A Cabin in the Woods

About two months back, my husband got a text message — our neighbor in Tahoe was kind enough to notice that some animal had ripped ALL the vents off of our cabin. A cabin which we’d neglected and apparently some animal(s?) had decided it was ripe for takeover.

This was not the first animal break-in. But it was the one which finally spurred us to take action—do we sell it or keep it to rent via AirBnB/VRBO? We crunched some numbers, discussed the options, talked to some realtors and decided we’d sell. It seemed like too much work to keep the house to rent—it needed lots of love.

What the cabin looked like upon first entering

What the cabin looked like upon first entering. That’s the original carpet from the 70’s folks!

View of front entry—notice the lovely half-working patio blinds and slipcovered lazy boy recliners.

View of front entry—notice the lovely half-working patio blinds and slipcovered lazy boy recliners.

But on a gut level, I knew the cabin had a lot of potential. It was an A-frame after all!

So, we decided we’d keep it (for the short-term), put some elbow grease into it and, working from a small budget, update the essentials.

Then I got lost in Pinterest-land. Here’s a collage of what I was envisioning:

moodboard
Gloriously simple, modern, Scandinavian-inspired WHITE interiors (see the full range of inspiration on my Pinterest board). Light, bright and inviting. I was already thinking about all the wonderful shades of white paint I could comb through to paint over the pine and the dark beams.

Alas, the husband and I were in total disagreement. The budget backed him up and tipped the argument in favor of keeping the natural pine and dark beams (for now). Sigh.

What we did wholeheartedly agree on was that the 30-40 year old carpet had to go. Here again we had an impasse as to what to replace it with: more carpet or vinyl planks that looked like wood (and was more durable to boot in some ways!). Again, the budget dictated the decision and we went with carpet (cheaper, warmer).

Bye bye carpet!

Bye bye carpet!

The next few things we updated were: the patio blinds, the lazy boy recliners, the old TV, the lamps, bedding and towels, and kitchenware (pots, pans, etc). The elbow grease came into play with the deep cleaning we gave the cabin. And we ended up with:

Ta-da!

Ta-da!

It’s now in a state where we were able to post on AirBnB and even had our first renters over Labor Day weekend!

It’s a work in progress and there’s still a lot to do, but the few changes we did make have already made it feel fresh.

Next up: interior painting (white!), new window shades/treatments, deck rebuild, exterior painting, kitchen/bathroom remodel next year…

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