The woods of Door County to be exact!

The truth is we had been looking for a second home/investment property for most of last year. We looked in Texas and Florida first because we were most familiar with those areas. We actually had a contract on a beautiful 10 acres in my home town of Medina, TX – but it fell through due to some mineral rights issues we weren’t quite comfortable with.

It was beautiful though… the perfect example of why people fall in love with the hill country. This spot below the house full of oak trees made it really hard to walk away from.

Ultimately we decided to look right around the corner in Door County – a peninsula between Green Bay and Lake Michigan. It’s a beautiful area full of parks and scenic views of the lake at every turn. Often called the “cape cod” of the midwest, it’s a travel destination perfect for an investment property. The other perk of this area is how close it is… just 1 1/2 hours from our home in Green Bay. Just far enough to feel like we’ve escaped but close enough for to still make use of a short weekend.

We looked at a few properties that weren’t quite right before this house (in the town of Ephraim) came on the market. I was checking new listings every morning and made an appointment to view this house the same day it was listed. I knew it was perfect before I saw it in person, but seeing the tranquility of the neighborhood and the 2 acres of trees surrounding it sealed the deal.

The builder spent years building this home with his own 2 hands. He cleared the lot, framed every stud, laid every piece of flooring – even put up the trusses by himself. Outside of electrical and plumbing, this home was built as a passion project over 3 full years. 4 months later, Bill still helps us with questions and comes to check on the property as we can’t be here very often. It’s really fun to see someone so passionate about their craft.

I had grand visions of really renovating this newly built home to reflect my design style. I didn’t jump to any big decisions right away and am really grateful I didn’t. I finally have a good plan to tackle an initial “design” plan to get through the first year here and will tackle any bigger renovations after this first year.

We found a good rental company (after interviewing a few) and plan to have it active for short term rentals by mid April! I wanted to share what our initial plans are to make some easy affordable changes!

First up…

The Great Room

I was SO tempted to paint all the wood… it’s so much wood. Knowing how much work that would be I decided to paint the walls in here first to see how that changed the overall feel for the space.

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So much better right?!

I still have more furniture coming for this room including this coffee table and an extra large drum side table. I also have hopes to create a really cool rustic gallery wall to camouflage the tv. If Chris had his way, we wouldn’t even have a tv here – but it’s obviously a necessity for any type of rental.

Here are some other views for reference.

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The Kitchen

Next up is the kitchen! Bill made these cabinets from wood that he milled – every single cabinet box and door! He even showed us some areas where there were bullets embedded in the wood. I don’t have any plans to replace them even though they aren’t exactly my style.

I plan to make minor changes in here including new black hardware and plumbing fixtures. I think this simple change will go a long way. I really want to replace the backsplash but timing might not allow it. Another thought is to paint it! I’ve painted stone tile in the past and it’s a pretty easy project. I’ll share all the details if I decide to go this route.

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The Breakfast Nook

My last trip, I measured for a built-in breakfast nook. I think it’s too soon to order a table for this area as I’d really like to see how the bench makes this area feel. This will be a high traffic area so I want to make sure I don’t close off this space too much. I did pull the trigger on this pendant. I think it will add just the right amount of rustic and modern.

And yes, I will be painting over the mural. A lot of you thought this was an actual window but the mural is painted on regular drywall. I need to figure out a solution to replace the painted portion of the wood but I think this little area should come together pretty quick!

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The Dining Room

My idea for this room is add a textured wallpaper, replace the light fixture and add in a more rustic dining set. I ordered this chandelier and decided to bring up my current dining table. These chairs were also the perfect cabin vibe although I’m waiting on them to come back in stock.

This room also has a LOT of wood. I’m hoping that I can tone this down by adding in the right rug, textured wall covering and some patterned drapes… to be determined.

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The Primary Bedroom & Bathroom.

I don’t have any real photos of this room other than the listing photo below.

Everything in this room is built-in so there’s not a ton of opportunity for anything drastic in terms of furnishings.

My plan for this room involves a fun graphic wallpaper feature wall, luxurious bedding, patterned drapes and a cozy rug at the foot of the bed.

The bathroom is also pretty limited in terms of changes that I could tackle this year. The biggest need is some automatic shades on this tub window! We don’t have any neighbors but I haven’t brought myself to take a bath just yet haha!

I might change out hardware/plumbing & update the light fixtures. These are all very cosmetic and will be last on the priority list.

The Office/Den

I went back and forth with what to do with this room. It can easily handle a bunk bed or sofa sleeper. However, outside of this room, there are 16 beds in this house. I’m struggling to think of a time I would want more than 16 people in this house so I plan to make this more of a library or lounging room to escape the chaos – or even a movie watching room for the kids.

The Bonus Room

This was definitely the room I was most excited about when I first viewed this house. I originally wanted to do full built-in bunk beds but opted for trundles for both time and budget.

I have grand visions for this room and ALL of them involve some type of tartan wallpaper. I have my eye on this one and this one. Samples are on the way!

There are no closets in this space and it will sleep 8 people. I will have to get a little creative with storage solutions this week and can see some custom built in shelving in my future.