In April I took the opportunity to renovate the other house on my property. It was not really planned this way, but the tenant I had decided not to renew the lease, so it seemed like the right time.  I did not intend for this to be a short term rental, but after going through the process it made more sense due to size and revenue potential.  It has everything but a laundry!

The tiny house is 320 sq ft and was built in 2019, so in terms of a renovation it seemed to be pretty straightforward, or so I thought…!

One of my friends had the idea to change it from a studio to a one bedroom.  I thought this was a great idea, not only for resale of the property, but for rental value, so I spent a little extra in order to do it.  To do this we had to move the kitchen to the front of the house and add a wall.  Other unanticipated things came up too; adding the wall meant moving the air conditioning unit. It also meant moving the electrical panel.  Adding a kitchen countertop in the front of the house meant we really needed to change out the front windows so they were not so long to accommodate for that.  One thing after another!

I’ve named the house Palm Cottage, set it up on all the usual short term platforms, and branded it on social media.  Along with my other rental in downtown St Augustine, Casa Lovett, I am excited to be able to cross market each home to past and returning guests.  The unique thing about Palm Cottage is that it is on half an acre on the west side of St Augustine.  We are surrounded by palm trees and there are roaming roosters and chickens what run wild on the property.  It is about 6 minutes drive from downtown, and this little home is ideal for week long or monthly stays as it is affordable at around $700 a week or $2300 a month.  The main house on the property is still under renovation but it is easy to live here and also manage this short term rental.  Take a look at let me know what you think!

BEFORE – the tiny house was purple in front and the sides and back of the house had never been painted.

AFTER – Tiny house was painted the same color as the main house.  Windows were changed out to allow for the kitchen counter to be in front.  They also look a lot better!

BEFORE – The tiny house was a studio so the kitchen backed up to the bathroom.

AFTER –  In order to make it a 1 bedroom the kitchen was moved to the wall at front of the house and a wall was added.  For functionality a cooktop was added plus a new microwave and this cute mint colored fridge I found on Amazon!

DURING – Marco working on the barn door.  The door is from Lowes and painted with a white semi transparent stain.

AFTER – Kitchen and barn door is in! In order to split the rooms we moved the electrical panel and the air conditioning over.  One thing leads to another.

AFTER – In the bedroom I added a peel and stick wallpaper as a feature wall.  I found these cute side tables and lamps at Ikea.