea file. When we build our house I want a room just like that! Just beautiful!
What a beautiful and special home! I love the dark wood floors and most everything else! 🙂
Hi Rhoda – Think you have just found a new category for your blog – Real Homes of Real People. Just think of adding this feature where you could do this same type post on a weekly, bi-weekly of monthly basis to show us how real people have decorated their homes, giving us new ideas that we can use. Love her beautiful cottage and especially the MacKenzie-Childs collection. Who does not LOVE black and white?
Mary
Oh, and the things that I didn’t love, I really, really liked!
Did you do the dark floors yourself? Where did you get it?! I want it for my little cottage home. 😉
I love the yellow, red, green and white! I’m planning something similar for our kitchen.
I love this! You can see their youth and vibrancy in their decor yet charm abounds.
This is just adorable Rhoda…that porch! Oh.My.Gosh!! LOVE! The colors and fabrics she chose are so pretty……and I do love those floors!! Yes, indeed!!
Thank you for my hook! Got in in the mail! So sweet of you to get it to me 🙂
Lou Cinda 🙂
What a fun home tour! Very beautiful home indeed!
wow. I could move right in… so beautiful and so clean. Mine needs a deep cleaning.