How I Created My Cozy Kitchen Corner

Olivia Scott
Sep 21, 2025
6 min read

Over the years I have intentionally weeded the word “should” out of my vocabulary, but today I’m making an exception because this newsletter should have been sent out years ago.

That said, I believe that we all have our own timeline; things show up for us and ideas come to us when we’re ready. Today I am ready.

A long overdue sneak peek into my home! Plus, a detailed rundown of how I created the cozy corner in my new kitchen.

Before we dive in, I want to call out what’s held me back for so long in case it resonates with you, or helps you notice where you might be holding yourself back in life.

I love the process of envisioning a space, holding that vision, and bringing it to life. Content creation on the other hand, stinks.
I love creating cozy, functional spaces with thrifted finds. Photography is not my zone of genius.
And from that, I’ve carried a fear that my photography won’t do my work justice and everything will fall flat as a result. Part of that likely stemmed from my interior design school instructor hammering in the importance of a professional portfolio. But on this day, two years out of design school, I am ready to own that I’m not a traditional designer, so I don’t need to do it the traditional way. And damn does that feel good.

Where the journey began.

A dining room with table and chairs, the emphasis on blank white walls with boxes, artwork and lamps stacked below showing a recent move. — The not so cozy, cozy kitchen corner on July 5, 2025, just one sleep after moving.

When we toured this house, the current tenants had a couch in this corner. I liked that idea; somewhere cozy to curl up with coffee and my journal, or lose myself in a good book. BUT, I also wasn’t sure we needed so many sitting spaces. And while few things delight my heart more than to design a beautiful space, function always takes stage. So, I vowed to live with the empty space and allow for the function of it to reveal itself with time.

A few weeks later, my family came into town. Someone got the guest bed, while the other was left to share the living room couch with Chester, my very lounge-y Golden Retriever who has unquestionably claimed the couch for himself.

That visit brought clarity: We needed another sleeping option. Thus the hunt for a sleeper sofa began. Here were my criteria:

I wanted grandma vibes, but the right grandma vibes. If this is a new style to you, just jump on Pinterest and search Grandma Core.
It of course needed to be comfortable and feel cozy year round.
It needed to be a full (not queen) due to the measurements of my space.
The colors needed to work with the artwork that I’d already set aside for the space + the colors of my kitchen, especially since I have open kitchen shelving.
The price needed to be right, since it’s quite possible we’ll use it in this home, then resell it when we move again.
And of course, it needed to be in good condition.

Enter my perfect grandma couch.

A blue and white gingham print sleeper sofa airs out on a covered porch with a wood shingle background. — Airing out the sleeper sofa on my porch. While clean as can be, it definitely came with a heavy dose of grandma perfume. After a week of fresh air, sunshine, many baking soda treatments, and frequent vinegar mists, it was ready to come inside.

Then this beauty popped up on my Marketplace feed. I was instantly obsessed. Talk about the right grandma vibes, I couldn’t get enough of the gingham. Plus, I had already decided that blue and green were my go to colors in making this house home. Primarily because there is an over abundance of warm wood tones that desperately need cooling + balance.

I messaged the owner of the sleeper sofa. Nothing. She didn’t even open the message.

So I cautiously began making offers on other sleeper sofas I liked. But when I really tuned into my truth, the feelings within my gut, none of those sleeper sofas were just right. Which means I inevitably I sent multiple awkward, but polite messages to thank folks for their time, let them know I had changed my mind, and wish them a lovely day.

Then something nudged me to message the gingham sleeper sofa gal again. Nothing.

Until one day, a week or so after my second message, she got back to me! And thus my husband and I pivoted our Friday night date to go pick up a grandma couch.

A wood table with Thai fried rice, two veggie rolls, a veggie stir fry, a peanut sauce in a to-go container and a light beer. — Thai Carnation Food Hall; a new space east of I-205 on NE Glisan in PDX

After getting the couch inside, I once again stepped back and allowed the vision to come to me in its own time.

Pro Tip: The more patient you can be in creating spaces, the more functional, authentic, and aesthetic they’ll be.

After a few days I felt comfortable enough to hang the art.

Then I moved over my African milk tree.

From there I explored tables. The space was too small for side tables. Functional or not, they would have looked like clutter in such an open space that already had a lot going on. I desperately wanted a coffee table; we didn’t have space for one in our old house, nor the living room of this house, however I was worried a coffee table would impede on the dining space, inhibiting movement and flow.

