Current Projects

I'm having trouble figuring out where to start as far as sharing our renovations and projects goes, so I think I'll just give a quick rundown on what we've been tackling thus far. First things first, a little background on the work we've done since we purchased PBC back in 2011.

Renovation #1 (2011) - we took the screening off the front porch to maximize our view. The best thing about the screened in porch? It kept the bugs away, but other than that, it only obstructed our view of the Potomac River. So, with the help of my grandfather we took it down, installed new railings and painted them white. Fairly quick and easy.

Renovation #2 (2014/2015?) - After a hurricane completely took out an old shed behind the garage (which may or may not have been known as the neighborhood eyesore), we went to the county and found out that we could used that square footage to expand the footprint of the house. To give you an idea of the layout when we moved in, the tiny bathroom was located in the back of the house, right off of the kitchen - AWKWARD! The kitchen and living room were and still are fairly large and open with cathedral ceilings. And off of the living room were two small bedrooms, both with open transoms above the doorways, one of which had a small closet. The house had mostly vintage and I assume original doors throughout, the front door was beautiful and original to the house, and the old pine, hardwood floors were definitely original. So original in fact that there was no subfloor beneath them and we had rogue pieces of grass growing up throughout living room at one point. Super charming, cozy, and cottage-y? Absolutely. Energy efficient, spacious or functional enough for a hopefully growing family? Not a chance. Check out the original layout HERE, HERE, or HERE!

Anyway, we added on to the house towards our driveway and garage, basically adding additional square footage behind both bedrooms and the bathroom. Which meant we brought that entire side of the house down to the studs and created a master bedroom and bathroom with a small sitting area that we hoped to use as a nursery overlooking the water, a mudroom and side entry to the house, a guest room/office, and we relocated the now guest bathroom from the kitchen to the new hallway. We also changed the siding from the original white, wood planks, to gray vinal, and installed a new, more energy efficient front door. We decided to hire a contractor who is a family member to help us with the renovations. Bubba and my grandfather were heavily involved as well. This allowed us to start living a little more spaciously, but I always kept in the back of my head that one day I would like to add a second story to the cottage in case we had multiple children or simply needed more space.

The process was, let's just say, a learning experience. It took a lot more out of Bubba and I than I ever expected, and looking back, part of that was probably due to inexperience and not being able to clearly communicate what we needed. And while those renovations truly improved our living experience and allowed us space for our daughter who was born in late 2019, I quickly realized there were very important things we were still missing that make life very frustrating. For example, closets. Also, privacy and personal space thanks to a pandemic that allowed and pretty much forced Bubba and I both to need an office space and the ability to shut the door when necessary. 

Which brings us to our current renovation! Which we hoped would be a second story and a new roof... We sought out contractors, quotes, inspections from structural engineers, many many conversations with the county about square footage, permits, etc. And considering we'd renovated not too many years prior, we were and ARE on a budget, which is difficult to work with. But the real challenge, we quickly realized, was just how tricky it would be to try and add a second story to an almost 100 year home originally built on piers and about half of it on a new foundation. Throw in the cathedral ceilings in the kitchen and living room that we wanted to leave and we stumped almost everyone who came to take a look. It just didn't seem possible. 

Bubba nor I are the type to give up easily. And we took this a personal challenge to figure out exactly how we could make it work. And after drawing and redrawing and redrawing more times than I care to admit, we FINALLY figured out what we needed to do to make it work. No more second story, another remodel of the downstairs, but this time, we were going to make it function exactly the way we needed it to!

And that will have to be a post for another time, because this one is already too long.

xo Mindy