Text by Karen Callaway
A mother fondly finishes a cottage renovation in honor of her late son.
Several years ago, Lana Swatek and her son, Chace, began renovating a small house that was brimming with potential. Chace passed away unexpectedly before they completed the project, but Lana honored his memory by finishing the house just as he would have wanted. “Designing this cottage was joy mixed with sadness,” Lana explains. “I knew his heart and his vision, which guided me to finish it in ‘happy-cottage-rustic’ style.”
Lana has always dabbled in design, so she turned to some of her tried-and-true sources to find furnishings for the house. The red, green, and beige quilt that is draped over the living room sofa inspired the color scheme in the room—one of Lana’s favorite spaces. An avid collector, Lana says that “art is what makes a house a home,” so she has hung a carefully chosen mix in every room, from muted oil paintings to vibrant contemporary pieces to the wonderful iron panel in the master bedroom echoing the inset detail on the bed.
