Under Construction: Remodeling Sunshine Cottage

Well, hello friends!

Yet another Monday has decided to grace us with its presence. I hope that you were all able to enjoy the beautiful sunshine and spring-like weather (minus the rain) that Mother Nature decided to throw our way over the past couple of days.

Last week, I celebrated my 30th blog post with 30 fun facts about myself that some of you may (or may not) have known. Hope it was an exciting learning experience for you as you learned about Mr. Sunshine on a more intimate level.

I moved to the City of Lancaster back in October of 2016. I have never been (and I’m still not) someone who needs fancy things in a home to keep me happy. For those of you who might remember, when I wrote my blog post about my house many weeks ago, I specifically stated that there is dust on the floors, cracks in the walls, and other imperfections that I’m totally OK with. In my viewpoint, it is just a few of the entities that make a house beautiful.

But…it seems as though I have caved just a bit to the trend of house remodeling. It has been something that has always been in the back of my mind, but this year, was the year to make it happen. When I wrote my goals for 2019 in the front of my daily planner, one of them was to complete 3 house projects.

And after all the hours of time invested in Property Brothers and Fixer Upper on HGTV…well, you can guess the rest.

Today, Sunshine Cottage becomes the latest “war zone” for dust and debris on North Plum Street in Lancaster.

This is obviously a facet of my life that I don’t have much expertise in, so figuring it all out has been a bit of a challenge. Where did I begin? As the famous song in Sound of Music tells us, “let’s start at the very beginning…a very good place to start.”

What are my tips for tackling a project like this?! Well, here you go.

1. Determining A Budget

2. Figuring Out The Projects

3. Finding A Contractor

4. Breathe

The most important aspect for me was figuring out a budget and how much resources to put into the project. I did a lot of research as far as how to go about getting the $$ for this project and finally after a lot of digging and crunching numbers, I landed on a good deal with a personal loan through Discover. I’ve laid out the final numbers and have a payment plan in place for the next several years to make sure it is all paid off effectively and on time.

Next, after the money situation was all lined up, it was time to figure out the projects to tackle. Now, I’m sure a lot of you homeowners have experienced moments here and there of wanting to demolish everything around you and start from scratch. I’m not someone who needs the big, the fancy, and the most expensive luxuries.

After a lot of looking at images on the Internet and embracing my HGTV love, I’ve gone with the projects of gutting the bathroom, painting the living room, doing a minor remodel of the kitchen, and re-decking the front porch. And those of you who know me…know I’m NOT a handy man at all, so that is where the next facet of remodeling Sunshine Cottage comes in…

Finding a contractor to do the work. For this part, I went to Facebook and put out feelers about who to use. And after several leads, I went with Campbell Cub Construction. I had attentive communication with the owner, Aaron, and he was incredibly articulate with my needs and helping me figure out exactly what to do since I’ve never done this before. Aaron came over to my house one night to take a look at my ideas (or lack there of…haha), take pictures and measurements, and discuss a timeline. He made me feel at ease right away and I knew that I was in good hands. I can’t even wait for him to begin!

Lastly, through all of this, I’ve had to remember to breathe. One of the most important aspects of the entire process. This is a HUGE undertaking, especially for me because I’m always on the move and have never really put time or money into my home like this (or anything for that matter), so breathing is a must. Throughout the process, I’m sure there will be moments of panic and stress; however, the light at the end of the tunnel will be incredibly good for me.