WEST SIDE BEST SIDE

We celebrated 21 years in our home this past fall and it’s once again time for our home to fit our family dynamic. We no longer have a bunch of high school girls hanging out in our living room and raiding the fridge. 10 years ago, we remodeled our kitchen and created a great room, focused on movie watching, playing the Wii and cuddles on the couch.

My father-in-law lived with us for 3 years during the kids’ college years. This set up was comfortable for him as he could watch everyone coming and going from the house as his Alzheimer’s progressed. He was transferred to a private senior living home last winter and he’s very happy, especially since he’s just across the street from our home.

Recently, we decided it was time to transition the home to our current situation.

Our home is a rambler and built in the 1960’s. It was not difficult for us to switch the living room and dining room which resulted in actually using the dining room table and having a living room with more natural light in our often-overcast PNW lifestyle. We’d gotten into the habit of eating dinner on the couch and storing our daughter’s medical equipment in the dining room. A little editing and the family is very happy with the new normal. We eat more dinners together without the TV and the set up in the living room is more conversational.

Change is good!

Sundaze

My husband and I have been going to Crescent Bar since the late 80's, staying with friends' families and then later with friends as they'd invested in properties of their own. In fact, I went into pre-term labor with our oldest daughter in 1996, so essentially, it's her hometown. After years of wishing and praying for a place of our own, we finally pulled the cord last summer! 

We spent last summer updating and starting projects. We'll be finishing up this spring just in time to enjoy this summer in our little oasis away from the big city. 

My love of country music inspired the name SunDaze as we sit back and enjoy some relaxing days.

farmhouse chic

Now that my daughters are older, our once warm and bright colors to inspire fun and creativity have now transitioned into a place of peace and relaxation. White and grey evoke a quiet love that my mom inspired. Despite the 80's orange countertops, we've managed to paint pretty much every surface in our 1980's park model mobile home white. 

I love texture and clean surfaces, but most importantly is comfort! Follow my journey to make our little vacation property a home away from home!

TAKING STOCK OF PROGRESS

It's difficult to get my husband to sit still for longer than 15 minutes without adding to his self-imposed To-Do list. But we are trying our best to sit back and enjoy all of our hard work. Results are very positive from our Airbnb guests so far and our family time this summer is relaxing and fun! We play cards, watch movies, float on the river, eat when we want, spend time with friends, inviting guests along, it's been so much fun!

There still a bit to do, yard work, a bit of finish painting, organization, finishing touches on décor, but for now I'm relaxing and saving this to our off-summer time!

Bunkhouse

The first project on our to-do list was turning the shed into a bunkhouse. While we have 2 sofa beds, 1 bedroom and a day-bed in the main house, we wanted to add that extra bedroom for privacy, and a hangout for the teenagers we'll most likely have visiting all summer long. 

We started by building out bunks large enough to accommodate 2 couples (or 4-5 teenagers!) A queen over full helps maximize the space, while lining the walls with recycled wood makes it feel like a part of the Farmhouse decor.

While a bit on the girly side, since my youngest picked pink as an accent color, it will be completed and white washed this spring. Add a plastic Adirondack chair for wet butts from floating around the river or trips on the boat will make it complete!

airbnb

Since the Gorge at George is less than 30 minutes from our place, we've listed SunDaze on Airbnb to turn our home into an income producing property. This means we've had to put some thought into how to create a space to lock up our personal items since it's a 3-hour drive from Seattle. 

We've booked 4 visitors so far this summer and so the real work begins!