Do you mourn the loss of Cottage Living Magazine, too? This is the only magazine that I’ve kept and still refer to every so often.
What do you think is behind these unassuming magazine holders? (Side note: aren’t they nice? The are from the defunct Shabby Chic line at Target and have a pretty floral lining…)
Every single issue of Cottage Living magazine, from the very first issue in September of 2004 to the last Nov/Dec issue of 2008. They hold a place of honor in my nicest holders on the living room shelves. And there they remained through all the living room makeovers.
As you may guess from the name of this site, this magazine was near and dear to my heart and I l.o.v.e.d. every one of these issues, reading them cover to cover. Numerous times.
I’ve gotten many magazines over the years (Too many? Ahem, maybe…) and only felt the need to save one other, Do It Yourself, mainly because of the tutorials and information in them. Updated to add: A few years after writing this, I gave away the Do It Yourself issues because I wasn’t using them and many things seemed dated. So now I’m down to just the Cottage Living!
Cottage Living was the only magazine I saved just for the content. It spoke straight to me and all the things I enjoy: simple and hands-on decorating, reusing, gardening, and even cooking.
There were always too many things to tear out, so I just had to keep the issues and find a place for them.
Simple window treatments. Warm, happy colors. Sink in and put-your-feet-up furniture. Mixing in things you inherited from grandma. And all within the realm of possibility, cost-wise and ability-wise.
White cupboards. Wood counters. Farm sinks. Stainless appliances and accents. Lots of windows. And kitchen islands. Oh, how I wish I had room for a cool kitchen island that used to be a table.
I’ve not found any other magazine to match, though I still get Country Living which occasionally comes close.
So I find myself every once in awhile grabbing a cup of tea, and curling up on my sink-in-and-put-my-feet-up couch and losing myself in these past issues. And I’m inspired again.
Anyone else miss this magazine? Have old issues? Please tell me I’m not the only one!
Please Note: While I do have all the issues, I don’t have them memorized or catalogued, lol. While I wish I could help all the people who’ve asked, I simply don’t have the time to look up the “green house with the white trim” you remember. I hope you understand. I have seen stacks of issues in used book stores, though.
Judy Bondar says
I found your blog when I Googled Cottage Living to see if it might have been published again. I was just going through some magazines for my students to use next school year and ran across some Cottage Living magazines. I don’t have every issue, but loved the ones that I have. My immediate thought was that I couldn’t let these get cutup for collages and art work that would eventually be tossed out. I will add these to my select Martha, Mother Earth News, and Country living magazines. ( mostly just holiday issues) I allowed my Country Living to expire and pick it up when there is something that really speaks to me inside. I don’t care for the evolution of the magazine. But with Cottage Living, everything you said in your blog I agree with. I especially liked the page of the magazine where a person would mail in a picture of their home with questions on how to improve the curb appeal. The resulting suggestions made me want to do the same with a pic of my home, but I waited too long. I sit here looking at the magazines I found, they will be returning home with me.
Jami says
Yes, Judy, I so agree that these have stood the test of time. So sad they’ve never brought it back. I’ve seen a couple of expensive compilations they’ve offered through the years with the same name, but they are a shadow of the real thing, which was so good. 🙂
Rhonda H. Davis says
Judy, I also liked that feature! During a clean up/clear out frenzy I threw out the magazines but kept those pages. Unfortunately, I had only 3. I had loaned all the others from my subscription to a coworker who was planning to build & I never got them back.
Jami, do you know of any site which might archive those articles or if one of the compilations might be a good starting point?
Jami says
Unfortunately no, Rhonda – and I’ve looked. 🙂 And the compilations just seem to be about decorating – I’m not sure if they’re even all from the magazine, just that they used the title.
Suz Garten says
Cleaning the garage, and for the umpteenth time, debating whether to keep my huge collection of Cottage Living magazines. Decided to grab a year (2005) and look through them this evening, my leisure treat to myself after a hard day of work. Then the thought occurred to me to Google this magazine, just to see if perhaps they started publishing it again…. of course they haven’t, but I found your blog article, which clinched my decision NOT to throw these out, LOL. I have thrown out every other magazine that I thought I MUST keep, but my Cottage Living collection has somehow always survived that decision. I’m looking forward to a lovely adult beverage, and sitting in our trailer this evening (with a prairie view) and looking through a few issues for some spring inspiration. Thank you for your article here, which made me realize I’m not a nut for hanging onto these!! 🙂
Jami says
Definitely not a nut, Suz! I, like you, debated a few months ago when we were packing our belongings into storage while we’re searching for a new house: should I still be hanging on to these? All it took were a couple of looks at the pages again for me to realize, yep – these are worth storing. 🙂 More than 10 years have gone by and the images are still as fresh and inspiring. Not sure I could say that for 10-year-old BHGs, but then again, I don’t keep those!
