2020 was the year of transition and challenges for us, and I’m NOT just talking about the pandemic.
My motto for 2020, was “Perfect Vision.” It was my last year working for the federal government in real property contracting. I was so excited! Due to the pandemic, I teleworked from home from March until I retired in December, 2020.
One of our 2020 goals was to relocate out of the Phoenix metro area to a small town, recreational area after I retired. We were going to downsize, but the only house we found that would work for us was a larger, 1986 house that had a lot of (undisclosed) deferred maintenance (AKA: fixer upper). After we moved everything out of our Phoenix metro house and we listed it for sale. It sold BEFORE it hit the market for more than the appraised price.
VISION: Future Guest Room…
We decided to convert the second master (primary) bedroom into a Guest Room to list on Airbnb, and to use when family and friends visit. The process of remodeling this room was an adventure in itself. Truth is, the whole house has had its share of issues: electrical, plumbing, lighting, flooring, insulation, windows, appliances, etc. At the rate we are fixing things, we practically have a new house.
The carpet, windows & blinds needed to be replaced. 
The ceiling fan was defective. The blades were loose! 
Note there’s no blades on the ceiling fan. 
Needed to finish the wood stove area. 
Original walk in closet, future breakfast room. Kept the 2nd closet at the other end of the room. 
Bathroom was dated. No GFI. The tile was very slippery when wet! 
Replacing the old door to the back storage room, our future mud room. The original door wasn’t an exterior door and the steps were dangerous. 
Removed this door to our pantry. (There was a 2nd door on the other side.) 
Huge, dated, jetted tub, didn’t work well. Used a lot of water!
What we did to create our Rustic Country Market Guest Room:
- Converted the exterior storage room into a separate, exterior entrance/mud room.
- Converted the extra walk in closet into a breakfast room.
- Created an entry between the mud room to the breakfast room.
- Removed the closet door that was for the walk in closet, now breakfast room.
- Removed dated, nonfunctioning window blinds.
- Replaced the carpet with vinyl, plank flooring.
- Removed and sheet rocked over a second door to our walk in pantry.
- Replaced all the windows.
- Total renovation of the bathroom. Removed an old jetted tub.
- Painted the walls and trim.
- Replaced all the light fixtures.
- Corrected electrical issues and added a GFI to the bathroom.
- Added a carbon monoxide detector & a fire extinguisher.
- Replaced the exterior deck & stairs.
- Furnished and decorated the room.
Plans Changed…
Instead of using the room for an Airbnb, we moved my 80+ year old mother into the room for 3 years. The room started to be too much for her to care for, so we moved her into our smaller, back guest room, and proceeded to move forward with setting up the room as an Airbnb.
Our Airbnb Guest Room…
I’ve added the following info pages related to our Rustic Country Market Guest Room:
- Rustic Country Market’s Guest Room
- Places to Eat…
- Things to Do
- Local Events
- Arizona: More than sunsets & cacti…
Our hope is that guests come as strangers and leave as friends.
If you’d like to book a stay at our Rustic Country Market Guest Room: Visit our Airbnb Guest Room page.
Inspiring Home Life,