Giving A Tiny Awkward Space A New Purpose With Natural Light

Hi friends!

Let’s talk one of my absolute favorite subjects: Skylights!  If you’re not new here you’re no stranger to the fact that I sing the skylight gospel every chance I get. They’re just so amazing and today I’m here to share another way in which they’ve made a drastic difference in our home and how we live in it.

The one space in our little bunglalow that’s been thebiggest struggle in terms design has been our “dining room”. First of all, I wouldn’t even call it a room. It’s more of a “zone” or an “area”.  We knew there would be some major space sacrifices when we embarked on our downsizing journey and the dining area is for sure where we saw it.  Our previous house had TWO dining areas: a formal dining room and a large eat-in space in the kitchen which fit our large 10-12 person table. The cottagebungalow dining space is t-i-n-y and can only fit a small round table for 4. Truthfully, it was the only thing that almost made me walk away from this house when we first toured the house.  Almost.  Let’s have a look at what we walked into 7 years ago:

Phew! This one was a hard pill to swallow friends.  I LOVE to cook, host and entertain, and it felt like I was going to lose the ability to do that in the way I wanted and had always adored.  There was so much about our house that I loved so we made the space work for us through a few iterations over the years.

Though not my favorite, I had big dreams for this space to become a better part of our home story. After moving our dining area into our kitchen during the kitchen renovation I was able to reimagine this small space as something better suited to our needs and overall lifestyle.

As a small home dweller I’m always looking for ways to incorporate storage and function into our home, and its proximity to the living room and kitchen made this area ideal as an extension of the living space and perfect for entertaining as well. We decided to turn it into a small library/bar area using the built-in hutch and bringing in some bookcases to create a little reading nook.  I also had one other idea in mind that would make it extra special…..a skylight!

At this point we can just call my love for skylights an obssession! After experiencing how incredibly functional and really life-changing they’ve been in both our bathroom and kitchen, I knew a VELUX skylight would be the perfect addition to really elevate this small dark area into a space I no longer saw as my least favorite part of our house. A skylight was a great solution here because this area of the house is located where it’s not possible to put in a window. I LOVE that skylights allow even the smallest of spaces to be transformed by light, which opens up so many options for using your home in a unique way that works for you, like we did here!

I can’t even explain how much I LOVE this space now.  We opted for a VELUX No Leak Fixed Skylight with solar-powered shade for this space and it feels like this is what this space was always meant to be.  The flow is so much better coming out of our bedroom, plus…hello plants! I mean, just look at Fiona basking in all that natural light! Plus she has some extra headroom now to grow, grow, grow!

On the opposite side we’ve started to transform the built-in by restructuring it.  We built out the base, brought in a wine fridge and repurposed a piece of our old butcher block kitchen countertops here as a counter surface. We are having new doors built for the base and still need to add a tile backsplash, custom cut mirror for the back of upper cabinets, stain the butcher and paint the base, BUT it’s so much more functional for us now. Also, have I mentioned the light!? Total game changer! This is especially true as someone who loves and prefers deeper, moodier colors in my home. Im never one to shy away from dark colors no matter the natural light conditions, but having the skylight in really captures the depth of the overall look and feel in here.  I just love it so much.

As happy as I am to have this upgrade in our home, I’m even more happy to help make one of your skylight dreams come true. VELUX is currenty hosting the VELUX Sunlight Lovers’ Sweepstakes. The grand prize is two VELUX No Leak Solar Powered Fresh Air Skylights with solar-powered shades and installation! It’s such an awesome sweepstakes and I LOVE that they do this throughout the year. Whether you’re a plant afficionado or find your bold colors lack some oomph, the VELUX Sunlight Lovers’ Sweepstakes is for you.  Entry closes today Feb. 28 at 11:59:59 pm EST so hurry and enter today for a chance to win skylights to brighten and refresh a room in your home.

I cant wait to share the finished look of this space once we are all done!  Until next time friends…..

 

Posted By: Shavonda Gardner · In: features, small space living, thecottagebungalow