Jill Stevens says
So bummed. I have many issues, but not all… I’m looking for a copy of an article in one issue about a cluster of vacation cottages either on Cape Cod or Martha’s Vineyard that families have owned and visited for generations. Do you remember the one? I think the pics and some of the article took place on 4th of July…
Thanks for any info you can give me!
Jami says
Sorry, Jill, I don’t remember that – and all my issues are packed away right now with all our other furniture as we transition between houses. 🙂
Pamela McEacern says
I am currently looking at the November /December2008 issue and I am still in disbelief there are no more to come. I too have my covey of my precious issues and have never found another magazine to come close. I dont think anyone can ever top it. I am so disappointed in the current issues of Southern Living, this is my last year to subscribe. Sadly another one bites the dust.
Jami says
Yes – still agree with you all these years later. 🙂
Brian says
Any chance anybody has a copy of the August 2006 issue of Cottage Living? I just bought a house in the Bryn Mawr neighborhood of Minneapolis and apparently there was a little write-up on my new neighborhood in that issue. Would love to track down a scanned copy of it!
Thanks!
R says
I have every issue too and they are all dear to my heart! I always buy old issues that I see in thrift stores, and I pass them on to my sister and friends. Cottage Living is definitely the most inspiring magazine that I have ever collected. The editors and contributors really pulled out all the stops to create fresh yet enduring content.
Jami says
I actually always thought they’d restart it after a few years since it was so popular (and has remained so). I’m surprised -and sad- that they haven’t. 🙁
The Red Hare says
THANK YOU for the permission to keep my copies of Cottage Living!! I am moving from NY to VA in about a week and weeding *everything* in my home for the third time since 2008. This time, I’m moving without children (they’re leaving for college), and I’m moving for me. For adventure and a new chapter. I am moving for love. 🙂 And, those beloved Cottage Living issues are coming this time, too. So glad I am not the only one! 😀
Jami says
I’m in the same boat! We’re packing to move and really getting rid of a LOT of stuff I never thought I’d part with, but we’ve found we love the feeling of less. But the three small file holders of CL mags? They’re staying. 🙂
annamarie says
I am searching for a cottage living magazine that had a pet bed made from a suitcase in it. I dont know the year but I was told there was one – I need to find it for a lawsuit I am involved in. A woman copied my design and took out a patent and had me and many others beds taken off Etsy..now she is suing me for posting beds and I am fighting back along with others. Can you look thru your issue and see if you can find any? If I can get get the date and the issue and scan the page for me – I can see if I can purchase it somewhere to show that these beds were made for years before she took out a patent which will invalidate the patent and allow us all to sell again. Thanks so much in advance! Just let me know if you can find it or not – have a wonderful day!
XXOO annamarie
Jami says
Sorry, AnnaMarie – do you have any idea the year even? I have about 40 issues and it would take a LOT of time to look through them all searching for a pet bed. I wonder if Google could supply with a month or year?
Dee says
PS the eclectic living room I mention in the CL article about the Pacific Coast Designer may also have had a rustic stone fireplace over which hung the marine painting, as well as a very chunky long white coffee table? Sketchy memory…it was a while ago!
Dee says
Hi there,
I used to browse and pick up copies of Cottage Living at the drugstore, don’t think I ever subscribed before they folded. What a shame…. I still recall one designer’s work I connected to. She was from/ lived in the Pacific Northwest? Her room (s) had very bold combinations of marine scenes (painting) with modernist and traditional furniture elements–all bold. Her colors were muted, greys, blues, chunky whites. I can’t recall more specifics, but I wish I could see the photo of that room again…if this rings a bell, thanks for letting me know the issue, maybe I can find/photocopy….!
thanks,
Dee
Jim says
My wife and I are designing our new house. In my notes, she said she wanted the house in Cottage Living Jan/Feb 2008, Page 130. Does anyone have this issue available? I’d like to be able to surprise her.
