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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.

More Than a Greenhouse

More Than a Greenhouse

Summary: How 114 square feet -- and the kindness surrounding it -- made me feel safer in an uncertain time. (Thoughts on Giving Tuesday and supporting The RightWay Foundation)

We constructed our 114 square-foot greenhouse two and a half years ago. Despite the structure’s small size and the fact that it’s not connected to water or electric, it still needed to jump through the hoops of permitting, as it’s located in a preserved natural + wildlife area with high wind and flood risks. For this reason, we wouldn’t risk erecting the greenhouse on our own. We needed a professional who was familiar with odd building projects as well as the climate of the region. 

No one wanted to take on the job. We were told it was too small and too strange. If anyone was going to consider it, it was going to cost us… a lot. Even if we weren’t already in the process of building our little home (which is technically a guest cottage), as well as renovating the Farmhouse we bought with our friends, the quotes were FAR out of the reach of my company. (I actually screamed when I read the first one: $21,000.)

Gift Guide

Gift Guide

Staying Rightsized (Part 5)

Staying Rightsized (Part 5)