French Country Meets Nantucket!

You will truly be inspired by this French Country home! Terri was kind enough to share photos of her beautiful home with us. I think you'll agree that she has truly transformed her home into a place of true relaxation and rest.

A perfect blend of French Country and Nantucket Style, all wrapped up in one. Terri's use of color is fantastic, and her ability to add all the things she loves without looking too cluttered. She has the perfect blend of colors, cottage white, and inviting rooms, that make you want to sit down and stay a while. Terri is truly a great decorator, and her love for her home is so evident.

So now let's see more and hear about this fantastic lady and her french inspired cottage style home. Enjoy the slide show below featuring over 40 images of Terri's Texan cottage house. Then read her story and get to know a little bit more about her.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

For 44 years, my husband and two children and I lived in the cold snowy hills of the Allegheny mountains in a small oil town called Oil City in Pennsylvania. My husband worked in the oil business and I taught sixth grade in a local public school.

With a job opportunity too good to pass up offered to my husband in 1995, we waved goodbye to small town USA and headed off to Houston, Texas. We settled in The Woodlands, Texas sixteen years ago this month where we have come to love the southern hospitality and the tropical weather. How can one not be renewed everyday when everything is always green and the skies are the bluest I have ever seen?

I continued to teach until two years ago ( my 28th year) when my son and his wife blessed us with twins--Mike and Maddie. I retired the next day!!! Well, at least in my mind! I was able to make it to the end of the school year!

For the past two years, I have been taught how to “slow down and live again” through the eyes and antics of these beautiful toddlers.

We feel very blessed that our own two children graduated high school and college here in Texas, found their soul mates, married, and now live within five miles of us. Family is the most important part of living to me!

But, I can’t talk about family without mentioning my two Shih Tzu Dogs, "Soo Che" and "Chynna Dahl". They are both senior citizens, but the best dogs ever. They keep me company as I discuss interior decorating tips with them and are always eager to lend a paw with demolition and painting! They especially like the finished project when they can cuddle up and fall asleep on the new furniture!!!

Now that the college bills and wedding bills are paid, I have been spending my time, money, and energy on transforming a very colonial home into a colorful cottage.

I like to think of my style as “French Country meets Nantucket.” I am drawn to the white beaded boards, wainscotings, and crown moldings that give that great architectural beach style detail, but then love to throw in a few sunflowers, hydrangeas, and roosters to add the French Country style.

I love cruising through internet blogging sites to get cottage ideas and can’t wait for the next cottage style home magazine to arrive on the grocery store shelves. I drive my husband nuts with my constant “I want to do this next” ideas, but just love seeing the ideas turn into rooms in my house.

My dream is to one day own a small cottage by a beach and spend my days listening to the waves and reading books, oh, and redecorating, of course. I just wish we didn’t have to worry about those hurricanes!