Lauren Goes Rental

Call me crazy?

I may be a glutton for punishment, but I love doing a home remodel. When we were searching for our home in Richmond, we toured at least 10 properties over about a month. It finally came down to two that we really liked: one home in the north side that had been recently renovated (very tastefully), and one home on the south side in Westover Hills that had actually been the very first house we had looked at. (It was a different time…2012…when houses stayed on the market more than a week.)

The Westover Hills home had not been touched in probably 40 years, other than the creamy yellow paint that had been slopped on prior to listing. And yep, you guessed it, we picked that one. I remember thinking why buy a house for a premium that someone else had already fixed up to their tastes, when I could buy one and do what I want instead? (Luckily Patrick was cool with it. And my parents helped us do a lot of the work!)

So when I walked in to the cabin for the showing and realized that I would HAVE to redo the kitchen, I was sold.

Remodel Plans

The cabin has 3 bedrooms, 2 full bathrooms, and a great room with the kitchen and attached pantry/laundry, sitting, and dining areas. There is also a full unfinished, walk-out basement that we plan to finish in a couple of years (need to make sure we can make some money on this first!).

The square footage is small, only 1400 square feet, but the high great room ceiling and super efficient floor plan (there are no hallways) make it feel significantly bigger.

The house was built in 2012, so fairly recently especially compared to what we are used to with our 1940’s home. The layout feels modern, but the decor and finishes were very early 2000’s. There are three big categories of projects that we are doing:

1. Full kitchen demo and remodel
2. Entryway and stair remodel
3. Interior paint and refinishing floors

Of course there’s also a slew of smaller projects to do, many of which will be DIY. Here’s that list that I’m doing my best not to get overwhelmed by!

Design

Before I get in to the details however, let’s take a minute to talk design. This house presents a challenge because it is one that we plan to use, but also rent out to others. We want it to feel like us and what we want, but we also need it to appeal to others. A rental needs to feel like it has a design that is intentional, but it also can’t feel too personal or specific to the owners. Renters don’t want to feel like they are invading someone’s home.

The house is in such a unique setting – back in the woods set amongst large mature trees, but with an impressive view of mountains and valley as well. It looks like a cabin on the outside, but on the inside, feels more like a modern open-concept home. Those characteristics led me to pick a “modern cabin” design style. A minimalistic base that will put the views and nature front and center, but also feel cozy with furnishings and decor that remind you that you are in the mountains.

We’ll be setting this up for 8-person occupancy: 1 King, 1 Queen, 1 Twin Bunk, and 1 sleeper sofa. In my opinion, you should fit the biggest bed possible in each room especially if you want happy guests. When we’re renting for ourselves, we won’t book anything less than a queen sized bed!

Here are the mood boards I put together:

The Kitchen

Kitchens are absolutely my favorite thing to remodel – I loved doing ours in our Richmond home. There’s just so much to them, and so many options and possibilities! The existing kitchen is…not my taste. It has a peninsula, which I hate because you can’t walk around it and can only enter the kitchen from one spot. And a vent hood positioned over a window!!?

Here’s what we are planning to do:

• Change the layout to an L-shape with a small island including an overhang for a couple stools
• Move the sink to under the window and the stove/vent to the right
• Move the fridge away from the front door to next to the pantry door
• Open shelving instead of upper cabinets to feel more open
• All brand new custom cabinets and quartz countertops

Entryway and Stair Remodel

When you enter the cabin, directly in front of you is this weird little hobbit-sized half coat closet butted up to the stairwell down to the basement. Not only is it pretty useless given its size, it cramps the entryway and limits the kitchen layout.

Other than the crazy window hood, that little closet was the first thing that went on my mental “to demolish” list. Honestly I wanted to do it myself right after we closed, but Patrick convinced me to wait for the contractors. In its place, we can use a bench and hooks on the wall to give a much more open and useable entryway.

Right behind the hobbit closet is a pony-wall running along the stairs down to the basement. It cuts off the site line from across the room and makes everything feel more closed in and dated. So, that wall is coming down and in its place will be a more modern open cable-rail system.

Interior Paint and Floors

If you want something to feel new and modern, you just have to repaint. And most likely, the floors will need refinishing or replacing as well. Here, the combination of the dull gray paint and the amber scratched up hardwoods (someone must have had dogs, or some very destructive children!) makes the whole place feel drab and detracted from the vibrant colors coming in through the many windows. For a modern cabin, we want something lighter, brighter, and that makes those outside colors pop.

Creating a place to get away

One of the things I love about this property is how different it is from our home in Richmond. Nearly everything is or will be the opposite – complete privacy vs. 15 ft. between houses; tons of trees vs. just one tiny young dogwood on our RVA lot; open concept and high ceilings vs. traditional brick colonial; minimalist all white walls and light wood floors vs. a traditional style with red oak floors.

I absolutely love our home in Richmond. But when we started this process, we knew we wanted something very different…so that it would feel like we are truly getting away when we spend time there. I think we’ve succeeded in creating a remodel and design plan that will create that getaway we’ve been looking for. And hopefully our future guests will feel the same.