Bringing Modern Cottage Style to Chris Loves Julia’s Idaho Home

Products provided in partnership with Pella.

Chris and Julia Marcum, the home design experts behind the popular blog Chris Loves Julia, have beautifully transformed their modern cottage style home with the addition of new Reserve — Contemporary wood windows from Pella. Their renovation aimed to create inviting, comfortable spaces that blend beauty with functionality.

Chris and Julia's home features wood windows and patio doors, chosen for their timeless appeal and customizable options. The couple worked closely with our Pella of Idaho team to select wood windows that are customized to fit both their design and lifestyle needs. Unlike other materials, wood products offer the most customizability, allowing for custom sizes and intricate grille patterns, ensuring every detail matches the bloggers’ vision. From the French doors that line their dining room to the charming modern cottage breakfast nook, black wood windows and doors add a sophisticated touch to each room.

Modern cottage style combines traditional elements such as arched doorways and vintage fixtures with contemporary touches like moody paint colors, layered patterns and various wall textures. Julia describes it as a "family-friendly design that's casual and approachable," balancing timeless charm with trendy details. This style allows for personalization, making it more about creating a warm, welcoming atmosphere than adhering to a strict set of rules.

“For us, it’s the perfect balance between timeless and trendy and a design aesthetic we can live with for a long time,” Julia says. “The best thing about modern cottage style is that it's an aesthetic you can truly make your own. It’s more about a warm, welcoming feel than it is about a specific list of features, so you can make it very personal. If you love it, it works.”

For Julia, windows are like living art. They frame the ever-changing beauty of Idaho’s seasons, offering a dynamic element to the home's interior. "I'll take a window over a painting every time," Julia says. The focal point of their living room, a custom-made modern arch window from Pella Reserve, perfectly captures this philosophy. Initially, a fireplace obstructed their view of the beautiful backyard but replacing it with a large window allows Chris and Julia to fully appreciate the scenery from inside. Incorporating arches throughout the home, the Marcums achieved a cohesive look that ties together the traditional and modern elements of their design. Julia believes that repeating design elements, like arches, is a simple way to create harmony from room to room.

Throughout the house, the couple carefully selected windows and doors that would further their design vision while providing practical functionality. In the primary bathroom, we recommended a Pella Impervia fiberglass picture window with obscure glass. Placed in the shower, this window provides privacy while allowing natural light to fill the space, creating a bright and serene environment. While wood products were used everywhere else in the home, we recommended deviating from this material in the shower. Instead, we suggested durable fiberglass material which ensures longevity and resistance to moisture, making it an ideal choice for a bathroom window.

Adding a bedroom patio door was another key element of their renovation. The hinged door not only enhances the room's aesthetic but also provides easy access to the outdoors, further blending the indoor and outdoor living spaces. From waking with the sunrise to enjoying the sunset before bed, this door is perfect for unwinding and enjoying Idaho's beautiful landscapes and weather.

To keep their budget in check, the Marcums opted to replace all the windows in their home in two phases: first along the back of the house and then along the front. They were impressed with the smooth installation process, which took our team just a few days to complete. We delivered and stored all the windows and doors in their garage, ensuring a quick and seamless project. This minimized the amount of time their home was exposed to the Idaho elements and allowed them to start enjoying the new windows and doors as quickly as possible.

The finished result exceeded their expectations, perfectly encapsulating their vision for a modern cottage home. "Love where you live," Julia says, and for Chris and Julia, their renovated home in Idaho is a place they truly adore.