Fixer Upper Recap: Season 5 Episode 9 – Modern Cabin Makeover

Last night on Fixer Upper season 5, Chip and Joanna help out their good friend, Jimmy Don with a small cabin renovation. Jimmy Don has done some work for Joanna and Chip with making metal signs for their clients. The cabin is for Jimmy Don’s son, Jake, who is clearly being pushed out of his parents house and forced to spread his wings a little. In a loving way of course. The cabin is a one bedroom, one and a half bath cabin that is about 750 square feet. When Jake is told that his dad was kicking him out now that he is 21, he was actually okay with the idea of being on his own.

When you walk into the cabin, there is a small living area and full bath along with the kitchen. It is pretty open, but the staircase needs to be opened up and the kitchen needs to be updated. Joanna has plans to put in some more windows in the kitchen so that Jake can really enjoy the view. The cabin is set back in the woods and it’s super cute and functional for a 21 year old man. Here is what the house looked like before the renovation started.

Gallery: ‘Before’ Fixer Upper Photos

One of the things that Jimmy Don didn’t like about this house was the pitch of the roof so Joanna showed him a few options as far as how they can re-work the roof. They decide to go with a Salt Box roof which has a steeper pitch than the current roof. The porch is also going to be removed and upstairs in the bedroom they plan on taking the half bathroom out and making that area a laundry room and closet area for Jake.

The inside of the house is going to have a lot of metal and wood which makes it more modern, but it’s also going to have a mountain top house vibe with some rustic accents. They are also putting in some floor to ceiling windows to try and brighten up the house a little. There weren’t many windows in the house before, but now, there are tons!

Chip finds a great looking wood burning stove that works with the design perfectly and has already planned for the ventilation system. Joanna goes over to Jimmy Don’s shop to give him the measurements for Jake’s cabinets. She is putting in wood cabinets, but they are going to have a metal front so Jimmy Don is going to cut out the front metal pieces for the cabinets.

They have completely opened up the staircase and put in a set of metal stairs with wooden treads and an iron railing. They took out the pony wall upstairs in the bedroom and put up another iron railing that also doubles as the headboard for Jake’s bed. The stairs actually look like they are floating and with the big windows next to the staircase, it looks really awesome. Not to mention it was pretty funny watching them install this staircase.

Meanwhile, Joanna has brought her daughter’s to buy a tree for Jake’s house, but not just from anyone. They are buying trees from Former First Lady, Laura Bush’s tree farm. She is so happy to help Joanna with this tree because Jimmy Don has also done some work for the Bush’s in the past. This also gives some sentimental value to the tree.

Chip finishes up the stair treads and Joanna is getting some ideas for how she is going to decorate the house for Jake. They both go shopping for some rustic decor. The find a windmill rudder that looks pretty cool and Joanna decides that it’s going to go in Jake’s bedroom on one of the big empty walls. The hydraulic windows for the kitchen and bar top on the back porch are being installed by Chip and Dustin and they look amazing! I have to say, Dustin has done a lot of work for Joanna and Chip in the past and I am a huge fan.

Joanna comes in and puts all the decor in and I can’t believe this is the same cabin! Are you ready to see what it looks like now that the renovations are done? Here is it!