Our Uptown Cottage Airbnb

This is a 2 bedroom, 1 bath home with a large lanai and beautiful yard in the quaint city of Frederick, MD.

To book this rental property, click here.  

The Renovation of Our Uptown Cottage

This house was a bank owned property that had been vacant for two years.  There were weeds growing through the screens of the porch, the cabinets were broken off of their hinges, there were little critter droppings everywhere (gross!) and it smelled really bad (double gross gross!)!

However, this did not deter my husband and I as we could see potential in this broken down home.  It just needed a little TLC and time.  So, we put an offer on this neglected cottage and soon we found out that the bank accepted our offer.  Oh boy! We sure didn't know what we were getting into. One thing was for sure...we were going to experience this adventure together! 

We had several handy friends who helped us along the way and showed us important things like which tools to use for tiling and the importance of having a compressor and shop vac! Oh, and one thing my husband and I both found out is that one of the most important transformers (besides paint) is caulk! (I love this stuff!)

So, without further adew...here are some before and after pictures of Our Uptown Cottage....

Before:

During:

Double vanity with marble top from Home Depot

Painted Cabinets: Behr pure white cabinet paint

Removed popcorn ceilings. A face mask and grubby clothes are a definite necessity! :-)

Added subway tile backsplash with charcoal gray grout.

Added hexagon floor tile and subway tile with charcoal gray grout.  Removed closet and plumbed for double vanity.

Added vinyl flooring (Quick Step) and new hardware on cabinets. Painted the chandelier that was hanging in our dining room and hung it here. 

Added shiplap to ceilings, bar area. and added new pendant lights.

Installed new front door and cleaned up garden beds.

Painted trim on screened in porch; replaced screens.

After:

Painted front door to add cottage charm

We found a remnant piece of quartz for the counters at a local granite shop.

Flooring: Quick-Step Reclaime Collection: French Country; Wall Color: SW Drift of Mist; Pendant Lights: Lowes, Stools: Target

We added a piece of wood for the bar area and sanded and stained it.

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Most of the furnishings in this cottage were either from our home or from local thrift stores. 

Sources: Rug: Company C; Porch door: Home Depot; Furniture: Wayfair

All in all...it was a lot of work, but a lot of fun as well! Who knows? Maybe we'll tackle another one! (And we did!) Toodles, friends...