Tucked into the forests of Highlands East municipality, this modern-meets-rustic cottage is a destination to unplug and reconnect with nature. Completely renovated by the owner with care and extreme attention to detail, the property was changed from a seasonal getaway to a full-time eden.
A visitor can enjoy the scenery as they lounge on the dock, or take explore the lake with supplied kayaks, paddle boards, and canoes. Surrounded by snow mobile and hiking trails, and only a 30-minute drive to the slopes of Sir Sam's Ski, there is something to do every season.
I'm Shaun, the owner of this cottage in the woods. I've always taken a DIY, hands-on approach throughout my life, and I started doing small home improvements about 15-years ago. I've done small projects like making my own desk, tiling an entranceway, or installing a door. I've also done bigger jobs like making a soundproof room for the touring band I used to play with. I've amassed a really good collection of tools over the year; that's half the battle...along with knowing how to research the task you're working in, and confidence in yourself.
When this opportunity presented itself during the pandemic (as many people decided to connect with nature further away from cities), I dove in head first. With the help from friends and family, we were able to turn a fixer upper into a four-season, modern yet rustic cottage.
See some of what we did below!
The cottage was originally only usable in the summer. It had a lake pump for water, and our lake tends to lose water levels in September. By the end of the month, the cottage was no longer usable. Furthermore, as it's a cottage set on piers, all plumbing was running underneath it and exposed to the elements; any water not properly drained would freeze and cause damages as soon as temperatures gets below zero.
The solution was to get a well dug (which unfortunately is not a DIY project), and to make a mechanical room around the plumbing. As an added problem, the septic lines were not originally dug below the frost line, so they need to be redone as well.
Getting all new windows was also necessary to keep the place warm.
The living room featured low, office space-esque ceilings without any lighting at all. It was very dark. The flooring was reasonably new, but grey and had an urban feel. And hilariously, they cheaped out on flooring and didn't have any under the giant area rug. The wall behind the fireplace, though good looking in photos, is actually faux brick, and was somehow put on skewed. The windowed space that's now the dining area was a sunroom that only had screen doors and the plywood subfloor.
Since the cottage is made of trusses resting on only two of the exterior walls, the wall separating the sunroom and living space wasn't structural. We decided to get rid of that wall, as well as the low ceiling. It was going to be too difficult to get rid of or heighten the trusses, so we chose to embrace them. My electrician installed pot lights in the new open ceiling space. We put a pine shiplap ceiling around the trusses, after spray foaming in the rafters to get an acceptable R-value for this part of the world. Then we painted the trusses white to brighten up the place. We used natural stone behind the fireplace, and new flooring under a carefully leveled subfloor.
The kitchen was in pretty good shape, though not the style I'd ideally want for a rustic cottage. It featured the only light in the common area - a large office-like flourescent light above the sink. The stove was old, though functioned well. And the fridge, though looking modern, would randomly shut down. The wood box above the stove was the panel for the electrical; a truly awkward place for it. The dividing wall between the kitchen and living area further gave the place a cramped feeling.
We decided to open up the divider while taking down the entire living room wall. The fluorescent light got replaced with pot lights in vaulted ceiling. The electrician also move the entire electrical panel to inside the new laundry closet. We installed a brand new IKEA kitchen counter system, and new Whirlpool appliances (including making space for a dishwasher and properly venting the oven fan inside the microwave). A matching IKEA island with custom-installed electrical and toekicks replaced the old counter space by the divider wall. I tiled the lower portion of the wall with stacked white (with grey tones) textured subway tiles.
The bedrooms were the most 'cottage core' vibe that looked tacky but sort of amazing. Area rugs didn't completely cover the subfloor. A different type of weird office space-esque material covered the ceiling, and there was no wired lighting installed. The faux-wood wall panels were the original design of the cottage in the 1970s, which was covered over in the other rooms. And the wallpaper! I almost wanted to keep the wallpaper. The other issue was, since we decided to not expose the trusses in the bedrooms, the insulation above it was so far away from current building code - it would never keep anyone warm in the winter.
We opened up the ceilings, got rid of the old batt insulation and sprayed in eco-friendly material that would more than double the R-value. We installed a light and the same natural pine shiplap ceiling as the rest of the cottage. We decided to drywall the side walls, but shiplap the headboard wall with the same pine shiplap, only painted white. Finally we installed the same flooring as in the living room and kitchen. We kept the decor relatively similar, but we got bunk beds so an office desk could fit in the middle bedroom.
The bathroom was originally very cramped. It was nice that it had a full-sized bathtub, but it had damage, and it allowed for little room elsewhere. Beside the bathroom was a small closet that had the hot water tank in it. There was water damage all around the toilet (water had gotten underneath the vinyl flooring and was rotting the subfloor).
Since we were going to be boxing in all of the plumbing underneath the cottage to keep it from freezing, it made sense to move the hot water tank down there as well. Then we could clear out more space and expand the bathroom into that closet area. It was still going to be a little tight (and awkward) to put in a new bathtub, but there was ample space for a nice, big tiled shower, and room for a sizable vanity as well. We ensured water damage wouldn't happen again with a very robust Schluter membrane system. It was only my second attempt at tiling before, and I chose some pretty hard tile formats to work with (small hexagons, not easy!), but after a lot of learning, it ended up going pretty well.
For insurance reasons, as well as safety for all parties, I only rent through popular platforms. Check out the availability and inquire about renting with the site below:
If you have any question/comments about the cottage or process, feel free to get in touch!