The Cottage is coming together...2 Rent or Not 2 Rent?

The cottage feels nearly complete. Eric has finished the hot/cold private shower and the new deck and steps leading to it from the back porch. It is such a private enclosed area that it instantly felt like a special place. Showering under the palm trees and blue skies is the best. Neither of us have used the showers in the house since Eric finished. Jane has made some final additions and we added a few touches of our own. I purchased a 5 ft. tall rolling cabinet that was only about 24 inches wide...with numerous shelves for a combo entertainment center/bookcase/game storage cabinet. I loved that it was tall and narrow and would fit in a space in the kitchen on the way to the sun porch. It was dirty and needed some TLC. Well after a bath by pressure washer from Mike...I used my new handy dandy spray handle thingie that I bought for 3 bucks at Home Depot...and three cans of a medium green paint and it actually looks great. Oh...in a former life it was a Merita bread rack at a small country store. Bought it at an estate sale for $15! It even had a small hole in the back of the top shelf for a cord to run through which made it perfect for our Bose Radio/CD Player. We wanted to cover all the bases...two flat panel tvs, a killer blender...for frozen drinks, oyster knives, a gazillion pillows and tons of special spots to chill. Bought a half dozen comfy outdoor chairs for the new deck, and the required webber grill...which...surprise surprise we actually love. We added a zebra rug in the master bedroom and I think Jane liked it cause she didn't move it! We learned it we brought something that Jane did not think fit the vision that it would be stowed away when we returned. I think I moved my grape vine wreath with 20 years of shells glued to it about 10 places before she decided it was ok...not really beach like but ok to go outside. I also brought tons of candle holders, pewter, cut glass, etc. and they kept ending up in the pantry...it finally dawned on me that it might NOT be a great idea to have tons of candles in a rental property...especially near that awesome blender...frozen drinks...candles maybe not a good idea. We also bought a bench with cubbies for shoes for the front porch. We knew Jane didn't like it when she took the darling snoopy house and to die for turquoise table...since it was now too tight with that bench. We quickly packed the bench in the car and begged for the snoopy house and table to return...all was forgiven...and the snoopy house and table are where they belong. Mike was really upset when the snoopy house disappeared...so it really is the little things that made a cottage a home. We had planned to rent the cottage to hopefully help cover utilities and maybe some of the taxes...which are quite high...at least compared to Franklin County, VA. where we live full time. I have to admit the cottage turned out so well it was tempting to NOT rent it...but it also cost more than we expected to renovate it...that deck and shower and some other add ons...so on our next trip we would meet with the Mermaids to insure that we had everything covered to insure the best possible rental experience for our guests...