These days, it's tough enough just to buy a basic cookie-cutter home in a modest residential neighborhood. Commissioning a custom build or buying a unique vintage property is an unattainable goal for the average would-be homeowner in America. I can't imagine most people would prefer generic tract housing over something more unique if given the choice, but you've gotta settle for what your budget will allow.
However, where the housing market fails, ingenuity prevails. Homeowner Hannah Westby could only afford to buy a small, 1,200-square-foot generic tract house, but over the course of two years, she managed to turn that cookie-cutter box house into the European-style cottage of her dreams!
What an incredible glow-up! It didn't even look like the same home anymore. I don't know what kind of magic @hannwestby was blessed with, but I desperately need her to send some of it my way. All too often, home renovators will take beautifully distinct properties and ruin them with the most generic, bland, cookie-cutter renovations possible. Hannah did the exact opposite of that, and the results couldn't be more magical.
"Love this! I'm from England and this is totally an English cottage vibe," praised @collazlucy. I love to see it: not only did Hannah execute an incredible home renovation, but it passed the authenticity test. She really made her cottagecore dreams come true!
From Generic to Gorgeous
Now make no mistake, a transformation like this was no mere DIY project . In a video from last year, Hannah documented some of the major work they had to do to transform the space, such as removing the old popcorn ceiling and vaulting it, tearing down the dividing wall between the living room and kitchen, extending the fireplace (the one distinctive feature the home already had) to meet the new ceiling, and replacing the carpet with pine board flooring.
Though Hannah doesn't get into the numbers, I can only imagine that this required a significant investment of time, contracted work, and, most importantly, money. This video doesn't even include her replacing all her generic kitchen fixtures with vintage ones to match her cottage-style aesthetic . Still, while this all must have cost a pretty penny, I imagine that it still ended up being cheaper than it would have been to buy an authentic country cottage, which likely would still have needed updates and repairs anyway!
Hopefully, Hannah's incredible home transformation will inspire other modern homeowners to get creative with their generic tract housing. With a strong vision, even the most boring, cookie-cutter homes can have plenty of unique potential. If a major home renovation project like this is out of your budget, though, you can still do a lot to transform a space in smaller ways that don't require permitting or expensive contractors. Everline Art has a great guide on cultivating cottagecore aesthetics inside modern homes , and it's all very DIY-friendly. Even little changes can go a long way towards turning a boring, nondescript "house" into a home!
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