In this episode of the Uploft Interior Design Podcast, I tackle a design question from Taunya in Fountain, Colorado, who wants to create a European cottage feel in her home. Drawing from my own experiences living in a quaint French cottage during high school, I share essential elements like exposed beams, rustic wood furnishings, and cozy decor. If you have questions for me, make sure to submit them here.
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[Music]
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Design inspiration, real life makeovers, and the latest in pop culture. This is the Uploft Interior Design podcast with Betsy Helmouth. Another day, another chance to answer your amazing design questions. Guys, do you have questions? Are you thinking, “Oh my gosh, I’m designing my living
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room. I sure could help some use some help with XYZ. I want to transform my bedroom. What would Betsy recommend? Well, all you have to do is head over to uploft.com/mpodcast. Once again, that’s uplift.com/mpodcast. You fill out a form, you send me some pictures, and I feature your question on
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an upcoming episode. So exciting, never boring, and of course, I pair that with something I’m really interested in in pop culture. And this week, not only am I answering a design question, I’m also going to be talking about Hulu’s death in Apartment 603. What happened to Ellen
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Greenberg? If you are a true crime fan, you’re going to love this one. It’s very thoughtprovoking and very quick, and I, for one, watch the whole thing in one night. So, I’ll be talking about that. And there we go. I hope you guys are
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Betsy’s Halloween Plans
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well. Otherwise, Halloween is fast approaching. My daughter’s going to be a football player because that’s what her friends are doing. My littlest daughter is going to be whatever I want because last year she was a soccer ball to pair with my son’s soccer player. And this year, I’m
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like, “No, I’m not doing a football to pair with my daughter’s football player. I’m tired of my baby being random sports balls. We are going to do something cute and festive.” So, she is going to be Minnie Mouse, and it’s going to be so adorable. It’s going to be so sweet.
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Okay. Well, I’m excited. Can you tell? But I’m also almost as excited about your design questions. So, here we go.
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Design Question from Taunya: Evoking a European Cottage Feel
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I’m going to dig in without further ado. I got a question from Fountain, Colorado, and this is from Tanya. And Tanya writes, “Betsy, how can I evoke a
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Betsy’s Personal Experience in a European Cottage
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European cottage feel?” Now Tanya, did you know that you were supposed to ask me of all people this question? Because I have a lot of experience in European cottages. Believe it or not, when I was in high school, my mom put me on a plane and I did a host program. We were very
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poor. I don’t know where she got the money to do this, but she basically sent me to France for one summer with a host family. And I was nervous. I had only spoken the language in school in junior high and high school. But as a lot of you know who have kids or maybe you
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yourselves have studied language, that does not make you fluent. She put me on a plane and this was back before cell phones. This was back before email and I just show up in France with this organization, right? And then they put me on a train and I go down to the south
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of France and I’m waiting there for my family and waiting, waiting, waiting with a few other kids from the program. We’re all waiting and they all get picked up by these very happy, very snuggly, very excited parents. And when my parent finally shows up, she is looking a little grouchy. She’s looking
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a little over it. Maybe she got stuck in traffic cuz she was the last one there. And she’s basically like, “Get in the car.” And I was like, “Oh no, this is going to be horrible.” I was so sad. I was so scared. I was so worried. I put my luggage in the trunk. We head to her
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house and it is in the most quaint village of like a hundred people. It’s a medieval village. Her house was originally built in the 1500s and then they added stones and modernized it. But it is a European cottage complete with beams and stone stairs and a wooden spiral staircase leading up to the top
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floor. There’s no window screens, lots of mosquitoes, but also the smell of fresh lavender wakes me every morning as the wind blows through because there’s no air conditioning. It was hot as Hades. Anyway, I lived in a European cottage that whole summer and then, believe it
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or not, it turned out really well after the initial trauma and drama. Um, they basically adopted me as their sixth daughter. They already had five daughters, so I was smack dab in the
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Key Elements of European Cottage Design
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middle of them in terms of my age. So, I would hang out with the big ones and we would play cards and go shopping and get ice cream. I would hang out with the little ones and we would roam the hills of this like ancient little town and it had a castle in the adjoining town and
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so we’d walk down there and walk the ramparts and they would tell me all about you know the drama at school etc. So there was always something to do even though it wasn’t like totally exciting. But what happened is that the French mom would bring home oodles and oodles of
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magazines and she had this very mason and um it had so much character beams original glass and then she would buy antiques and put them in. So it just oozed charm and I would always wake up the latest of everyone. So I would be at the table alone because everybody else had eaten
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together eating the drags of whatever had come from the bakery that morning and I would flip through these magazines and of course I got tons of Nutella on its pages. I apologize, but I fell in love with interior design doing just that. Flipping through these interior
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design magazines which I had no exposure to in Missouri. My mom didn’t even like furniture. Uh we had homes that were very unfernished. Anyway, flipping through these magazines and then the mom noticed my love of furnishings and things like this and she would take me
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shopping with her, antiquing with her to go find new pieces and I really fell in love with that. And we were going to Barjac every weekend and I became her little shopping buddy. And I would say that that was one of the turning points in my life in terms of becoming aware of
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interior design and falling in love with it. and of course living in a European cottage. So you’re asking me, Betsy, how can I evoke a European cottage feel? And I would say there’s a few things that you need to be aware of. So I made a little list. The first thing is often
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times these spaces do have exposed beams and that can create a cozy feel. Oftentimes they have a stone fireplace. Now these are all architectural features that can be hard to emulate if you don’t already have them. But if you’re looking for a place that oozes European cottage,
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you start with these kinds of bones. You want this rustic elegance. You want a lot of soft, maybe raw wood furnishings, but that are all quite neutral with some color, but it’s color that’s worn or aged or looks somewhat antiquey. It’s always nice to have a charming dining
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nook with a wooden table and a mix of chairs that feel vintage. then um you know going for something serene, something with maybe floral patterns, something somewhat romantic, gauzy. Uh I think there’s a lot of like natural textures, be they stone, like stone floors or even like a rustic type tile.
