My family has moved into an exciting time of our lives.
After the devastating years surrounding the Great Recession, we have obliterated every ounce of debt besides our mortgage. We have no credit card debt, car payments, or students loans. Business is picking up, the kids are older, and I’m in a career I absolutely love. I can tell you it’s been hard, but it’s worth every sacrifice we’ve made.
Now we are looking to the future. How do we retire? We’ve got no one to “match” contributions or give us a safety net. It’s all in our hands.
We know that real estate needs to be a big part of our portfolio. We are also looking for ways for our building/design to keep paying us. In our profession, usually when a job is done, it’s done. It doesn’t keep paying….we need to go and find another job. While that’s the reality, we’ve been batting the idea of turning our current home into a VRBO (Vacation Rental By Owner). That way we would have some passive income (albeit work as well) that would “keep paying us”. We also have the perfect location and perfect skill set to make this work. Dave can do maintenance. I will decorate it, tailored to as many people as we can squeeze in. We live in the middle of two golf courses, the best fishing in the West, and we are an hour south of Jackson Hole. I could also hang my paintings up and vacation owners could purchase them, if they wished.
Back to the decorating: this is a little house. We’re going to have to be creative to allow for families or large group of friends to fit comfortably. We’ve been scheming, and here are our thoughts….
Today I’ll take you through our dining room/kitchen.
This is its current state:
It’s cute, but a little boring. A very dated fan light sits above the table. We don’t need the fan. I’ve been hunting for a stunning chandelier to replace it. We would keep the table, but I want to purchase five ottomans or chairs. That would max out the seating.
Here are the ottomans I’ve picked.
They would be upholstered in this fabric:
I’m going back and forth about fabric for a rental. It’s a little risky. These won’t be slipcovered either, but I would get the fabric treated. Plus I think the fabric is forgiving to dirty hands.
Across the room, we have four other seats at the counter.
Actually, now we only have three. One of our counter stools broke (my kids took it out to get on the trampoline, and weather ruined it). I found these as replacements:
They hit the country/industrial vibe we have going. Between the dining table and counter, nine people would be able to eat together.
What’s causing me pause is the chandelier, so I’d like to hear your opinion. I’ve narrowed it down to two fixtures (but don’t rule out a third or fourth if something catches my eye!).
Each has something I love.
If it were your home, what chandelier would you put in the dining room?
xo,
Chris says
The round one. It goes with the other light fixtures over the bar area and it also goes with the bar stools. Having said that I think the white one would work. It would blend and not be so dramatic.
Lxi says
I love them both, but I would probably choose the black simply because you your walls and trim are light and you don’t want it to blend in.