In last week’s post, I wrote about the many years of magic behind the new Rural Studio artist cottage at Serenbe. The cottage itself is a big, bright feather in Serenbe’s cap and being connected with Rural Studio is a dream come true for our community. But what makes this space special isn’t just the partnership or the plans—as we all know, it’s what’s inside that matters most.

We wanted the cottage—a 2BR divided into two private areas—to have the same look and feel as the rest of Serenbe’s spaces: casual, chic and elegantly efficient. Atlanta has a huge design community and calling any number of our connections wouldn’t have been a problem at all. But we needed someone willing to take on the projects pro bono. Two someones, actually.

We lucked into Kerry Howard of KMH Interiors and Steve McKenzie of Steve McKenzie’s, two designers who were intimately acquainted with Serenbe through committees and former projects. In addition to the lengthy list of donors and sponsors, both were incredibly generous with their time, talents and resources.

Because of them, the cottage turned out amazingly charming. Temporary artist housing has a reputation for being spartan but both area very warm and welcoming. Connected by shared deck meant to inspire collaboration, the writer’s space is very 50’s retro and the painter’s quarters is a bit more contemporary. In the writer’s cottage, the desk, donated by a Serenbe resident, faces the woods and an old pie safe works well with quartz countertops. The painter’s cottage is a bit looser, with lots of open spaces for the artist to configure their own arrangement, and a gorgeous end table made from reclaimed mill beams.

As the Art Farm grows and expands, so will our number of Rural Studio cottages. Right now, one is being broken in by Anis Mojani, a spoken word poet and our newest artist in residence. I hope he can feel the community that came together to create his space. I hope it feels like home.