Category: all things renovation
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Why Is The Guest Cottage So Much More Fun To Design Than Any Other House Ever?????
Y’all. I don’t know how to describe it, but the design of this house is FLOWING out of me. My ideas are coming fast, and they are so fun, and I can barely contain my excitement. The other weekend, our kids were gone all day, and Brian was watching college football, so I tucked myself…
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The Guest Cottage – What Do We Do With The Sliding Train Rack Door??
Today is a great example of why I love this blog so much – you have really good ideas, from experiences and locations I just don’t have. Today’s example is all about how to deal with the vintage sliding door on the guest cottage – a feature that we love in theory, but wouldn’t be…
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We Demo’d The Guest Cottage Ourselves – Here’s How It Went
Well, that was fun. The DIY demo of the guest cottage was set for a random morning recently, and Brian and I had enlisted the help of my brother, Ken, who was “born to demolish” (my parents will agree). I had never done anything like this before and frankly thought I would take to it…
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Guest Cottage Update – How Do You Design A House If You Don’t Know How You’ll Use It????
You guys. I’m having so much fun with the design of this house (our guest cottage). We don’t even know what it will be used for, but I do have some ideas on future function, which are informing our decisions. So if you want inside my brain (not sure I’d recommend it), here is what…
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All The Kohler Faucets We Used In My Brother’s River House
One of my biggest goals around my first “new build” was ensuring that it didn’t look “builder grade,” especially since my brother wanted it to be visually simple and not “fancy.” If we didn’t customize the finishes to the exact right amount, it could look basic, but too much could look overly designed (for what…
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Our Guest Cottage Update: How Much Will The Foundation Repair Cost???
Happy national “Reveal Your Foundation Repair cost” day. Brian advised against “cost honesty” (because he is my ultimate protector, which I appreciate), but I’m going to share some real numbers, similar to the asbestos and lead removal quotes (thanks for the feedback there). My hope is that these numbers can provide educational information for others…
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A Genius New Design Product: Introducing Quilt Mini Split
Every few years, a product explodes into the marketplace, and you can only say “finally” with equal parts relief and enthusiasm. Quilt is that for me this year. Mini-splits are famously huge and bulky, look like plastic, and are such an eyesore (and impossible to disguise, especially in an older style home!). Quilt not only…
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How Much Will It Cost To Remove Asbestos And Lead Paint From Our Guest Cottage (+ What I’m Willing To Do Myself To Save Money)
OK, lead and asbestos info coming at you – and before you click away, I know this stuff might sound boring, but it’s actually riveting because I can see all the dollars we are saving. I’m GIDDY. In past gut renovations, I would have just relied on our professional contractor to hire the experts to…
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How Big Is The Guest Cottage? All The Dimensions And Floor Plans For Us To Geek Out Over
I honestly had no idea what the square footage was of our 1850s guest cottage on the property. My guess was around 2k, so I was super eager to find out how close I was. Gretchen did us a solid and took ALLL the measurements, and while it isn’t perfect and I wouldn’t hand it…
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How To Choose Paint Colors That Are Happy But Not Too Bold – The Full River House Paint Color Palette
If you like big macro “how the sausage is made” posts, this one is for you. The art direction of this house was pretty clear from the get-go, four years ago. The intent was to create a warm, contemporary home that was family-friendly. It’s similar to the mountain house, but with more color. When you…