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Welcome to the Cottage.

The Tiny Canal Cottage is a resource for helping folks mindfully conceptualize, decorate and enjoy versatile + smaller home spaces. Founded by designer, consultant, stylist, creative director and author, Whitney Leigh Morris, this family-owned small business recently finished the construction of a new, compact cottage and greenhouse-office in the southeastern US, and are also restoring a little 1800s French farmhouse and its outbuildings with co-stewards. Morris’ focus is crafting flexible, sustainable, and more community-focused home spaces. Explore Whitney’s book, blog, and social channels for years of tips and tales from living and working in — and with — a smaller footprint.

Space-Saving Helmet for Safer Cycling

Space-Saving Helmet for Safer Cycling

Post Summary: A simple step towards saving our heads, saving some space, and saving the planet.  

More than 1/3 of all car trips in America are within 2 miles. If folks who are able to do so opt to walk, use public transportation, and/or bike instead, this 10% decrease in driving would prevent about 110 million metric tons of carbon dioxide from entering our atmosphere.  (Source: NY Times)

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Since finding my confidence in my 30s (especially since becoming a parent), I’m happy to be that person who is always showing up (online and in person) wearing her bike helmet. So much so that I reached out to Closca to ask if they’d be interested in working with me to spread the word about  their space-saving + head-saving “foldable” helmet. 

In my book, Small Space Style, there’s an entire section about ways to conserve space when storing sporting equipment. Needless to say I wish I’d known about the Closca when writing it.

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As someone who gets around almost exclusively by bike (and as someone who has been struck by cars while doing so), here’s why I like the Closca helmet and wanted to share it:  

  • Its unique, collapsible design reduces its size by 55% in mere seconds, making it easy to tote AND easy to store in a small home or apartment. 

  • It offers essential protection and won’t fold while being worn, and it complies with the strict safety standards in Europe, Asia, USA & Canada. 

  • It’s designed to work with Interchangeable visors, so you can swap between a reflective band for increased visibility, or a knit visor in cold weather.  

  • It has a subtle ventilation system, which I appreciate because biking with this messy mane of mine gets hot in the SoCal sun.

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Here’s to taking smart, simple steps to save our heads, save some space, and save the planet.  

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Note: This blog post was not sponsored, but the corresponding Instagram post was a paid partnership.

An Earth-Minded Weighted Blanket for Anxiety & Sleep Troubles

An Earth-Minded Weighted Blanket for Anxiety & Sleep Troubles

UPDATE: Repurposing & Recycling Leftover Paint

UPDATE: Repurposing & Recycling Leftover Paint