Emily’s CLASSIC COTTAGE MOVES

1 Toile Sink Skirt “Kitchen cabinets felt too conventional, and a sink skirt is an oldfashioned cottage trick. When I put the captain’s chair in place with its toilecovered seat cushion, I switched from the idea of solid linen to full-on toile! We have a bar fridge and microwave hidden underneath those skirts.”

2 Pickled-wood Finish “Norman and I wanted wood walls throughout the barn, but we felt natural pine would be too much wood. We decided to whitewash the walls. It’s light and airy, and has the texture and smell of wood but not the heaviness. We got the best of both worlds.”

3 Vintage Washstand “Turning an old vanity into a washstand is a trick I’ve used a few times in bathroom renos. In this case, after a family member gave us the pine vanity, I added in a hammered bronze sink from Morocco and, voilà! It fit the whole vibe of the barn perfectly.”

4 Sage Green “All the cottages on the Griffin property have windows and doors in ‘Balsam Lake Green,’ which is a mixture of dark forest green and cobalt blue. ’Twas ever thus, but I just couldn’t do it. I preferred this softer, sagy green, Benjamin Moore’s Copley Gray. It blends in more with the landscape.”

5 Multiprint Bedding “In 2017, while the barn was being built, I went on a trip to India and was blown away by the hand-block printed cottons. I searched online for bedding that was colourful, durable and affordable, and came up empty-handed, so I designed my own line called Imli Lifestyle.”