Best New Cottage: Interiors

Residential designer Travis Mileti, AIBD; Marie Mileti, AIBD (seated); and Valerie Chastain, AIBD, enjoy the fire's warmth on the back porch of Cow Rock Cottage. The use of stacked fieldstone, as seen here and elsewhere on the cottage, play a major role in achieving a rustic, Appalachian-based style.

Although less than 2,500 square feet, this cottage feels larger by Travis' clever decision to open up and connect the main living spaces. The family room is also vaulted to reveal the loft space above―yet another way of providing extra volume to a relatively modest space.

• Note: all furniture, accessories, drapery, and rugs are available through Monday's House of Design, Cashiers, North Carolina; 828-743-2094.

As on the screened back porch, a stacked fieldstone fireplace takes center stage in the family room. Rather than just a sheer wall of stone, the exposed chimney is designed with a central recess for artwork, along with tapered edges on either side, to keep it from appearing too overpowering. Sconces mounted directly to the stone are an attractive way to shed plenty of light on the antique timber mantel.

Although the dining room is open to the family room and kitchen, its smaller, vaulted ceiling supported by rough-sawn fir trusses gives the space an intimate, stand-apart feel. "By varying the ceiling heights and treatments throughout this cottage, we were able to give the interconnected spaces their own, unique identity," Travis explains.

Echoing the rustic style of Cow Rock Cottage, the dining room table and chairs consist of rough-hewn logs, branches, and even twigs that further bring the outdoors inside.

Here's an interesting twist on a common decorating decision: Instead of hanging a picture on the wall (like you always do), take it up a notch by supporting the frame on a decorative wall shelf. This arrangement, placed on either side of the dining room window, not only enhances each picture, but also reinforces the rustic theme through the use of faux-antler brackets.

Reclaimed heart-pine flooring flows from the adjacent dining room right into the cozy kitchen. Cabinets built in a white-washed Shaker style by A Ward Design provide a soothing contrast to dark-stained floors and wood trusses above.

What's a homey kitchen without a farmstyle sink? This white fireclay beauty by Rohl works in concert with the surrounding cabinetry and sierra-brown granite countertops.

Light-drenched window nooks, exposed timber beams, and mountain cabin-inspired furniture make Cow Rock Cottage's primary bedroom a retreat unto itself. Antique prints of regional wildlife, along with floral-themed drapes, also reference the home's forested location.