Come with us on a tour of the "not too cottage-y cottage" of Remodelista’s Justine Hand. Justine had already rented the wonky 1807 house on Rock Harbor for several summers. Ownership meant that Justine, armed with little more than paint and fistfuls of greenery, could finally create the soulful Cape Cod home she envisioned.
The vintage stove, painstakingly refurbished by the previous owner, works.
On arrival at the house, Justine grabs clippers and heads out to gather flowers and leafy stems.
On a side wall, a favorite pan, cutting board and bread knife, and onion basket hang from nails.
An old roller shade serves as a cover for pantry shelves.
The dining room is in the center of the cottage–and has seven doors leading off it.
The room is painted in Tidewater, a pale blue from Martin Senour Paints, that Justine says “makes the space feel like you’re inside a robin’s egg.”
A pantry off the dining room displays a well-edited selection of tableware.
The favorite hangout, the screened-in porch, is where books are read, lemonade is poured, and bathing suits hang to dry.
The porch has its original wicker chairs. Note the ceiling, painted a yellow inspired by the kitchen.
In Oliver’s room, the eagle kite is a gift from his great aunt Sheila’s trip to China.
Oliver’s bedside table is a $15 flea market find. The seaside painting and lamp are placeholders borrowed from a family friend.
“It’s so hard to find good orange pillows,” says Justine. A friend stitched this one from an old French linen tea towel.
Because the house almost entirely lacked closets, Justine bought a cedar-lined cupboard from a local antiques shop.
The first-floor guest room has a green spatter-painted floor and old wallpaper that seems to improve with age.