whitney-new-photos.png

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.

Thoughts on Sustainability x Home Design

Thoughts on Sustainability x Home Design

In reading decor and design trend predictions for post-pandemic life, I noticed that the topic of sustainability is only touched upon in the context of product sourcing. 

The articles reference buying responsibly-crafted materials and furnishings, but rarely do they delve into the wider picture of what consumer trends (like having several walk-in pantries to contain an overflow of small appliances and plastic organizers, or having a dedicated entertainment room AND a dedicated gym AND a bedroom-sized closet) mean in terms of larger global impact. 

sustainability-interior-design-decor-small-space-living-1.jpg

As we await the permitting of our small ADU cottage on the prairie, I’ve been thinking a lot about this. 

(For folks inquiring about when we’ll post a home tour: well, we’ll post one when we have an actual house. And, hopefully, we’ll get to the French Farmhouse soon, and I’ll share plenty from there as well.) 

Some of the materials and concepts we’re putting into play in the cottage were chosen with sustainability at heart, while other decisions were made almost entirely with logistics, climate and constraints at the top of mind, at the seasoned recommendation of the GC. I’ll go into much greater detail and cover the process step-by-step once the construction begins, as I prefer to have more evolved visuals to accompany my words. But my hope is that the scale of our project is so small that any imperfect impact is minimal.  

sustainability-interior-design-decor-small-space-living-2.jpg

Our family is very, very eager to return to small space living (and documenting our experiences), but things like this take time, which is something that’s easy to forget in the age of instant gratification and the glossy home transformations we see on social media and on TV. Plus it’s simply a great deal to juggle in tandem with a newborn who has digestion difficulties, a four year old who is going through major lifestyle changes, and a small business. 

Thanks for being with us during the interim. We’ve learned so much about the value of multigenerational living (I’ll share more on that later as well), and I’ve really appreciated this transitional situation of ours during my 4th trimester.

sustainability-interior-design-decor-small-space-living-4.jpg
Replace 300+ Plastic Bottles with This

Replace 300+ Plastic Bottles with This

Some Items You Can Probably Go Without: Sustainable Swaps Edition

Some Items You Can Probably Go Without: Sustainable Swaps Edition