GO-Cottage came from a creative vision and dream of owning a vacation property where my husband and I could escape the madness of Manhattan and do many outdoor activities like cycling and cross-country skiing that we love. Lake Placid, NY was the perfect location! It’s a place where people travel to and we wanted to be. We also knew the property could double as an income producing rental when we weren’t using it and pay for itself. We found and purchased 1 property that had two 1920’s style bungalow-cottages on it for a very reasonable price. However, with that price came the cost for a gut and full renovation. We told our friends they could stay in our property for the Ironman competition, giving us just 9 weeks to renovate, remodel and decorate!
Over the next several weeks I’m going to share our DIY remodel story that cost roughly $50,000 for both cottages. Let’s start with the bathroom in the two-bedroom cottage.
Here’s the bathroom when we first purchased the cottage. Gorgeous..NOT! You’ve gotta love the wallpaper. The toilet was falling through the floor into the basement and you can see the hole just the the left of it!
Take a close look at the tub. I wouldn’t want to take a bath in it!
When we peeled back the floor and walls we found several extra layers giving us 6 more inches of width space!
- Plastic! The first layer shown
- 1960’s tile
- 1920’s pink and black tiles
- Lastly, old knotty pine
We had to get rid of it all! The tub, toilet, sink, floors and walls, windows…gone.
While Todd was scraping away paint and removing the walls and floor, I found an old claw foot tub and pictured what it would look like restored. This was my special project to add artistic flair, and I drained and removed the rust and lime stains, poured new porcelain, and sanded and silver-leafed the outside and feet. Fixtures, the toilet and sink, were replaced with items from Vintage Tub & Bath and home depot. For the floors, we picked out an amazing dark forest-green slate and we placed and grouted the tiles ourselves. The window was replaced, and the first venting system was put in.
A great photo of the restored tub and bathroom!
From HUD housing to luxury bungalows we are so proud of what we accomplished and shared with our guests and friends over the years. Next up, kitchen restoration. If you have any bathroom restoration stories that inspire you and feel passionate about, please comment and share your stories with us. We want to hear them!
