Lisa Murray and husband Craig Hinkley thought the low point of their Los Gatos home remodeling project had come and gone. In the span of one week, Murray tripped over broken flagstone, wrenching her knee and forcing her to use a cane to walk; Millie the family boxer took a nail to the paw; 13-year-old daughter Madison encountered some poison oak; and 11-year-old son Cal ended up in the emergency room when, in a rush to diving practice, he spilled a hot cup of noodles in his lap.

What they realize now is that their mayhem has just begun. This family of four — an artistic, perfectionist mother; a “Tasmanian devil” son; a bookish daughter; and a workaholic father who snores — plan to move into a tiny cottage less than one-tenth the size of their 3,800-square-foot house during construction. Their hyperactive dog who makes everyone insane is moving in, too, of course.

And the family has agreed to let Lookiloos and the Mercury News chronicle every turn — from the choices Murray makes for kitchen counters to the emotional outbursts over construction delays — with photos, stories, videos and blogging.

Construction so far has only spiffed up the 360-square-foot cottage they plan to move into on the back of their Los Gatos property. (The cottage project was supposed to take four to six weeks but is barely finished after nearly four months.) Work has yet to begin on the main house on the property they purchased almost a year ago.

The house is supposed to take at least a year to complete.

“My brother and I don’t get along in that house,” Madison said looking over at the main house. “I don’t know how we’re going to manage in that one,” she said of the cottage.

“From here,” Hinkley added, “it only gets crazier.”

The fact that Murray refers to it as the “Fairy Tale Cottage” or the “Honeymoon Cottage” is tempting fate. “It’s a train wreck,” she admitted.

Not that this family story doesn’t include romance. Murray, from Vancouver, met her husband while studying in Australia. She was artsy. He was brainy.

“Craig sat behind me in philosophy class and wiggled his eyebrows at me,” she said. “He thought I was a foreign, exotic beauty,” she laughed. “Right! From Canada, so exotic!”

He proposed within a month of their first date. They married and began hopscotching the United States following Hinkley’s career in computers, from Walnut Creek, to Seattle, to Charlotte, N.C., then back to Seattle before settling in Los Gatos a year ago.

Moving every two or three years, Murray took on the task of remodeling and decorating their homes. Each was more stylish, trendy and experimental than the last, from a painted aviary mural in the master bedroom with Moroccan lanterns in one house, to a huge, purple silk Indonesian umbrella in her daughter’s room in another. (While some of her decor may be considered fanciful and wild, she still gravitates to the classics. In her current outdated kitchen — cream-colored tile counters with brown grout and all — breakfast is served around a white oval Saarinen table and bright orange Asian-style chairs from West Elm with fretwork backs.)

When Hinkley was offered an executive position at Cisco Systems last year, they made what they hope will be their last move for a least a decade while the children get through their school years. They started the search for a fixer-upper and found one on a tree-covered acre in Los Gatos, with a seasonal creek running at the back of the lot. The two-story house that sloped down the hillside had a large footprint, but didn’t function well. With the clapboard cottage on the property for visiting in-laws and an art studio for Murray, the property was exactly what they were looking for.

“We loved the potential,” Murray said.

And so began the design process, with work on the cottage starting March 1. Murray is nothing if not adventurous, and while she designed the exterior as a French cottage with blue shutters and geranium-filled window boxes, the inside is “modern French provincial with a retro element.” Glossy red cabinets for the kitchen are from Ikea. Glass bathroom tiles that feature 1940s sailor tattoo designs, including pinup girls, were found on a Web site, www.modwalls.com. A Lucite deer head sits in a crate waiting to be mounted.

“I’m going eclectic,” she said, “with a light circus feel.”

For Mother’s Day, she asked her husband and children to help sand and pickle beams for the vaulted ceiling in the cottage’s living room. Their boxer, Millie, barked through the entire project.

“She didn’t understand what was going on,” daughter Madison said.

“Trust me, neither did I,” Hinkley said. “But I wasn’t barking.”

The family may make the move, with Millie, to the cottage as early as August, but already Murray is bracing for more delays. And Hinkley, who snores each night and gets up before dawn each day, is anticipating spending a few nights in the toolshed.

Join Lookiloos and the Mercury News as we follow the family of Lisa Murray and Craig Hinkley on their remodeling adventure — providing practical tips and local resources along the way — and find out whether this project will be a “train wreck” or have a “fairy tale” ending.