Private Quarters: Chattahoochee Hills cottage a 'labor of love'

Home and Garden

Private Quarters: Chattahoochee Hills cottage a 'labor of love'

“This is the first house that we’ve really built from the ground up, where we’ve chosen every single thing painfully."

The small kitchen in the English-style cottage opens to the rest of the first floor, so the couple worked to maximize the use of the space by building in an appliance garage to keep things off the countertops and adding a pull-out spice rack that also doubles as a small pantry.

Guests step through the front door of Lauren and John Kane's new home directly into the living room, which opens to the dining room. Natural light and a wall of white shiplap brighten the open space, which is perfect for entertaining.

Built-in storage options can be found throughout Lauren and John Kane's new home in Serenbe, including the window seat and cabinetry from Morning Glory Kitchen and Bath found in the dining room. The home was built by Martin Dodson Homes. Text by Lori Johnston and Keith Still/Fast Copy News Service

While most of the cabinetry in John and Lauren Kane's kitchen is gray, they opted for white cabinets flanking the stove hood, which is also white. The white cupboards have mesh fronts that create a more open, airy feel in the small kitchen. The lower cabinets are topped by counters from Atlanta Marble.

Every space in John and Lauren Kane's Serenbe home has a daily purpose that fits their casual family lifestyle, including the built-in home office hidden behind a sliding barn door at the bottom of the stairway. John is CIO of business intelligence at TravelClick and Lauren is director at a venture capital firm. Down the hall is a comfortable den.

Lauren and John Kane didn't want to paint the nursery all one color, so they decorated son Connor's room with stripes to make the nursery feel larger. They alternated wide strips of white and silver-sage paint on the walls, and fitted their young son's room with furniture from RH (Restoration Hardware).

The Kanes chose an elephant theme for their young son's room, adding cute touches of elephants on the walls, above the crib and even on the windowsills.

Dark window coverings in the master bedroom retreat help new parents John and Lauren Kane grab a few extra winks of sleep, when baby Connor allows. The couple moved into their English cottage home in Serenbe a few weeks before their son was born.

Cabinetry from Morning Glory Kitchen and Bath is topped by counters from Atlanta Marble in homeowners John and Lauren Kane's master bath. Chandelier lighting and wall sconces and add a classic touch to this contemporary oasis.

Homeowner Lauren Kane says the master bathroom is timeless and clean, in its finishes and fixtures. "It has become my oasis," she said.

The bathroom tile is from Traditions in Tile and Stone. The lighting, plumbing and appliances are from Ferguson.

A panel of decorative tiles accents the shower wall in Lauren and John Kane's master bathroom. The Kanes selected tile work in shades of gray and white from Traditions in Tile and Stone for their bathroom floors and the walls surrounding shower and freestanding tub.

"We have a lot of gray in our house," says homeowner Lauren Kane, whose chose subtle muted colors for every room, including the powder room downstairs.

Period trim and shiplap walls mix with the more contemporary gray color scheme throughout the home in what homeowner Lauren Kane calls a "classic contemporary" style for her home in the Serenbe community south of Atlanta.

When building a new home, homeowner Lauren Kane suggests working closely with your decorators and with in-store designers to make decisions on everything from colors and furniture to fixtures and lighting. Many of the Kane's lighting fixtures are from Ferguson.

John and Lauren Kane's spacious screened-in porch provides plenty of room for entertaining and looks out onto the family's wooded lot in the Serenbe community in Chattahoochee Hills.

"I have always really like the English cottage style," says homeowner Lauren Kane of the Serenbe home she and husband John finished earlier this year. "To me, it's one of those versatile architectural styles." In keeping with that style, they included classic cottage elements like the stone archway leading to the entryway, a chimney with a traditional shroud and a cedar-shingled roof.

John and Lauren Kane moved into their three-bedroom, two-and-a-half bathroom home in March 2015, just weeks before son Connor was born. When the couple relocated from northern New Jersey, Lauren told John she wanted her next house to be an English cottage. Their "modern English cottage" in the Serenbe community in Chattahoochee Hills, south of Atlanta, was designed by L. Mitchell Ginn and Associates and built by Martin Dodson Homes.

The landscaping is provided by Teresa Allen for the home, designed by L. Mitchell Ginn and Assoc, Inc. and built by Martin Dodson Homes.

While the first floor of Lauren and John Kane's modern English cottage home is largely an open space, distinctly separate areas like the mudroom nook were also included. The window seat offers built-in storage, too. The pillow is a shout out to their neighborhood.

John and Lauren Kane's favorite piece of furniture in their new home in Serenbe is their living room sofa from Bungalow. They initially chose it because it fit the room, but the gray linen sofa turned out to be one of the most comfortable pieces of furniture in the house. From there, they have a view of the entire first floor and out into the back garden. "It's a nice place to have a nice moment," Lauren said.

In their master bedroom, homeowners Lauren and John Kane continued the gray color scheme found elsewhere in the home on the walls. They topped the bed, from RH (Restoration Hardware), in muted cream and beige bedcoverings.

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The small kitchen in the English-style cottage opens to the rest of the first floor, so the couple worked to maximize the use of the space by building in an appliance garage to keep things off the countertops and adding a pull-out spice rack that also doubles as a small pantry.

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