Away from it all
Decorating you cottage? Stretch every penny without compromising your vision.
When I was a lad, my family had a summer cottage on Ponhook Lake, Nova Scotia. Its décor included cheap watercolours, secondhand furniture and pieces demoted from the family home, plus dirt bike posters and a deer skull (my contributions). Compared to peers around the lake, the décor wasn’t terribly seedy. It was a time when people saw their cottages as second-string homes and decorated accordingly.
But today, a new age of nesting is upon us and many owners see their cottages as second fiddle to no home. Rather, they’re havens from the drudgery of the real world, oases purpose-built for relaxation and play.
That was Erin Armstrong Hand’s philosophy when her family bought an A-frame cottage in Lakeside, Prince Edward Island eight years ago. She’s is an experienced interior decorator, self-employed for many years and now producing professional theatre in Niagara Falls, Ontario.
Located on the northeastern shore of the province, the cottage has a seaside setting that still enchants Armstrong Hand and guided her décor decisions. The space’s potential wasn’t entirely obvious at first. “It had been someone’s bachelor pad for quite some time and it showed,” she recalls. “He was using furniture that dated back to the 1940s.”
The first step was clearing the slate. “We kept the basic structure but we ripped off the deck,” she says. “We took out the white shag carpet, put in tile, painted over the panelling and added a porch.” She wanted décor that was functional, standing up to the constant wear and tear of a busy family on vacation.
But given the location, she also had a nautical theme in mind. “We have lighthouses everywhere,” she says. “There are lots of blues. The nautical-themed accent tiles are from Portland, Maine. The fixtures have this seahorse design on them.”
Armstrong Hand urges readers to remember that you can decorate your cottage effectively without going bankrupt—just be creative. “We did it all on a low budget,” she says. “We brought our bathroom cabinet in the car the whole way from our home in Ontario.”
Bargain-hunting skills help too. “We’re always looking for bargains at the end of the season,” she says. “We bought our patio furniture at the end of the summer at Superstore and saved a lot of money.”
Another simple tip is to get the most life out of the pieces you have now. “We had slip covers made for all the furniture,” she says. “In a cottage like this, there’s a lot of wear and tear so you have to be practical. Things like that can make a huge difference.”
A new deck reflects that budget consciousness and commitment to practicality, while sticking with the overall design theme. “It’s a marine-style deck,” Armstrong Hand says. “It’s made with logs and ropes that they used to tie up the ferry from Nova Scotia.” Incorporating those found and recycled components enhances the overall aesthetic and saves on décor expenses.
Andrew Danson Danushevsky is a fine-art photographer who splits his time between Toronto and Halifax. In 2001, he bought an old fisherman’s home in Change Islands, Newfoundland and converted it to his summer escape. Like Armstrong Hand, Danson believed that antique and repurposed décor touches were the best way to achieve the look he wanted, while staying true to his personal philosophy. “My view about material is if it has value, respect it, maintain it, keep it,” he explains.
He decorated the tiny outport home in a functional, Spartan style. “The house is designed with simplicity,” he says. “My wife and I have a Zen influence in how we live our lives and the house is an extension of that. The original structure was very simple and functional...that’s what I wanted to preserve.”
Attractive touches include an old teak table that he brought from Toronto, an antique pine dry sink from his family’s cottage in Muskoka, Ontario and a 1930s wooden floor lamp that he rescued from a garbage pile and refinished. A Persian rug in the living room adds a final splash of style.
The result is a space that’s eclectic but uncluttered, functional yet attractive. And for Danushevsky, that means it does everything a good cottage should. “As soon as I get off the ferry, I feel freedom, space, beauty and purity, which all leads to revitalization.”
Like Danushevsky, Jay Hiltz discovered new life in an old space. He spent several months renovating a bungalow in Martin’s Point, on Nova Scotia’s South Shore. Previously owned by his grandmother (and in the family for generations), the cottage had become run-down as a rental property.
Doing much of the work with the aid of family and friends, Hiltz stripped the space down to bare studs and floorboards. “Pretty much everything was replaced,” he recalls. “The carpet was removed and wood flooring installed. The bathroom was gutted and the layout changed to maximize the space...I also installed a French door off the kitchen and added a large patio.”
A graphic designer by trade, Hiltz turned his artistic sensibilities to décor, fostering a chic, eclectic style. “Being creative with design solutions can lead to some really unexpected and great results,” he says. “I love the clash of old and rustic with modern, clean, contemporary design. Salvaging from thrift stores, antique shops, Kijiji, friends’ basements and flea markets can lead to finding some great pieces at inexpensive prices.”
When Tracey Smith, from Halifax, and her family acquired their cottage in Souris, P.E.I., they were in a different situation. “We built it from scratch in 1993,” she explains. They designed the cottage in a simple two-storey farmhouse style, with a compact 750 square feet of area per floor.
The cottage boasts a splendid seaside location, so Smith’s goal was ultimately to create a space for relaxation and reinvigoration. “Thinking about design, we wanted to keep it light and airy,” she says, “beachy but modern. The setting affects the design.”
Her design philosophy translates into nature-inspired colour palette. “We went with lots of light blues, sandy browns and splashes of greens,” Smith says, adding that the flooring choices complement the scheme. “We have a blonde, bamboo floor in the master bedroom. It really brings light to the whole room.”
Like other cottage owners, she found that she didn’t need to buy all new furniture to achieve the look she wanted. “We have a mix of retro furniture and new pieces,” she says. “We have two chocolate-brown leather couches that aren’t the slightest bit cottagey, but they work. It all works together.”
And that really illustrates the principle you should keep in mind for decorating your cottage: that it’s a space for fun and relaxation. Think about the things that energize and invigorate you and incorporate them into your design. Rather than worrying about hard and fast rules, follow your whimsy and have fun with the space.
If you’re not hiring a professional decorator, remember that the process can be time consuming, advises decorator and cottage owner Erin Armstrong Hand. “Be ready to put in time and hard work,” she says. “You have to be organized, especially in the beginning. Think about how you’re going to manage the property when you’re not there. If you can make friends with your neighbours and rely on local help, that makes a big difference.
Smith offers one final tip: you’re always changing, so why shouldn’t your cottage evolve as well? “We’re always hanging pictures, moving things around and fine-tuning things,” she says. “It’s a constant work in progress.”