A Thank You from the Heart: My 2025 Cottages & Bungalows Brand Ambassador Farewell

There are seasons in life that quietly change you. Not with fireworks or fanfare, but with steady hands and a softened heart. This year was one of those seasons for me.

Being the 2025 Brand Ambassador for Cottages & Bungalows has been more than a title. It has been an honor I carried gently and with great intention. To share my series with you, A Cottage Life with Krystle... to be invited to share my home, my words, and my way of seeing beauty alongside a magazine I have loved for so long is something I will never take lightly.

But this year would not have been possible without you.

Every message, every comment, every time you lingered on a story or took the time to read a post... you made this season what it was. You welcomed me into your homes just as generously as you allowed me into yours. You encouraged me when rooms felt unfinished, when life felt layered, and when sharing quietly felt like the bravest thing to do.

I felt you here with me all year long.

Cheering. Watching. Noticing the small things. And because of that, this role never felt like something I carried alone.

This year held so much in between the pages.

A home built from the ground up. A family learning patience in the waiting. Rooms that came together slowly and sometimes imperfectly.

I shared projects, absolutely! But more than that, I shared the in between moments. The pauses. The gentle unfolding of a home becoming ours. And you met me there, again and again.

As this chapter comes to a close, I am so deeply grateful. Grateful for the team at Cottages & Bungalows who always trusted my voice. Kelly McMaster, the editorial director, for my last minute ideas that were always brought to life with a smile. Grateful for a community of readers who made space for slower stories. Grateful for the reminder that there is still room for homes that feel lived in, layered, and full of meaning.

I will miss this season more than I can properly put into words. I will miss showing up here in this way. And I will miss knowing you were reading along, cup of coffee nearby, noticing the details that matter most.

And while this is a farewell, it is not an ending.

As we step into 2026, my heart is pulling me toward something quieter. Less rushing from room to room. Less perfection. More settling in. More living inside the walls we worked so hard to build.

I want to share what it looks like to arrive.

To unpack not just boxes, but a season of becoming. To let our home unfold the same way life does... overlapping, layered, and lived in.

If you would like to continue walking with me into this next chapter, I would love to have you over on Instagram at @krystlemarienickels - That is where I will be sharing the slower moments, the small projects, and the beauty of truly settling into our new home.

Thank you, Cottages & Bungalows, for a year I will always hold close. And thank you, from the deepest part of my heart, for being here with me friend. And for taking the time to read this dear letter as we close this chapter together. Wishing you a very Happy New Year. Cheers to 2026, I can't wait to share it with you!

With all of my love, Krystle