Hunt & Host Home Tour: Guest Cottage
Garage Turned Guest Cottage Makeover
I’m not sure what made us decide to turn the garage into a guest house, but it was one of the best decisions we’ve made. With both sets of parents living out of town it was really meant to be a place for them to stay when they visit. It turned out to be so much more.
This poor little garage was so run down. It had already been converted to half shop half garage with a yucky toilet that long ago stopped working. It was a total gut job.
We went to the studs everywhere. We wanted the guest house to be a full house…bed, bath and kitchen.
It was an interesting feat to get just the right layout. We wanted to work with the windows that were already in place (well, we replaced the windows, but wanted to use the same space). That placed some preset parameters on the footprint of this space.
My husband worked and reworked the layout on paper until we came up with the floor plan we have now. 
Building out the guest house while we were renovating the main house was beyond economically smart. It cost a fraction of what it would have to come back later and finish it out. That is one of the biggest tips and suggestions I have about renovations. 
It is easy to say, “we’ll come back and do such and such later.” But later never comes. Life happens, bills come up and those dreams get put off.
If you can make it work financially and otherwise, I highly recommend doing all the renovating you can on the front end. It is less expensive and much easier. There are several things we wish we would’ve just gone ahead and done then that we never seem to get to now.
There is a lot to learn and consider when designing a small space. The whole house is about 500 sq feet.
We didn’t want the bathroom in the bedroom so guests wouldn’t have to walk through a bedroom space to use the bathroom.
We built an eat in bar to save the space even a small breakfast table would take. 
A pull out couch adds additional sleeping room.
The desk in the living room is multi-purpose. It serves as a desk space, storage and a TV credenza.
This bonus house we were so blessed to acquire has served us well. Our parents do stay here when they come. But so do others. When all our family gets together we have ample room. My kids hide there sometimes to watch TV as a special treat. 
My husband goes over when he needs to work and everyone is running around like banshees. (He offices from home.) We have housed long term guests and over night acquaintances. 
Old friends stay here when they come in for Texas A&M football games.
We have been loved on by our guests and this little slice of heaven that sits just across our porte-cochere.
Check out the rest of our home tour here. Let me know your hosting secrets to share when we have guests…
What a wonderful space, it’s perfect!
My little hiding spot comes in handy for sure!
Love! Had never seen the guest house.
You’ll have to come and visit…or stay!
Wow! What a great space…so beautiful and done so tasteflly!
Thanks Deb, It is fun decorating a small space, it cozys up fast!
Your guest space is wonderful! Looks like you thought of every little detail.
It’s a space that evolves over time, much like all the decorating in our house. The really fun thing about our guest house is that people often leave decorating treasures when they go and it just adds to the charm and memoriess for us.
Woo hoo! I got loved on in your guest house and am better for it! Thank you again, xo
lol…We loved having you and giving you that precious time alone you needed to refresh!
Beautiful guest house! I’d love to have a stay!
We’d love to have you!
That is an amazing transformation! I’d love to see what it looks like from the outside now.
We are working in the yard right now. literally! It’s a hot mess. I am hoping to have pictures up in the next few weeks.
This is beautiful! What a great way to share with your family and friends! What paint color did you use in here? I love that white!
Thank you, this house is such a blessing. The white we used throughout our entire house is Sherwin Williams Pearly White. We are very pleased with the color! So glad you like it too.
As a recipient of yours hospitality, I can say for sure its a great place to stay. Can’t thank you enough for helping us out in an emergency. Love all of you, Bunny
Bunny – You are always welcome here. We loved having you and appreciate all the help you gave us while you stayed. We love you!
It’s fabulous!!! The kitchen and living area serve as the perfect space to create late night flower arrangements…and the bed is super comfy.
yes – it is perfect for a flower arranging party 😉 Loved having you guys!
I think I could live in your guest house! It is so cozy and inviting and such a great layout and use of the small space. I hope that one day we have a space to host guests. But first it would be nice to have a place that we own. Now I will be dreaming about redoing a space. Thanks for the inspiration!
This space was a surprise bonus for us. We never looked for a place to have one, it just made sense when we renovated here. hope you find a spot of your own soon! You can enjoy wherever you are though…especially with your crafty self!
You all did a fantastic job, anyone would be loved to stay in your guest house.
I just finished taking the main house tour, its great too. Lots of hard work and love has poured into your home.
Thanks for stopping by to share on Friday Features this week.
I tweeted your home tour post with Linky.
Hope you have a great weekend!
Karren
Thank you Karren – I appreciate you sharing our home! See ya again soon!
Fabulous!!! How wonderful that you were able to create that space for guests and that you so gracefully utilize it and your gifts of hospitality. 🙂 Thanks so much Kim, for sharing your guest house with us at Project Inspire{d}!
Thanks for checking it out! We are so happy to share this little house!
What an awesome space to have! And I love the way you decorated!!
Thank you friend!
Oh my goodness your guests will be cozy in this lovely space. Thank you for sharing at the Thursday Favorite Things bog hop. watch for your feature tomorrow xo
Yay! WHat a great surprise! thank you for the feature and for coming over to visit. I am honored.
What a beautiful space you created for your guests! I love the “gathered” pieces all around and the warm ambiance. Thanks so much for sharing at my Creative Ways Link Party! Hope you’ll be back again!
Blessings,
Nici
Beautiful Kim! You are a servant of The Lord by extending your home to others, what a wonderful generous spirit you have!
We have had some great guests, it has been a blessing to us
It’s perfectly perfect!!