Emily says
I have that issue-I can scan it and email it to you if you’d like
Margaret says
Whoops
https://www.google.com/search?q=cottage+living+magazine+house+plans&espv=210&es_sm=93&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=pZQHU7eUGYnCywHA-4HgCw&ved=0CGcQsAQ&biw=1356&bih=570
Margaret says
This is a followup. To those looking for specific houses, there is a website I found through Google that shows a whole lot of CL house plans.
I put in Cottage Living House Plans and it came up quickly
Jami says
Thanks, Margaret!
Margaret says
I am another mourner for this magazine and I’m trying to buy all the back issues. I haven’t succeeded yet but I hope to get there. I find them as current as anything else I read, and certainly better than all the others. If it weren’t for Heather Chadduck’s kitchen in Alabama, I never would have remodeled my kitchen the way I did. I’ll look for the articles people want, but it may take a while. I have a few duplicates which I’ve considered selling but haven’t done it yet, so if anyone is looking for particular issues, I might have a duplicate I could let go of.
Jami says
That’s a generous offer, Margaret – thank you! I love pretty much all of Heather Chadduck’s stuff and I’m glad I see her here and there still, but I miss the regularity of Cottage Living. Still can’t believe they haven’t brought it back. 🙁
Beverly says
Tried everywhere to find the issue of Cottage Living Magazine that featured a rustic home in Oregon (I believe). A couple worked with an architect and built it (on a lake I think). I loved the magazine and the layout of that house. It had a wooden front door that had a little door that opened so you could look out. A canoe hanging from the ceiling. The living room had a large fireplace made of native stone. There was a separate but attached “bunk” house for guests connected by an area that had a pantry. Any help in identifying what issue this house appeared in would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
Shane says
I was working at a small private school making too small a salary. I lived in a 1200 square foot house built in 1853. Times were tough, but my one splurge was issues of Cottage Living. Thanks to the ideas from the magazine my house was the envy of all who visited. I was sad when they stopped printing it. I miss the magazine; I miss the the little house.
Marcia says
I am looking for an article that was in Cottage Living. I have no idea which issue or year. I’m guessing that it was 2007 or 2008. It was about a cottage in Montgomery, Alabama on Country Club Drive. Noni Haigler got Architect Ken Pursley to update her house with a back porch and master bedroom and bath. We are looking to buy this house and I would love to see the article. Please let me know if any of y’all who have the complete collection see this article. Thanks!
Ren says
Nope you are not the only one. I just got one of those “please buy magazines” to support out Girl Scouts from my niece. I was looking for Cottage Living. Sad to hear they stopped printing it. I got a year subscription from some one a couple of years ago, I still to this day have no idea of who got it for me. I could never downsize enough for most of those cottages, but it was nice eye candy. But, I really loved browsing thru it.
Greta Wallace says
Hi Jami! I am so glad that you are here…I have been trying to get copies of my garden design article from May/June 2007…Greta Glab Wallace garden, in Evanston, Illinois. I had the choice to be in Cottage Living or Better Homes and Gardens and I chose Cottage Living for their visual appeal…Much more beautiful and as you said…wonderful articles…..I have not been able to contact anybody, but the New York Photographer. They came out with a one time publication, last year…”Best Cottage Gardens” and I was shocked to see that my garden was on the front cover! I am battling health problems and public ignorance (city codes) , as I try to restore prairie and build an artist’s retreat on our 4 acre property in Dubuque, Iowa…I really need to be able to show people a copy of this magazine! Thank you for sharing! Sincerely, Greta Wallace, 847-910-0474, 995 Clarke Drive, Dubuque, Iowa 52001
Jami says
Wow, Greta, that’s so cool that your garden was featured!
Margaret says
I have an extra copy of the May/June 2007 issue. If you still want it, please let me know through Jami, who will have my email.
Margaret
Karen says
I accidently found this site and I too have all of my Cottage Living magazines from the very first issue until to the very last. I was also so disappointed to see this magazine go. In this world of bigger is better I really enjoyed the smaller homes and less materialistic way of life. The homes presented in the magazine had so much character and lot of architectural detail. I love that!