My cottage

Every few months I grab a piece of paper and start drawing the floorplan of the house that I plan on living in.

Except for when I was 20 and rented a house with friends I've always had my own apartment. That's perfect for me. I'm not gonna buy a house and pay a mortgage for 70 years and I don't wanna buy a condo- that's just a super expensive apartment.

But I do have a plan.

Someday I wanna have my own cottage. Here in western Mass there are a lot of houses where the owners have a large barn or shed at the other end of their property. I wanna find just the right spot- where I can have a driveway and a small yard- and turn that large shed into a 1 or 2 bedroom cottage.

I figure it'll be at least as big as an apartment. Most likely it'll be one storey but maybe I'll have a loft with a ladder and I'll put an spare bedroom up there. I'm picturing a small kitchen with a pantry and a dining area, a large living room for entertaining, a small bedroom for me, and hopefully a bedroom for guests.

I want guests to walk into a small hallway where they can hang their coats which will lead into a comfortable living room with a large couch and two loveseats. Off to the side I'd like a door that goes to the dining room and past that, the kitchen. If possible I'd like a small window in the wall between the dining room and the kitchen. On the other side of the dining room I'd like for there to be a door leading to the hallway, off of which will be the doors to the bathroom and the bedrooms.

I want for the cottage to be very roomy- I'll put on an addition if I have to. Plus, I want for the walls to be very thick and well insulated so that every room will be private. In my floorplans, the pantry off the kitchen provides a buffer between the kitchen and the living room. And the hallway and a row of closets will seperate the bedrooms and bathroom from the rest of the cottage. Even better if there is a second floor- the stairs can be an extra buffer.

And even though it'll be a cottage I'd like for it to be able to accomodate a lot of people if, say, I'm having friends and family over and there's a big snowstorm. There will be a double bed in the guest bedroom and someone can sleep on the couch (maybe it'll be a fold-out and two people can sleep there). Plus, in the house my friends and I rented, there was a bathroom and bedroom upstairs- also- at the top of the stairs in the hallway there was a spot where there was just enough room for a daybed and the wall next to the daybed had built-in shelves for books and an alarm clock, plus there was a built-in lamp over the pillow. We lived there through the winter and on some cold nights I'd sleep up there and it was a cozy spot to read and drift off to sleep. I'd like to have a spot like that in the cottage- a small area tucked away with just enough room to stretch out and sleep.

It'll probably be awhile but in the meantime I'm fine and it's something good to look forward to.