All told, we sunk $ 58,000 into the cottage once we got it solely into our possession.
Not only did we want to make some permanent changes and upgrades, but we knew if we were going to list it as a vacation rental it needed to be remodeled. Personally, I could watch HGTV all day long and I figured somebody out there would also like to check out the changes we made. If you want the back story on how we acquired the cottage in the first place, click here.
We started with the nature of the space itself. There was a small first floor bedroom that should have been eliminated to make a bigger living room.
The extra bedroom off the living room, see the door
The wall is now gone 🙂
And now the living room looks like this;
You can see the new support beam, it was a load bearing wall 😦
We also took the weird parlor room and built a wall with a door to turn it into a first floor bedroom. The original cottage was only 2 rooms, a later addition was built that doubled the space but not really with good room flow in mind. These two changes seemed organic. Total Cost: $ 4,800 (needed a support beam).
The upstairs of the cottage is a semi-private open loft style area that sleeps 8 (4 beds) and has a half bath, we changed out the carpet and painted the walls.
Upstairs Before
This is what the upstairs looks like now; kids love the openness but its not exactly conducive to privacy.
We also laid down new hardwood floors throughout the main floor. I ended up getting the product for free because the company shipped two different tones of floor planks. It ended up looking nice enough that it feels like we opted for this on purpose. Score! New floors up and down plus painting, Total Cost: $ 7,600.
We did a total tear out of the main bathroom, opting for a tiled shower. This upgrade cost so much it inspired me to do some later work in the kitchen by myself.
Bathroom Before
Main Bathroom now; Total Cost: $ 11,500
We put in a microwave above the oven, painted the cabinets, changed the hardware, installed a new sink and new counter tops, and added a back splash. I ended up doing most of the work in the kitchen myself, it worked out to getting a new kitchen for $3,000.
Great idea to tear out the cabinets above the sink, now doing the dishes isn’t so bad because you can look at the lake while you work.
From That, to This;
Outside, we replaced all the windows, patio furniture, and put up all new vinyl siding. Total cost $ 19,000.
Outside back in the day
Outside now looks like this;
Kitchen Table view of the Lake
Lastly, we replaced all the beds, bedding, and most of the furniture, but now the cottage is on cruise control. It is being booked steadily, people love staying there and we have a few more upgrades up our sleeves.
Othala Fehu 