An empty nester finds a second act rehabilitating beach cottages on Tybee Island and also turns her skills toward renovating and styling a colorful cottage of her own.

BY AUTUMN KRAUSE I PHOTOGRAPHY BY MARK LOHMAN STYLING BY JANE COSLICK AND SUNDAY HENDRICKSON

COSLICK COLORS. Jane Coslick’s use of color in her designs is unparalleled and so sought-after that she’s created a line of paints for homeowners who want to mimic her look. When using color in her cottage, she is extremely intuitive. “I use color to create interest, and I’m able to visualize where that needs to be,” she says. For her cottage, she had several cabinets painted different shades of turquoise and teal. She says, “They are all slightly different and work together.”

|ABOVE LEFT| NAMED AND KNOWN. Endearingly, cottages on Tybee Island are usually named. “I work with my clients to come up with suitable names,” Jane says. “I chose ‘99 Steps to the Beach’ for ours because it really is located only 99 steps from the shore.”

One day, an empty nester named Jane McGee Coslick  came across a funky beach house nestled close to the sand dunes and ocean on Tybee Island, Georgia. It was tiny—only 670 square feet—but was full of charming possibilities. Jane, who has been a designer since the late 1980s, set to restoring the cottage and, as she did, a spark was ignited in her. She launched her business, Jane Coslick Designs and Restorations, and she’s become an integral part of preserving Tybee Island’s historic architecture, one beach cottage at a time. “I have restored over 85 cottages on Tybee Island,” Jane says. “It’s a magical place.”