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You want to think somewhat Mediterranean, but you also want to embody like um not just like Mediterranean that we’re thinking of with like Greece with whites and blues, but more so warm tones, right? With those warm burgundies, those kind of uh aged jewel tones, if you will, and then
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of course some greenery. So, some ivy, some plants inside to really add that final element that makes it feel very European cottage. You also want a lot of dim lighting or even natural lighting. Uh, yeah. So, there we go. That gives
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Creating a Cozy and Inviting Atmosphere
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you a sense. Now, the question you want to ask yourself is first of all, do I have the architecture? And second of all, what am I trying to evoke? Because European cottage, you know, could be your style word or in this case words, but that could be your style word. But
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then how do you want to feel in the space, right? And combining that will really help you to get exactly what you’re looking for out of this style because what I’ve told you right now is basically just definition of European cottage, which is all about warmth and charm and lived in elegance. sort of
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inviting you to get cozy with, you know, these muted colors and earth tones and distressed furniture and maybe oversted seating so that you feel like you kind of sink into the chair, right? Um, lots of handcarved details. Uh, if it’s not wood floors, then stone or tile floors.
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Lots of rugs that are showing their age and showing a worn pattern. Uh, also plaster walls, but again, architectural features, right? But plaster walls that are painted in a cream or muted tone. We talked about the exposed beams. You could potentially add like a chair rail or some way scotting
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with some paneling or bringing in that raw wood texture versus painting it. Uh, of course, we’ve got those antique pieces. Open shelving is another big one. So, not having everything hidden away in cabinets, but just having like open shelving with dishes, open shelving
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with some books to kind of display those accessories because that’s one thing that was very different for me coming to this space from a place where my mom liked everything super minimal, didn’t even want us to have a dining table, etc. Uh, lots of accessories in the
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European cottage style. layer upon layer of found objects of antique bimabobs, right? You definitely want to make everything look very considered and very decorated. Um, what else? What else? What else? I talked about that rustic dining table. Um, I talked about those vintage vintage
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accessories, especially like maybe even cookware. Like there were a lot of copper pots. There were a lot of things that looked a little dented and dinged. There were like wavy glass, juice glasses. But basically, it’s that balance of charm with a very understated elegance meets like antique.
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Hopefully, that’s something that you can achieve where you live in Colorado. If you have more specific questions, let’s look at your space now, the pictures you’ve shared to see where we could bring that in. So already you’ve got the cream walls, you’ve got the rustic wood,
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you’ve got the mismatched dining table, you’ve even got the ivy. I love it. You’ve got a wood burning fireplace. You’ve got the wind coating in the chair rail. I would think about like a cool light fixture like a chandelier type, maybe some kind of iron mixed with a
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little bit of seated glass above the dining table. I would also consider above this this molding that you’ve added, which is kind of like a very high chair rail or even sort of beadboard situation, incorporating some antiqu mirrors, incorporating maybe some muted pastel colors. Right
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now, everything is in the neutral. And I do think maybe some painted landscapes, some vintage mirrors could bring in some visual interest. Yeah, that would be nice. You’ve got a really cool chevron butcher block island, which I think plays well with our theme. You’re you’re dancing all around it. And
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then I’m peeking into the adjacent room and I’m seeing that wood burning fireplace. I’m seeing some samples of paint color. Now, typically with this style, you’d keep the paint color cream or off-white, and instead bring in these colors that I’m seeing in the paint
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swatches of this terracotta, of this kind of muted sage. You bring those in in rugs, artwork, or drapes. I could see doing like an open weave linen drape in this terracotta or sage tone. Certainly a beautiful rug that’s a little bit worn in these tones would be nice.
