Like a broken record here, but we don’t have many before photos. Then again, how many ways can you photograph one big open shiplap garage? Needless to say, it’s vastly different than before, and sometimes it’s hard to remember that a car was once parked somewhere around where our sweet little pink bathtub now sits.

Echoing the kitchen post, this space also suffers from our complete lack of before photos. That said, this room is probably the most transformed area in the entire cottage. We added the closet and bathroom where the large – and very strange – opening once existed at the back of the garage. We recently confirmed that this addition was made to extend the length of the garage…

The kitchen was originally part of the garage side of the cottage, so this was one big open space. Once again, we did a terrible job of taking before photos (a recurring theme around here), so aside from the first image, these are the only shots we have from after demo but before we started putting everything back together…

Hey MTV – Welcome to our Crib!

You may be sadly disappointed to learn that you won’t be getting my normal literary genius (or, as it’s been called, “snarky banter”) in these next few posts. But I’ll let the photos speak for themselves. We unfortunately didn’t take many photos of the cottage before, but as a bonus, I can tell you what it smelled like as you scroll through the few photos we do have.

Well… seems I’m already failing miserably at my 2026 one-post-a-week challenge. Cool. Cool. In my defense, a LOT has happened in the last month between moving into the cottage, all the work happening on the main house, and an ice storm that our pug, Aliza, refused to poop in. However, today Cody is traveling, and I’ve finally found a (conference-call-free) pocket of quiet time to process my thoughts.

The first decision I made for this cottage was the tub. I knew she had to be saved from the main house renovation, and although she would have been great in one of the guest bathrooms, I wanted to be able to share her with our guests. Moving her was another thing altogether. I think it took four men to get her out, with a pit stop in the dining room for a few days.

We want this space to be a true retreat for whoever stays with us. Whether it’s future guests or family, the goal is to create a space where bed rotting is desired – even if someone has to get up and get moving anyway.

A friend once told me that when she was renovating her home, she bought her stove before she even bought her house. I’ve never felt more seen. Priorities, right? In my case, I also knew exactly what stove I wanted – regardless of which home we chose

Progress has been slow, but in most cases, really good. Just one major hiccup – our very expensive windows. Unfortunately, not having windows dictates the timing of many other things. While we wait, we’ve picked out a ton of finishes…

While we can’t wait to be in the main house—and would love to see that vision come together ASAP—we’re making the cottage the priority.