{"id":7668,"date":"2016-09-21T18:06:04","date_gmt":"2016-09-22T01:06:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lesliedinaberg.com\/wordpress\/?p=7668"},"modified":"2016-09-21T12:07:48","modified_gmt":"2016-09-21T19:07:48","slug":"welcome-to-jennabunkport","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lesliedinaberg.com\/wordpress\/?p=7668","title":{"rendered":"Welcome to Jennabunkport"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Writer

Writer Jenna McCarthy shows off her She Shack, Jennabunkport. Photo by Jenna McCarthy.<\/p><\/div>\n

Writer Jenna McCarthy\u2019s she shack is 140 square feet of home office heaven.<\/h4>\n

By\u00a0Leslie Dinaberg<\/a><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

Living\u2014and working\u2014<\/span>in a 100-year-old farmhouse certainly has its charms, but as her children grew bigger and houseguests came and went, writer Jenna McCarthy<\/a> (Everything’s Relative<\/a>, The Parent Trip<\/a>, Lola Knows a Lot<\/a><\/i>) longed for, as Virginia Woolf <\/a>once wrote,”a room of one’s own.”<\/p>\n

“I longed for a space that was all mine, somewhere I could sneak away to and write in peace, somewhere my kids wouldn’t be barging in every four minutes asking me if I know where their sparkly pink headband is or wanting me to referee such life-or-death arguments as ‘whose turn is it to hold the remote control,'” says McCarthy.<\/p>\n

\"Author

Author Jenna McCarthy is right at home in Jennabunkport, her writer’s cottage. Courtesy photo.<\/p><\/div>\n

When her husband, Joe Coito<\/a>, suggested she needed a writer’s cabin, McCarthy was online looking at sheds in a heartbeat. Both spouses know their way around a tool belt\u2014they once flipped a house on the TV Show Property Ladder<\/a>\u2014<\/i>so when McCarthy couldn’t find the perfect ready-made shed, they bought plans online and built it themselves. “We were able to do things like buy a reclaimed door and modify the plans to make it fit. We copied the siding and trim of our house so it would look as if my little shed had been on the property all along.”<\/p>\n

Her husband built her a desk, and her daughters helped with painting, sanding and hammering. “My mother’s day present this year was a coat of primer,” she laughs.<\/p>\n

The inside is warm, cozy, bright and filled with things that bring joy and inspiration, like the six-foot giant octopus they made from a canvas curtain.<\/p>\n

\"Author

Author Jenna McCarthy’s daughter Sasha, with Syd the giant octopus that graces Jennabunkport. Courtesy photo.<\/p><\/div>\n

“We christened her Syd, and she’s one of my favorite pieces in Jennabunkport<\/a>, the name we chose for my shed, because, yes, we name everything,” says McCarthy.<\/p>\n

“I’ve always considered myself fortunate that I get to do what I love to do all day with my family\u00eds enthusiastic support. Now I get to do it in my own little paradise, one that is far more than an office; it’s a 140-square-foot reminder of how lucky and loved I am. And it’s all mine.”<\/p>\n

\"Another

Another view of the interior of Jenna McCarthy’s office, Jennabunkport. Courtesy photo.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"This

This inspirational message graces the wall of author Jenna McCarthy’s she shack, Jennabunkport. Courtesy photo.<\/p><\/div>\n

This story was originally published in the Fall\u00a02016 issue of Santa Barbara Seasons Magazine<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n

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