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Chicago-based interior designer Kate Marker knows that separate housing is the secret to a successful trip with extended family. “You always want to go with your family on vacation, but you don’t necessarily want to sleep in the same place,” she says. That desire to be close, but not too close, ultimately inspired her to launch the Townie Cottages in Union Pier, Michigan. The retreat, her third vacation rental property, has four small, side-by-side cottages. Each space can be rented individually or, for anyone who wants drama-free reunions (up to 22 guests can fit).
But before Marker could welcome anyone, she had to take each of the four dwellings down to the studs. “There was nothing historical or super-charming about them; half the walls were falling down,” she recalls. Her biggest challenge wasn’t having to start from scratch, though. Each one is roughly 600 to 750 square feet, which meant she’d have to get creative with carving out storage and plenty of bunks. Ahead, the designer shares her secrets for maximizing the tiny houses.
Streamline the Siding
There’s more that’s changed about the cottage exteriors than first meets the eye. To make them feel modern and welcoming, Marker added new standing-seam metal roofs and replaced the dingy vinyl siding with board-and-batten. The long, symmetrical lines make the facades look a bit more grand. She continued to clean things up by squaring off the edges of the landscaping. “Before, it didn’t have a plan or any sense to it,” says the designer. “We added simple arborvitae, hydrangeas, and boxwoods with a gravel path that is just very Michigan.”
Raise the Roof
One way to make a space look automatically bigger: Vault the ceilings. In an effort to go all the way to the roofline, Marker relocated the HVAC systems from the main living area to the bathrooms. The designer clad the surface in 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 the cottages do not 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 exterior so much that she decided to bring the taupe-y green paint inside, too. Except this time around, she lightened up the shade a smidge by going with the brand’s pale version (there’s also a third tone that’s one notch darker). “The walls not being white, but still being lighter and brighter, made [the cottages] feel totally transformed,” says Marker.
Hide the Laundry in Plain Sight
A small detail that makes a vacation 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 get savvy disguising them. In one of the houses, the machines live just next to the kitchen pantry behind a simple curtain. Elsewhere, she tucked them in cubbies next to the bathroom.
Scrap Upper Cabinets—Everywhere
To give each cottage a cozy feel, Marker chose grooved cabinet fronts in white oak that reminded her of the tree branches outside. By avoiding boxy upper cabinets, the kitchens automatically appear larger. She admits that this made storing the microwave a little tricky. “I did not want it to be exposed,” says Marker. In three of the cottages, the designer was able to squeeze it into the pantry. But in the two-story house, she decided to utilize the built-ins underneath the stairs and leave it out 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 the teeny bathrooms feel bigger than they really are? Freestanding vanities, shallow trough sinks, and vertically stacked tile. In one of the en suites, Marker even fit in a tub by incorporating plumbing for the showerhead and the tub filler within the same wall.
Bunk Up in Style
In three of the cottages, Marker maximized 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 room.
In another space that sleeps six, she worked in drawers so all roommates would have a spot to store their stuff. And no need for nightstands—the shelves within each nook offer plenty of space for books and a glass of water. Everyone has a place to spread out.