Chicago-based interior designer Kate Marker knows that separate living is the secret to a successful extended family trip. “You always want to go on holiday with your family, but you don’t necessarily want to sleep in the same place,” she says. That desire to be close, but not also close by, ultimately inspired her to launch Townie Cottages in Union Pier, Michigan. The Retreat, her third vacation rental property, has four small, side-by-side cabins. Each space can be rented individually or for anyone who wants a drama-free reunion (up to 22 guests can fit).
But before Marker could welcome anyone, she had to take each of the four residences down to the studs. “There was nothing historic or super charming about them; half the walls fell down,’ she recalls. However, her biggest challenge was not having to start from scratch. Each one is about 600 to 750 square feet, which meant she had to get creative with carving out storage and lots of bunks. Ahead, the designer shares his secrets for maximizing tiny houses.
Streamline the siding
There is more that has changed about the cabin’s exterior than meets the eye. To make them feel modern and inviting, Marker added new standing-nail metal roofs and replaced the dingy vinyl siding with sheet-and-batten. The long, symmetrical lines make the facades look a little more grand. She continued to clean things up by removing the edges of the landscaping. “Before, it didn’t have a plan or any meaning to it,” says the designer. “We added simple arborvitae, hydrangeas and boxwood with a gravel path that’s just very Michigan.”
Raise the roof
One way to make a room automatically look bigger: vault the ceilings. In an effort to go all the way to the roofline, Marker moved the HVAC systems from the main living space to the bathrooms. The designer covered the surface with antique pine boards coated with a thin layer of white paint to make them feel extra light and airy. “People who have stayed here this summer keep telling me that the cabins don’t feel small at all – that they could live here all year,” she says.
Don’t call Taupe boring
Marker loved Little Greene’s Rolling Fog on the outside so much that she decided to bring the taupe-y green paint inside. Except this time, she lightened up the shade a bit by going with the brand’s pale version (there’s also a third tone that’s a notch darker). “The walls are not white, but still lighter and brighter, made [the cottages] feels totally transformed,” says Marker.
Hide laundry in plain sight
A small detail that makes a holiday less stressful? Quick and easy access to laundry. In each cottage, Marker added a GE stacked front-load washer and electric dryer set; with a tight layout, she had to become adept at hiding them. In one of the houses, the machines live right next to the kitchen pantry behind a single curtain. Elsewhere, she hid them in cubbies next to the bathroom.
Scrap upper cabinets – everywhere
To give each cottage a cozy touch, Marker chose grooved cabinet fronts in white oak that reminded her of the branches outside. By avoiding box-shaped upper cabinets, kitchens automatically appear larger. She admits that it made storing the microwave a bit difficult. “I didn’t want it to be revealed,” says Marker. In three of the summer houses, the designer was able to squeeze it into the pantry. But in the two-story house, she decided to use the built-in under the stairs and leave it on the counter. She made the corner look like a purposeful breakfast station by adding open shelves above and three deep drawers below.
Go back-to-back in the bathroom
Three simple tricks that make small bathrooms feel bigger than they really are? Freestanding washbasins, shallow basins and vertically stacked tiles. In one of the en-suites, Marker even fits in a tub by incorporating plumbing for the shower head and tub within the same wall.
Bunk up in style
In three of the cabins, Marker maximized the sleeping space by adding custom built-in bunk beds. One of the setups combines two queen-size mattresses, making it possible to fit four adults in a narrow space.
In another six-bed room, she worked in drawers so all roommates had a place to store their things. And there is no need for bedside tables – the shelves in every nook offer plenty of space for books and a glass of water. Everyone has a place to spread out.