Furnishing a New Cottage - Does and Don’ts
February 1st, 2008It’s here. It’s finally here. After months of searching, negotiating, and many faxes, today we take possession of our new recreational property, a three bedroom townhouse at Creekside in Whistler, B.C. I must admit, instead of feeling excited and elated, I am feeling a little overwhelmed.
I have no idea what the previous owners have left us, so I am preparing for the worst and hoping for the best. This means I’m running around my house shoving pillows and sheets into big green garbage bags. I am however, resisting the urge to go to Costco and just start buying stuff, something we did when we bought our cabin on Horne Lake, B.C.
My husband and I power shopped our way through Nanaimo, stopping at every big box store enroute to the cottage. We forgot that our cabin didn’t have power, so the coffee maker and toaster were a complete waste of money.
I’m also conscious that unlike our cabin, our new townhouse will be in a rental pool. While I prefer pretty, functional and long lasting are going to be a better choice. Heather Bayer, my favourite blogger, gives the following recommendations in her article, The High Cost of Buying Cheap:
- Buy a self cleaning oven - spend the extra $200- it will be worth it in the end
- Buy a good vacuum cleaner
- Invest in good glasses - as cheap ones chip easily (Ikea makes a great box set)
- Good coffee maker (and spare carafe) and coffee bean grinder
- Good Quality knives - Heather’s guests often commented on her poor quality ones
- Good sheets - avoid the really cheap ones and the really expensive ones because they wrinkle coming out of the dryer
- Good Bedding - comforters, blankets
- Good mattresses - most important
The lesson here is to buy good quality items the first time down the isle. Heather found buying cheap ended up costing more because they had to replace it. I’m also going to make a list of everything we need and then go shopping. Here’s to getting it right the second time.
Cheers.
Julie
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February 1st, 2008 at 10:31 pm
Congrats on the new place!!!
February 2nd, 2008 at 12:26 am
When we furnished our cottage we went to a local furniture store that was part of a nation wide chain. We bought the furniture with the intent of having it delivered from the store closest to the cottage. It was an incredible nightmare. I will not under any circumstances deal with this outfit again. What I would do if I had to do it again, would be to buy my furniture from my local independant furniture dealer here and hire a truck to deliver it from here to the lake. Everything that could go wrong did from quality control to our items being sold by the delivery store several times. I won’t tell you the name of the chain but some people put ‘this’ on the exterior of their homes. The independant furniture dealer with his name on the building has a vested interest in making sure everything goes smoothly.
February 2nd, 2008 at 4:00 am
We’ve used the same local furniture discount store in Peterborough for each of the cottages we’ve bought. They’ve been great. Always a great deal and superb service every time. I would never go for the big name stores - they are too impersonal.
February 2nd, 2008 at 5:06 pm
Congratulations on the purchase of your townhouse.
Will you still be keeping your cottage at the lake???
February 4th, 2008 at 5:47 pm
Hi Barry,
Thank you for your good wishes. Yes our plan is to keep the cottage, I could never give it up. It was a life long dream to own one, and it’s still my favourite place, Although, we won’t be buying a new boat any time soon.
Cheers,
Julie
February 4th, 2008 at 10:13 pm
I might know where you can get a good used one.