When we bought the home we had a few ideas of what we wanted to change but we had no idea this would become a permanent fixer upper. 
We started planning for the first major upgrades as we slowly realized that we were now owner of a home in Florida, almost 5,000 miles away from home. Definitely a Home Away From Home. 
We gathered pictures and information that was available, learned what our favorite shopping websites and home improvement stores (no visit to Cape Coral without at least one visit to Home Depot ðĪĐ) would become and started planning. One thing was clear: We had only 2.5 weeks time. The day we left, the first guests would come.Â
We didn't have professional tools or such at our disposal like you may have seen in those fixer upper shows. So we used PowerPoint to compare tiles, laminate, colors and overlayed furniture to find our color mix and style so we could order everything in advance and start the renovation on Day 1. At this point a big, big thank you to all guests who were so nice accepting packages over the years. Especially in 2017 and 2018 a often packages stacked up in the garage for the next time we'd be there.
When we arrived, the tiles were already removed from the entrance, hallway, and around the counter. A dumpster waited in front of the house to be filled with debris.
In those 2.5 weeks, we managed to remove all carpets, painted inside the house, put laminate flooring in all rooms except kitchen and bath, got new kitchen appliances and some furniture. The couch arrived on the second to last day. We literally just sat once on the couch before it was time for us to leave for a 1 week cruise before heading back to Germany.
We'll always remember how our property manager came into the house and just said "This is a different house!". And that's what's driving us ever since. To continuously improve and share the love we put into this little gem with our guests.
That's how it all begun. And it was not the last change. Ever since when we come back "home", we open the door, walk through all rooms and around the house, and take note of what needs to be taken care of or what we could do next. Could usually just means it'll happen sometime ... 
