Transforming a dark log cabin into “The Beach Chalet”

Transforming a dark log cabin into “The Beach Chalet”

You might say that I am an accidental log home owner.  I certainly wasn’t in the market for a one.  It wasn’t even on my radar.  But when the ideal property at the right price turned up during my search for a beach home, I 

Designing for short term rental

Designing for short term rental

The cost of owning a vacation home is significant.  Property taxes, utilities, insurance and maintenance all add up to a hefty price tag.  While we love our vacation home, we can’t use it all the time so thought we could cover some of the costs 

Contemporary Kitchen Remodel – Before and After

Contemporary Kitchen Remodel – Before and After

The kitchen was dark, north facing and cramped. The layout was choppy and non-functional. For this family who love to entertain, it wasn’t cutting the mustard.  They brought me in to help them realize their vision of a bright, sleek and highly organized contemporary kitchen. 

Did you know that shiplap isn’t actually shiplap?

Did you know that shiplap isn’t actually shiplap?

So I admit that I am addicted to HGTV.  And what seems to be most popular?  Shiplap.  For those of you who don’t have the same addiction, here’s what it looks like: Shiplap is the horizontal wood covering on the walls in place of drywall. 

Renovating a cottage bathroom in only four days

Renovating a cottage bathroom in only four days

At the cottage we relax our city standards.  One bathroom?  No problem for 10 people to share.  Plus there is always the second bathroom, aka the outhouse, if things get desperate.  Rules are put in place such as: 1) Please ask if anyone needs the 

Renovating the cottage, version 2.0

Renovating the cottage, version 2.0

We bought our second cottage last summer after selling one that we’d owned for 12 years.  And which we renovated over 12 long years.  So for this new cottage, we were hoping to speed up renovations significantly which would mean that we could enjoy our 

The dreaded R word – Renovating the cottage

The dreaded R word – Renovating the cottage

The other day I was putting together a spreadsheet of all the capital expenses we had incurred at our first cottage.  You see, we sold that cottage last summer so I had to pull this info together to calculate the capital gain, or in our case 

Buying and renovating our second cottage – Moving on up, literally to the east side

Buying and renovating our second cottage – Moving on up, literally to the east side

If you’ve read some of my other posts, you’ll know that we originally had a lovely rustic cottage with water access.  As our kids grew and their needs changed, we wanted to be on waterfront so we could be out on the water wake boarding in