Sara McDaniel has spent years restoring pieces of Minden’s past. Now, the story of how restoring one neglected cottage paralleled the rebuilding of her own life is becoming a book.
McDaniel, founder of Simply Southern Cottage, will release her first book, The Bright Side of the Other Side: Notes from a Soul Restored, on October 13 through W Publishing, an imprint of Thomas Nelson. The book is the first in a two-book deal.
McDaniel and her husband, photographer Hector Sanchez, will celebrate their recent publishing projects with a joint book signing from 10 AM to 2 PM Saturday, October 17, at Purvéy in Minden.
Part memoir, part testimony, and part invitation to hope, The Bright Side of the Other Side chronicles McDaniel’s journey through divorce, disappointment, career ambition, entrepreneurship, faith, and restoration. At the center of the story is the 1926 Minden cottage whose renovation launched Simply Southern Cottage and eventually helped McDaniel build a social media audience of more than 2 million followers across multiple platforms.
When McDaniel began renovating the cottage, however, she said she did not immediately recognize the connection between restoring the house and rebuilding her own life.
“When I set out to renovate my cottage, I didn’t immediately see the restoration parallels. But it started happening naturally,” McDaniel said. “I realized how renovating an old home carried much of the same principles as renovating my life. You have to start with the foundation and work your way up, stripping away the rot and the ruin to make way for something beautiful and new.”
That restoration became the beginning of something much larger. McDaniel has since taken on numerous preservation projects in Minden, transforming neglected historic properties and helping bring new activity to portions of the city’s historic district.
Her personal journey was also one of rebuilding. McDaniel writes candidly in the book about disappointment, unanswered prayers, and plans that did not unfold as she expected. She said her understanding of God’s faithfulness changed as she moved further from the pain.
“As I got further from the pain and more into healing, the Lord slowly started revealing his glory. I would find nuggets of him in the small things as well as the big things,” McDaniel said. “I truly started to see that he had to ‘take me through it’ to ‘get me to it.’ I held onto Ephesians 3:20 and watched his glory unfold.”
Restoration — of homes and people — became a central theme of the book and McDaniel’s work.
“So many people comment that the restoration projects I complete ‘should have been torn down.’ They also say it would have been cheaper to ‘build new,’” McDaniel said. “And it brings me SO much satisfaction to revive what others see as worthless and a teardown.”
For McDaniel, the lesson extends beyond buildings.
“This is applicable to people as well as places. There is ALWAYS hope,” she said. “It often takes an immense amount of work, but reviving these structures gives us a visual depiction that places, AND people are worth saving.”
For those facing an unexpected new beginning later in life, McDaniel said it is never too late to begin another chapter.
“It’s very cliché to say, but it is NEVER too late,” McDaniel said. “There are countless examples of notable figures who started late or even after terrible devastation to go on to lead glorious, fulfilling and meaningful lives. We may never understand WHY on this side of heaven, but I have faith that the timing is always perfect and that the Lord leads us from the fire and refines us, bringing about the greatest amount of glory.”
McDaniel’s belief in restoration has also shaped her approach to historic preservation in Minden. She said preserving old structures allows communities to preserve the stories attached to them.
“Restoration and our stories matter so much because it’s essential we lead the charge for those who will come after us,” McDaniel said. “Inevitably, others will walk in our shoes, and when we’ve walked out of the fire carrying buckets of water, they see themselves in our stories, and it encourages them to push through also.”
“In regards to properties, once a structure is lost, oftentimes the stories will be buried with it,” she continued. “It’s essential that we preserve our historic structures so that we can continue to learn from those who have walked before us.”
The book arrives as McDaniel begins another chapter personally. She recently married Sanchez, an interiors and lifestyle photographer whose work has appeared in national design publications.
Sanchez is the photographer for Past Forward: Reviving an Old Southern House with Collections, Antiques, and Passion, a new Rizzoli book by Barbara Adkins, with a foreword by architect Bobby McAlpine and text by Susan Sully. The book documents Adkins’ restoration and stewardship of her family’s 19th-century Greek Revival home in Harpersville, Alabama, along with its gardens, antiques, and collections.
The couple’s respective projects will come together at the October 17 signing at Purvéy, where both McDaniel and Sanchez will sign their books.
For McDaniel, the title The Bright Side of the Other Side reflects a perspective she could not imagine when she was in the midst of the experiences she now writes about.
“Oh gosh… when I was in the thick of my trials, I was CERTAIN my life was over. I thought there was NO WAY I would ever be happy again,” McDaniel said. “Now, looking back, as hard as my journey was, I wouldn’t trade a minute of it for the incredible adventure the last 15 years has been. It was horrible in the moment, but the victory is now so much sweeter.”