After more than a year and a half of renovations, the duplex finally hosted its first overnight guests — and what a meaningful test it was. It was exciting, emotional, and instructive to see the work we’ve invested in being used as a real home. In this post we share what we learned from that first stay, what we’re changing before the next guests arrive, an update about a house we’d once considered as a rental, and a few small solutions that solved everyday frustrations for under $25. Plus, a short rant about tissue boxes and one person’s surprising delight with a certain oversized paper product.
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What’s New
- Heads up: there’s a Game of Thrones-themed image a few photos down. If you haven’t seen the finale and want to avoid spoilers, skip the photo after the one of me holding the toilet paper.
- If you want to hear our earlier conversation about potentially buying another rental property and why that particular house didn’t work for us, check out Episode #114.
Can We Just Talk About… Tissue Boxes
We spent more time than you might expect hunting for subtle tissue boxes for the duplex bathrooms. Many four-packs mix muted and bold patterns, which defeats the goal of a low-profile look when the space already has patterned floors and painted doors. After a lot of searching we picked a simple house-shaped tissue box cover to tone things down throughout the duplex. It made the most sense visually and kept the bathrooms feeling cohesive.
The covers were inexpensive when we bought them, though prices have crept up since. There are many fancier woven or wooden options that cost far more, and when you need several it quickly adds up. So our appeal remains: where is a simple, linen-look 4-pack of tissue boxes that actually stays subtle across all four boxes?
On a lighter note, we finally tried the oversized “Forever Roll” toilet paper as part of a joke gift. The jumbo roll arrived after we recorded, and it’s hilariously enormous compared to our usual double roll. Game of Thrones fans might enjoy the themed graphic we added to the gift box — now our friend can rule from his iron throne of bathroom tissue.
The Duplex’s First Guests
We stayed at the duplex with family for a few nights to test everything ahead of the first Airbnb bookings. Seeing the kitchens get used, the bedrooms lived in, the dining tables set, and people enjoying the outdoor showers felt like a real payoff for all the labor. That test stay also surfaced several small but important items we’d missed while focusing on larger projects.
- Essentials we added after the trial stay:
- A coffee scoop and individually wrapped sugar packets to make the provided coffee easier to use.
- Spoon rests for the stove that won’t scratch the cooktop (silicone options are perfect).
- Silicone spatulas and pancake flippers — practical and heat resistant.
- Cake and pie servers so guests can serve dessert without struggling with a fork.
- Spare TV remotes for quick replacement if one goes missing.
- Outdoor furniture covers for the patio sets so guests can uncover a ready-to-use seating area without hauling cushions from the shed.
- A discreet bathroom air freshener to keep things welcoming.
Small Finds We’re Loving
- We bought an inexpensive freezable grocery bag in a striped pattern to use as a compact beach cooler. It folds flat for freezer storage, stays cold, and is under $25 — ideal for beach days.
- Our matching beach chairs in the “ocean stripes” colorway have held up much better than previous inexpensive chair purchases, so we stuck with those for durability and style.
We also installed motion-activated puck lights in the coat closet. We chose warm white bulbs and, while they’re not blindingly bright, the convenience is huge: a 3-pack runs about $18, they’re easy to install with included 3M adhesive or magnets, and they turn off after a few seconds of no motion. We placed two inside the door frame to illuminate the shelves and a third on the opposite wall. In that closet there’s also a small hardwired fluorescent-style under-cabinet light with a tiny recessed switch tucked into the left corner, which is awkward to find in the dark — another reason the puck lights are so helpful.
If you want to revisit any of the products we’ve mentioned on past shows, we keep a master list of things we’re digging and a Book Club page with titles we’ve recommended.
Thanks to You Need A Budget (YNAB) for sponsoring this episode — they’re offering a trial promotion for new users.
Thanks for reading — and thanks for listening!
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