Before we get to an impressive cottage renovation from Erin, Sherry shared a charming Easter DIY she made for Clara over on Young House Life — there’s a sneak peek below. If you enjoyed that, keep reading for a full tour of Erin’s project.
Erin’s story is the kind of home transformation that fuels renovation daydreams. For years, Sherry and I have wished we could raise our ceilings a couple of feet and give our rooms better proportions. Erin and her partner essentially did just that: they rebuilt their roof, added space, and reshaped their home to solve long-standing problems and create beautiful rooms in the process.
Hi John and Sherry! We fell in love with our 1938 cottage near Lake Michigan in Wisconsin the first time we saw it in 2002. The house had plenty of charm, but it also had a few real shortcomings: low headroom in the upstairs bedrooms and a roof that frequently leaked. Those issues set the stage for a major renovation.
We began by fixing the roof. What started as a simple repair turned into a full redesign of the roofline and several additions, culminating in removing the top half of the house and putting it back on higher to gain much-needed headroom. The result was dramatic: two cramped, low-sloped bedrooms became two comfortable, well-proportioned bedrooms. One now features a walk-in closet, and the upstairs gained a much-appreciated extra bathroom. As Erin notes wryly, you don’t realize how inconvenient it is not to have a bathroom on the same floor as your bedroom until you live without one for years.
In the backyard, we had a deck built and chose cable railings — a sailor’s preference — that give the outdoor space a clean, modern look while still feeling nautical. Erin also took on the hardscape and planting work herself: she laid the stone walkway to the detached garage, built mini retaining walls around the garden, and designed and planted the beds. That landscaping stands out as one of her proudest DIY accomplishments.
For the master bedroom, built-in cabinetry proved to be the best decision. These custom built-ins, paired with a small walk-in closet, provide so much storage that dressers were no longer necessary. Erin and her partner installed bamboo floors throughout the renovated upstairs and handled most of the painting themselves. (They left the living room’s cathedral ceilings to the pros — some tasks are just better left to specialists.)
The new upstairs bathroom is compact — just 8 by 8 feet — but it’s cleverly planned. They squeezed in a 5 by 3 foot shower and added generous storage through custom-designed cabinetry. Like the bedroom built-ins, Erin designed the bathroom storage and had it built to fit the space precisely. Small-footprint bathrooms with smart storage choices are a great example of making the most of limited square footage.
One personal touch Erin loves is a piece of wood salvaged during demolition that’s stamped “Put here July 11, 1938.” That little artifact connects the house’s past to its updated present and now hangs on a mini gallery wall in the upstairs hallway that overlooks the living room below. The bathroom door itself was rescued from Erin’s grandparents’ house, adding another layer of family history to the renovation.
Reading Erin’s account, it’s easy to feel invited to slow down and stay a while — the cottage now exudes a cozy, bed-and-breakfast charm, especially in the backyard and garden spaces. The combination of structural changes (raising the roof and reworking the upstairs layout) and thoughtful cosmetic choices (built-ins, bamboo floors, and carefully curated salvaged pieces) turned a leaky, low-ceilinged home into a functional and lovingly detailed retreat.
If you enjoy renovation stories that balance creative problem solving with practical DIY work, Erin’s project is a fantastic example. Her mix of professional trades for big tasks and hands-on DIY for landscaping, floors, and painting showcases a smart approach to renovating an older home: preserve the character, fix the problems, and add personal touches that make the house unmistakably yours.