As I have mentioned before, my husband and I own a vacation home rental business on Texas' beautiful
Lake Whitney.
While we own a couple of the homes we rent out, most are owned by others and we manage the maintenance and renting of them for vacationers.
We recently began renting one of our homeowners homes from him so that we could continue renting it out for vacation purposes.
Since it's a rental we are limited to mainly cosmetic changes to make it our own.
I posted a little about our updating progress on that home here and here.
In addition to that limitation we also have to keep in mind that the home will undergo constant wear and tear by guests who spray soda on the ceilings and explode food in the microwave and then let it dry in there, children who touch doorknobs and everything else with sticky candy fingers and drunk people who can't remember if the lovely wool plaid blanket was already here or if they suddenly grew some taste and brought that from home.
It happens.
We also used a lot of the existing furnishings because we were lucky enough to have the homeowner rent it to us fully furnished (since he had already been renting it out through us as a vacation rental.)
It's a really large home and having to buy all new furniture would have been very costly.
I also like using what I already have as much as possible because it's environmentally efficient, too!
It's a simple country lake house with simple country lake house decor.
With some cool vintage items tossed in along with way too much Ikea to make it a bit more fresh and modern.
But, it's a lot of fun to hang out here with the fam and play Scrabble, and tetherball and drink wine and practice twerking at the end of a long day of working at the other lake houses!
Sean T and me at Pine Cabin
Scrabble and wine (and some duck face)
Early morning tetherball
Without further delay, I give you the BEFORE and AFTER photos of our new lake house,
the Pine Cabin.
We didn't change any of the front yet but I might add some native, drought and deer resistant plants and a small bistro set to the tiny porch that is to left of the front door.
Kitchen BEFORE
Kitchen AFTER - Amazing, right? Yeah, so, nothing really changed because you can't do much in here if you can't paint the bananas out of those wood cabinets. So, naturally, I just added a couple of rag rugs.
Living Room BEFORE - That's a lot of blue and beige!
Living Room AFTER - I really wanted most of the seating and accent tables to be easily moved so that large families staying here could put them where they would be most convenient to whatever activity they were enjoying.
Living Room AFTER - Still on the look out for a pair of matching chairs for this room and some artwork
Bathroom BEFORE (and a great photo of my mom looking horror struck!) - Post about this room with details here
Bathroom AFTER
Bedroom 1 BEFORE
Bedroom 1 AFTER
Bedroom 2 BEFORE
Bedroom 2 AFTER - Obviously another side table is needed and better lamps
Bedroom 3 BEFORE
Bedroom 3 AFTER - Still have some plans for this room including a shelf and some artwork above the bed
Bedroom 4 BEFORE (and a shameless yet unintentional plug for our business)
Bedroom 4 AFTER - My FAVORITE room in the house!
Bedroom 5 BEFORE
Bedroom 5 AFTER - It's hard to tell form this photo how cute this room is but when it's finished I'll try to get some better angles!
2nd Living Room BEFORE
2nd Living Room AFTER
2nd Living Room AFTER
2nd Living Room AFTER
2nd Living Room AFTER - Yeah, this is a big, L-shaped room so you needed to see all the different angles to really get a feel for it.
Dining Room - No changes here but I may add a rug and/or some artwork down the road
Deck Overlooking Backyard - We only added the patio umbrella but I would love to add some potted plants that require no care whatsoever - do those exist???
The Backyard - We added Adirondack chairs around the fire pit and recently added a cushioned hammock, tetherball and horseshoes. It's like a backyard bonanza for old people!
Even though this isn't necessarily intended to be a post about using what you have or working with a rental home, I still hope this post will help inspire readers who are either renters themselves or who have less than ideal furnishings to explore ideas on how to brighten and freshen what you already have without spending a fortune.
Also affectionately known by my husband as 'butt burners'.
(I'll just let you figure that out on your own because there are some things that are simply too tacky to speak about in mixed company.)
I have tried making jalapeno poppers several different ways and this version is decidedly my fave.
But I must warn you...
although these are simple to make, there are numerous side effects which may include:
-a moderate to severe level of unbelievably torturous burning sensations on your eyeballs, skin, mucous membranes, and possibly even your internal organs depending on what you may have touched after cleaning the jalapenos,
-extreme choking which may or may not result in vomiting on your kitchen rug, sink or a passing dog or child,
-massive mucous production and expulsion due to gut wrenching repeated sneezing,
-watery eyes for which I suggest running a hose from your face to a kiddie pool in your backyard so that your kids can at least have some fun symbolically swimming in a pool of your tears while you make dinner
-bladder leakage (for those of you who have had multiple children and did not empty your bladder prior to cleaning the jalapenos and the aforementioned sneezing and vomiting became an issue)
-college level drunkenness if you are using Chardonnay to help diminish the extreme choking from inhaling the nuclear jalapeno essence or to cool the blisters that have formed on your lips because you stopped to put on Chapstick and didn't realize that all you did was smear jalapeno juice all over your lips
(after the first 2 glasses, though, you'll be too drunk to notice it anyway!)
You should also play Alicia Keys' song, Girl On Fire, while you make these for real cinematic effect.
Here's the recipe...
Ingredients:
12-15 LARGE jalapeno peppers, tops cut off, sliced in half, and completely seeded
8 oz package of cream cheese
1 pound (package) of bacon
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
Directions:
Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.
In a medium bowl mix the 3 cheeses together.
Using a knife or spreader fill each jalapeno half with the cheese mixture.
Cut slab of bacon strips in half down the middle.
Wrap each cheese-filled jalapeno half with a half slice of bacon then lay on parchment lined baking sheet.
When all jalapaeno halves are wrapped in bacon like spicy little green devil babies, put your pan in the oven and bake those suckers for about 40 minutes.
Then turn your oven to broil and broil them for about 3 minutes until the bacon is crispy and the cheese is all bubbly and toasty.
If you can stand it, it's best to let them cool a little before eating.
If not, grab more Chardonnay and get after it!
A quick visit to a local Junior League resale/thrift shop yesterday amidst a week of fun and fabulous chaosity
(I might have made up that word)
yielded a pair of these lovely wicker lamps for the mere price of one Jackson.
Just in case you also have 3 children who suck money out of you like a Hoover in a dirt factory so that you can never keep it long enough to even remember whose head is on which bill,
a Jackson is $20.
I looked it up.
In my daughter's wallet.
For quite some time I have been waiting for the right pair of lamps for my living room
(i.e. attractive, yet affordable.)
Here is what was there previously:
I painted them.
And the shades.
Meh.
But when I saw these wicker gals I was immediately drawn to the warm color and texture.
Once I saw the $10 price tag I knew they both wanted to come home with me so that we could be best friends forever!
The most bestest part, though, is that I can use them in several other rooms or at one of the lake houses if I decide to change things up.
Which is likely.
Because I never keep any decor in my house the same for too long.
But here's where they are for the time being.
And, yes, Buster is still alive and doing what he loves best which amounts to sleeping in his dog bed and growling at anyone who doesn't approach bearing treats.
