Our Cottage Bunkie Makeover
See the grand reveal of our most recent cottage project!
Our kitty Gracie outside the newly completed bunkie.
My partner Joel Bray and I turned the storage shed at our cottage into a bunkie that can sleep four guests comfortably. Scroll down to see what it looked like when we started versus what it looks like now. It’s been a total transformation to say the least!
The Befores
The shed was used to store tools, paint and odds and ends. The first order of business was clearing everything out and giving the space a good clean. Since our cottage is on an island and therefore not used in the winter we didn’t bother insulating the bunkie, plus we like the look of the exposed walls and ceiling. We decided to keep the existing ceiling fan, which is a saving grace in the hot weather. Fortunately the bunkie roof was new when we bought the cottage so we didn’t have to replace it.
The Afters
Without the need for major demo or reno we were able to stick to a modest budget and timeline for our bunkie makeover. Joel used vintage pieces mixed with big box store buys to give the space a layered, lived-in feel. Scroll down to see what it looks like now!
We added two beds to the bunkie so it can sleep four guests and we kept the drapes short, instead of floor length, for a more casual feel. The Tom Thomson print above the bed is from a consignment shop.
Joel chose a runner from eCarpetGallery to layer on top of the wood floor. It has dark, neutral tones which hide the inevitable cottage dirt well. We painted the floor Sutcliffe Green (78) by Farrow & Ball.
Instead of removing the old work bench in the shed we decided to keep it so guests have a surface to put their stuff on. A nautical blue and white stripe fabric from Tonic Living was used to create a skirt which conceals the storage shelves under the work bench.
This artwork was actually free! Believe it or not, we salvaged it from the garbage dump. The storage bench also gave us a place to put a table lamp and an additional fan for hot summer days and nights.
The walls, ceiling and door were painted in one of Joel’s go-to colours: Oxford White (CC-30) by Benjamin Moore.
The floral duvet covers on both beds were an inexpensive buy from Ikea. They’re a lightweight cotton blend and only cost about $35 each.
I want to give a big shout-out to Joel for his vision, creativity and hard work on this project! It was quite the makeover and I know our guests are really going to enjoy staying here.
The exterior of the bunkie is painted in Charcoal Smoke (D65-6) by Olympic and Oxford White (CC-30) by Benjamin Moore.
Thanks for following along! I hope everyone is having an enjoyable summer so far. - Andrew