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HGTV right in your own backyard.

Okay so it's no secret that we have two vacation rentals here in East Nashville.. or maybe it is..we have a cottage



and a studio, as we so happily named them after we moved the crack head from the back and Bad Santa from the studio and started renovating. We inherited the renters when we moved here 5 years ago and Santa wasn't actually too bad, except for the fact that he chained smoked downstairs and kept the window unit on 55 degrees.. it wasn't until we were renovating that I realized, "Hey there are air vents from our main house to down here, and it's super cold why did he leave that air on all the time.."
So needless to say, I like to take credit for EVERYTHING cool that happens for me and Shawn.. I'm always saying jokingly, sort of, "you can thank me for that"...LOL but Shawn is the one who decided we should rent to short term visitors, musicians, tourists, interns etc.. So for the past 4 years, we have, and CHEZ Dodd has been quite the little vacation villa..
Thank GOD no one was in the studio this particular weekend..but the cottage had two peeps from the renaissance fair taking pics from the little porch last year when Nashville flooded.. "We're from Florida!" They yelled across to me.." This is nothing.." But it was wasn't it.. I digress..

We've had medical students from Mexico, graduate students from China, Country singers, Texas songwriters, European bands (that was an interesting group), touring casts from Wicked and a few other Broadway shows, lots of Canadians, a few folks from down under, traveling nurses, people moving for their jobs,and many many couples moving to the beautiful neighborhood that is East Nashville. SO, our latest and greatest idea, ( is to corporate rental out the main house we live in, as we have outgrown this house with three girls and such.) Plus our backyard area is a courtyard and although we have a pretty creek out back and a garden in front, I need these kids and dogs to be able to run free at times..
SO, we have been on the fast track renovating.. First Shawn did the bathroom downstairs.. isn't it lovely..?
The curtain is actually from the girls room and is totally see through..LOL but this bathroom was put in originally when the Memaw who lived here couldn't go upstairs anymore.. and well it was practically at the front door.. it still opens that way ( when we get the door in) but we've pushed it back some..LOL
We still have to add the mirrors and towel rack, and what not, but I let Shawn design the color scheme because when it came to the renovating, my eyes were glazing over... the light fixture came from our old Fort Worth house we had rented out long term, and on another note, this bathroom took about 2 years to finish, or at least it felt that way.. that coupled with these..
Built in bookshelves that Shawn designed and widened my closet.. as you can see it needs a door too.. we're apparently doing doors all at once! But as of a few days ago we are truly living in a construction zone.. there are a few areas that are still normal..
but in two days we are ripping out the plumbing and redoing it and so as of today (because new guests came to the cottage) we have nowhere to shower for a week.. LOL, good thing we're still swimming and we are members of the YMCA.

So I'm just taking it day by day, even though school starts in two days and our bathroom is right here...
I was like "Holly what are you doing?" Oh nothing.. just wandering through the building materials..." It's serious..
This morning Mariama and I won the coin toss and had the pleasure of putting up the ceiling with Shawn.. Now there are a few things that I like to do as much as help Shawn build things.. One..return some piece of electronic crap at the Comcast office, and two.. move heavy furniture.. Don't get me wrong.. I find it very sexy that he can do all this stuff and it looks so great, and I love to walk around with a glass of Pinot and survey it when it's done, but doing it.. no. This however wasn't too painful, just one broken light bulb and an excellent array of curse words.. "Say cupcake, daddy.." HAHAHA.. never gonna happen when he works on the house and I drive in heavy traffic.. only certain words will come out.
Next on the list is the kitchen and then...what I've been waiting for..
The stairs and foyer..AND THEN! other folks get to enjoy it (short term that is)never say never, but we are NEVER renting long term again. I am dreaming of a big yard, as much as I love this place and my neighbors..Stay tuned for pictures of the bathroom in ONE WEEK! Manifest that timeline..Happy Back to School!













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