The blue and white gingham sofa is inside. There are three pieces of art hung above and a cactus to the right. There is a bench with two books and a candle in front of the sofa. — Playing with the concept of a coffee table using the dining table bench.

Then came the idea! I grabbed the bench from the dining table to get an idea of what a coffee table would look and feel like.

SOLD.

Yes, that now meant we had less seating at the table, however, we own quality wood folding chairs. And if I decide that I must own more dining chairs, I purchased ours on Facebook Marketplace. They’re originally from Target, and I am 100% confident that if I keep my eyes, out I could find two more to match.

Bringing it all together.

The blue and white gingham print sleeper sofa is inside on the same white wall that originally had moving items. There are three pieces art above it and a cactus to the right. There is a bench in front with books and a vase of flowers. There is a small white area rug under the bench. — The “complete” space as of September 9, 2025. Although no space is ever “complete” in my world. Keep reading for ideas to come.

Now, all the space needed was some cohesion, something to bring it all together and ground it as its own space.

Enter the rug.

Rugs work wonders y’all. Their inherent job is to distinguish spaces and bring individual pieces together. Mission accomplished. Plus, I happened to find this rug in my guest room.

Pro Tip: Always shop your own home whenever possible. I have complete faith that I’ll serendipitously fall in love with another rug for the guest room at a later date.

After the rug, I shopped my bookshelf for a few coffee table reads, cut some flowers from the neighborhood hell strip and called this simple cozy corner complete.

A break down of this look: where I shopped and what I paid.

Since moving into this house:

Couch | Facebook Marketplace | $100

TOTAL: $100

Over the years:

Bench turned Coffee Table | A gift handmade by my father-in-law

Watercolor block painting | Etsy (shop no longer exists) | $85

Wool rug | IKEA | $59.99

Landscape oil painting | House of Vintage in Vancouver, Washington | $275

Framed dragonfly wood carving | Stonewaters in Canmore, Alberta | Wedding gift

African Milk Tree | An Airbnb in Burlington, VT circa 2017 | Gifted

Flower vase | A friend’s wedding | Gifted

This is Home by Natalie Walton | Ebay | $18

Vintage green book | Belongs to my husband circa me | Unknown

TOTAL: $537.99

My long term vision.

An expanded view of the sitting space that includes the dog bowls, food storage container and my golden retriever, all to the left of the sleeper sofa. You can see the corner of the dining room table on the right side of the photo. The floors are hardwood and there is an exposed wood beam separating the sitting room and dining room from where the dog is. — A more expanded view of my space.

Lighting. This house has track lighting, and if you’re not familiar, track lighting totally sucks. Not only is it ugly, it's blinding and it doesn’t distribute light well despite what you may think. It’s not cozy either.

However, it just so happens that I have a mild obsession with lamps. I'm envisioning a battery operated wall sconce to the left of the block art. If you aren’t familiar with battery operated lamps, they are a game changer. Especially for folks like me who love to dance items around the house on a weekly, if not daily, basis. I could also potentially be swayed to go with a plug in sconce, however at the time I’m not feeling too keen on having a cord that adds unneeded visual clutter. A floor lamp would also add clutter.

Dog food storage. Our current container functions great, however I really don’t love that it’s made of plastic, and it isn’t overly pleasing to the eye. It could certainly be worse, but it could also be a whole lot better. I’m envisioning a vintage stoneware crock. I’ve already measured, an 8 gallon would be perfect. And with a wood lid, because the stone lids are heavy. I found one on Marketplace a few

months ago, but I slept on it too long and someone had just come to pick it up when I reached out.

Dining Rug. Which, I actually bought since taking these photos!

Throw pillows, maybe. Honestly, the couch is pretty comfy as is. But some down throw pillows in an off-white muslin cotton could be extra cozy.

Two final notes.

This newsletter is long, just as the journey of creating spaces can be. So if you’ve made it here, thank you. It also has me reconsidering my earlier statement about content creation sucking — I have to confess, I had fun putting this together for you!

So with that, if you enjoyed it and would like to see more newsletters like this one, please reply and let me know, or leave a comment below.

In the meantime, please take care of yourself and those around you. Invest your time and energy into your personal community, and lean into what brings you joy.

With love and light,