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Let me just see what other ideas are coming to mind. Cuz I think the kitchen dining space is already well on its way. I also remember that there was like a lot of metal work, scrolled metal work in terms of wall hangings. That might be something to consider, but you
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definitely need to adorn your walls. And I’ve given you lots of ideas, whether it was the mirrors, the landscape paintings, the scroll work, even maybe an old map, but everything else is on its way. Definitely want that chandelier. That’s going to really make the room. And I
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think your dining room rug is too small. You know, when you pull out your chair, you don’t want to be half on half off the rug. And I think it would also make the space look larger. You want a rug that is 30 to 36 in bigger than your table on all the sides where you’re going to have a chair.
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So, this rug is about a foot too small on all sides in my opinion. You’re on your way. Bigger rug, better art. If you feeling frisky, I’d even change out your backsplash for something more hand hune, maybe even stone. Let’s see. Is there anything on your backsplash right now? I don’t think so.
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I think it’s just painted. That is definitely a cool opportunity. You know, I’m always asking myself, what textures hasn’t she used? Haven’t used much glass, which is why I was thinking that chandelier could be the mixed metal with glass. But also, mirrors are an element of
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glass because you have that reflective quality. You can see yourself. You’ve got the stone in the countertops. I’m just thinking something maybe that looks a little hand tuned. Maybe even like a terracotta colored hand glazed subway tile. Oh my gosh. So classic. Yeah. Backsplash for sure.
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For sure. But other than that, I think you’re really on your way. I’m excited for you. This looks like a European cottage in the middle of Colorado. Keep going. Keep pushing it. Go back to those elements I was discussing. Bring in maybe even one or two more plants. I’m excited for you.
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And of course, you’ll keep me posted. Let me know how everything turns out. Let me know what elements you decided to lean into, Tanya. I can’t wait to hear it. Guys, what are you doing on your design journey? Let me know. Keep me posted. Now, after a long day of design,
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all you want to do is cuddle up on the couch and watch some Hulu. Am I right?
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Deep Dive into Hulu’s Death in Apartment 603
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If you’re a true crime lover like me, you do not want to miss Hulu’s newest drop, Death in Apartment 603: What Happened to Ellen Greenberg. Here’s the deal. Here’s a brief synopsis. It’s a three-part documentary series that I binged in one night about the death of a
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27-year-old Philadelphia school teacher whose name was Ellen Greenberg. She was found in her apartment on January 26th, 2011 with 20 stab wounds, including 10 on her back and her neck. Her death was originally ru ruled a homicide, but later reclassified as a suicide. And
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then the police department had her place cleaned, scrubbed from top to bottom so that there was no remaining evidence because it was ruled a suicide. But you don’t have to be very smart or even very educated to understand that it’s hard to commit suicide by stabbing
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yourself in the back. And that is what we had here. So the initial findings were that hold on I want to get like into it. Well, initially she was discovered by her fianceé, but the apartment was locked from the inside with a swing latch, which immediately makes it
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somewhat mysterious, right? The parents believed from the beginning that she did not commit suicide. While she had had some mental health challenges in the past, all the evidence, all the physical evidence, including the copious amounts of blood that were around the scene, not
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just where she laid, including the fact that, you know, most suicides by women are not happening with knives, and certainly they’re not stabbing themselves, you know, over 20 times in addition to having copious bruises. I mean, this was just such an obvious misclassification when they then ruled
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it a suicide and then hired a cleaning crew to clean it from top to bottom, scrubbing away any potential evidence. So, you know, there’s the mystery of how these stab wounds happened. There’s the mystery of how the apartment was secured from the inside. There’s a mystery of
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why this apartment was so meticulously cleaned, and why all evidence vanished, why it was so quickly deemed a homicide, then a suicide, that medical examiner flip-flop, if you will, and then her parents being steadfast advocates trying to get this case some exposure. Meanwhile, the fiance totally
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disappears, doesn’t say anything, even in response to this documentary, does not say anything, is working as a freelance senior producer in entertainment media. Uh, there’s just so much here. This is just barely scratching of the surface surface of everything that they get into. But like
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I said, I could not stop watching. It was late at night and I just kept going with all three of these episodes because it was that compelling, that captivating. I’ve been watching a lot of True Crime lately because there’s been so little Good TV. And I will say not many of them
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are podcast discussion worthy, which is why you haven’t heard me talk about them. This one definitely was. You don’t want to miss it. Head over to Hulu. I’d love to hear your theories, your thoughts. For me, there’s just too many uh fingers, too many loose ends that seem to all tie back to
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the fiance that have me thinking that this needs to be reevaluated in a major way. But certainly, it needs to no longer be ruled as suicide. All right, guys. That’s what I’m watching. That’s what I’m doing. I hope you guys are well. I hope you guys are tuning in to
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something fascinating. And if you are, head over to uploft.com/mpodcast and let me know what are you watching? What are you reading? What are you designing? Let’s keep the dialogue going. And until next week, bye everybody. A big thanks to our producer Jeremy Young and to Eton and the Embassy for
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our theme music. And shout out to our parent company, Uploft Interior Design, your trusted source for expert interior design. Visit uploft.com to explore our services and book a consultation with one of our talented designers. If you’re enjoying the Uploft Interior Design
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