FALL SPECIAL :: the loft {nightly accommodations in wine country}

I hope you had a wonderful Labor day weekend!!  We sure did....we labored, played and rested....it was just perfect!

We have been trying to soak up these last few days of summer.  We went to the Farmers' Market last week and had rain, crazy winds and beautiful, warm sunshine, all within 15 minutes!!

I have been busy with a few different design projects so I just thought I would pop in to say hello and offer a special for the LOFT.

The LOFT has been crazy busy this summer.  A huge blessing as I wasn't sure how travelers would respond to renting just one room, as opposed to the entire house.  While it was great having a couple of our homes as vacation rentals, it was A.LOT.OF.WORK.  The LOFT is much easier to clean/manage/maintain.  As a huge thank you to our wonderful guests, we are offering a free night October 15th-November 15th.  Just mention the 'website fall special' when booking two nights, and you will get a third night free!

I plan to take a few more house photos and post them soon!!  I just need to wrap up my design projects and spend my extra time loving on my little family....

xoxo~Darci

THE LOFT :: busy season

 

Well, the month of May signals the beginning of the busy season for us in wine country.

The the past five years, the vacation rentals have kept me super busy from May until November.  I am really enjoying just have the LOFT space to rent out, it is quite a bit more manageable than two vacation rentals!

I was thinking this morning of a few of our favorite little weekend get-away places here in Oregon, I thought I would share them with you!

The Inn at Canon Beach

Canon Beach is one of my favorite beaches along the Oregon coast.  There are many lovely places to stay, but The Inn at Canon Beach is fabulous.

Camp Sherman

I have great memories of staying in Camp Sherman with dear friends.  I know that wonderful memories make a place seem so much sweeter.  But, Camp Sherman is a beautiful and charming place to stay or camp if you want some Oregon sunshine and fresh mountain air!

Timberline Lodge

It's been years since I have stayed at Timberline Lodge, but it is a beautiful and magical place to stay, especially during the holidays.  When I last stayed, we went snow skiing all weekend, but I know it would be a great place to stay even if you didn't ski or snowboard!

I am sure other fabulous places will come to mind, and there are so many great places all over Oregon!  I would love to hear of other places you have stayed in Oregon!!

THIS OLD HOUSE MAGAZINE :: our attic remodel

Last winter, our cottage attic remodel was featured in the Jan./Feb. issue of  This Old House magazine.

It was such a treat to meet the photographer and stylist.  They were both extremely talented and professional.  All of the photos are courtesy of This Old House/Susan Suebert.

The stylist added added her own little touches to the room.  Don't you like how she added the green?  The way the photographer and her team captured the lighting was incredible!

They spent about 5-6 hour capturing images of just the attic space.  Eventually they moved outside to photograph the exterior.

This is the little sitting area between the bedroom {now the LOFT} and the office.

 This is our office, this is the shot looking from the office into the bedroom {LOFT}.

What a fun experience to get to 'work with' This Old House.  They were so considerate and it is such a joy to watch someone work, when they love what they do!

OUR COTTAGE :: the loft

 I thought I would post a little update on our sweet little Main Street Cottage.

Even though this little gem needed a lot of work, she caught our eye about 6 years ago.

We approached the owners, letting them know that if they ever wanted to sell, we would be interested in buying.  They were actually considering selling anyways!  They wanted quite a bit for the house, and at the time, it was just out of our budget.  Fast forward about 1 year....they had listed the house, and were ready to move to Eastern Oregon.  They lowered the price {a little} and we decided to purchase it.

 The home had/has charming features.  However, it needed A LOT of work.

We would save up cash, and fix an area.  That cycle took us about 4 years, but we finally got her fixed up!

 Below is a picture of the attic space 'BEFORE.'

The space was un-used and had floor joists that were on top of the attic roof.  If I remember correct, there was about 5'5" of head space.  Just fine for a shorty like me, but challenging for anybody over 5'3"!

 Matt gutted everything.

We brought the wiring and insulation up to code, framed for a bathroom and just worked away as we had the time and money.

 Matt hung the drywall, then applied a faux plaster finish over the drywall.  It gave the walls an old house look and feel, but with out the mess of lath-and-plaster.

Then he went to work on all of the built-ins.  Since the space was attic space, we had to be creative for storage needs.  We couldn't get a bed up the stairs, so Matt built a bed and then carried the mattress up a ladder and through the tall upstairs office window!

 It took about 6 months to complete the upstairs bedroom and bathroom addition.

Now, we are turning into the upstairs suite into a nightly rental.

Instead of guests renting the entire house {as a vacation rental}, they will just be renting the upstairs bedroom/bathroom/seating area.

I am still fine tuning the space, but thought I would post a few pictures.

All of the built-ins make for such a cozy space!

  Plenty of linen storage.

 Double vanity, linen storage, walk-in marble shower and a water closet.

All that's missing is a huge soaking tub!!  We really considered adding one!!  However, since the new bathroom was built in the existing space of a 1938 cottage, we didn't want to take the chance of adding the additional weight.   Plus, we didn't have an 'un-ending' budget!

Next week I will post the photos that This Old House took of our upstairs space.  It was so fun to watch them at work and see the amazing images they captured!!  It takes true talent to produce/photograph space for magazines, and they were amazing.  Anyways, more on that later.

Until then, have a lovely weekend!!