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Y’all there is nothing like seeing something old made new again! Show me an old, broken down piano turned into a desk or a coal cart turned into a coffee table and my heart skips a beat!  My mom was with me the first time I saw the inside of the cottage, and she remembers […]

Have you ever had the opportunity to watch dry bones come alive?  I’m guessing not physically as Ezekiel witnessed in Chapter 37 of his book, but hopefully you’ve figuratively experienced something dead and dry being brought back to life! If you’ve never been a part of such a story, it’s an AMAZING experience, ESPECIALLY if […]

As the cottage is being renovated, more and more hidden treasures are revealed.  Recently, Forrest, with Bolin Construction Company, was removing the flooring upstairs in preparation for new electrical and duct work. Tucked neatly in the floor joists, he found five crumbling sheets of paper, the top titled “Autobiography of Belle Howard Mayfield.”  As of […]

*Repost from SimplySara.com, January 28, 2017 In the mid 1970’s, the Jim Hodges family rented a simple white cottage in Minden, Louisiana, from Mr. and Mrs. Eugene Fitzgerald.  Little did they know at that precise moment, the Lord was orchestrating a divine friendship that would change the life of one of their daughters nearly forty […]

Without any further adieu, I present to you the floor plan I selected for my Simply Southern Cottage!   If I’m being literal, the correct answer is none of the above.  HOWEVER, after pouring over all 5 options, I ultimately choose Plan Option 4 with modifications.  In all reality, this is a totally new plan […]

One of the toughest decisions I’m currently making resides around the new floor plan.  If you watched my Facebook tour, you noticed there are currently LOTS of walls and LOTS of space that could be better utilized. The kitchen is REALLY small and not very functional.  There are three existing bedrooms and 1 and a […]

In Parts 1 and 2 of First Things First, you learned how I managed to get rid of the pests and overgrowth that threatened to take over my cottage.  Once those things were taken care of, it was time to move on to what would hold the house firmly in place…the foundation. Honestly, I was […]

If you read First Things First Part 1, you learned there were three essential issues that needed to be addressed right off the bat before any other pieces of the renovation could begin: pests, overgrown vegetation and the foundation. Here’s a view of the cottage BEFORE the vegetation was tamed: Red Tip Photinias had completely […]