A cottage renovation can be a difficult decision to pull the trigger on. Even after you’ve made the initial decision that your property is due for an update, there’s another question to answer: when should the work actually happen?
If you’ve already noticed a few renovations your cottage could use this summer, the fall and winter offer a natural opportunity to start planning and tackling those improvements so you can enjoy them next cottage season.
At Art’s Projects, we’ve handled enough cottage and lake house renovations to know that the right timing makes all the difference. Planning your remodel around the offseason gives you the opportunity to make the updates your cottage needs while you’re away and leaves enough time to handle each step with the attention it deserves.
So, if you’re considering or planning a cottage remodel, let’s walk through why this fall and winter is a great time to get started—and how to plan so that the entire remodeling process feels much more manageable.
When to Remodel Your Cottage: The Benefits of the Offseason
When the weather turns cold, the cottage offseason can start to feel like an eternity. While warmer days do eventually return, there are several months between closing up in late fall and opening in the spring when it sits unused. Just because your cottage isn’t in use during this time doesn’t mean you can’t put that time to good use!
Scheduling your cottage renovation around the months you spend away offers several advantages:
- Keep Construction Out of Cottage Season: Time spent at your cottage tends to fly by. Scheduling the bulk of your renovation for the offseason means you can avoid losing valuable summer weekends to construction crews and closed-off rooms.
- Give Your Project More Breathing Room: Cottage remodels take planning, from the first ideas and mockups to material selections and the work itself. The offseason gives each step the space it needs to be handled properly.
- Make Decisions While Problems Are Fresh in Your Mind: When you call a cottage remodeling contractor to start making plans, it helps to do so while the issues that bothered you throughout the season are still easy to remember in detail.
- Have Something to Look Forward to Next Cottage Season: When summer rolls around again, make that first trip back even more memorable by returning to the updated space you’ve been thinking about all winter.
How to Plan Your Cottage Renovation Around the Offseason
Planning a cottage renovation is a lot like planning any home renovation: it takes time. As we just covered, the offseason gives you more room to work through all the important steps and decisions involved without rushing the process, which is one of the biggest reasons we recommend getting started during that time.
But what does that actually look like? Every renovation is a little different, but after working through plenty of cottage and lake house projects, we know a solid process usually looks something like this:
- Think Through What You Want to Change: Before meeting with a contractor, take some time to think through what isn’t working, what you’d like to improve, and what you want the finished space to look and feel like.
- Talk Through Your Project With a Contractor: With a vision in mind, reach out to a contractor to discuss how to begin making it a reality. With Art’s Projects, this step in our process starts with a site visit where we’ll discuss your project in detail, answer your questions, and talk through your expectations before moving forward.
- Make Your Selections and Define the Scope: Once the direction is clear, you’ll start making selections for things like tile, fixtures, cabinetry, and other materials. These choices help define the scope of your project and give your contractor what they need to build an accurate quote.
- Review Your Quote and Finalize the Plan: Once your selections are made, review the quote with your contractor to confirm the details, make any necessary adjustments, and finalize the plan before work begins.
- Schedule the Work and Watch Your Project Come Together: Once the plan is finalized, your contractor can schedule the work and start bringing it to life. During the offseason, much of that can happen while you’re back home, so you can let the project move forward without giving up the time you want to spend at the cottage.
What Can You Update With a Cottage Renovation?
Wondering whether your vision is realistic? In many cases, it probably is. A custom remodeler can help reshape your cottage in ways both big and small, depending on what the space needs.
At Art’s Projects, popular cottage and lake house renovations include:
- Kitchen remodels & expansions
- Bathroom remodels
- Bunkhouses & guest accommodations
- Custom decks
- Custom patios
- Reimagined outdoor living spaces
- Modernizing outdated layouts
- Entertainment spaces
- Whole-cottage renovations
Make This Offseason Count with Art’s Projects
If any of the renovations above sound like the vision you’ve had for your cottage lately, Art’s Projects can help make it a reality.
With more than a decade of remodeling and custom project experience across West Michigan, we know what it takes to bring a cottage remodeling project together according to your vision. Through our wide range of cottage remodeling services and a team that will walk you through every step, we can help turn your idea into a finished space while making the process feel as manageable as possible—and of course, giving yourself the extra time of the offseason can make it even easier.
If you’ve been considering a remodel for your Michigan cottage, don’t wait until cottage season is right around the corner. Reach out to Art’s Projects today and start planning now, so you can put this fall and winter to good use and, when summer returns, come back to a space you’re even more excited to enjoy.