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| Wool cushion from Pottery Barn, wool throw vintage. |
We've been busy these last few months travelling back and forth to a ski chalet near Georgian Bay. We didn't buy a vacation home, we rented it for the winter season. Why would we do this? Well, to ski at a club we're trying out for one, but we wanted to try to holiday differently this year: rather than one or two vacations we've been able to get away every weekend if we chose.
If you are thinking of investing in a vacation property (and judging from the activity in this category in the area we rented this is a very popular purchase these days) I would highly recommend renting for at least a couple of seasons- or maybe for always. An additional property is very expensive to maintain, is a constant worry (is it being broken into while you're not there etc, mechanical things breaking down etc) and if you ever need/want to sell it you'll be paying capital gains tax on the selling price: what a commotion.
We were excited about our rental (especially considering we weren't very familiar with the area) and we spent the first weekend in December moving in our own linens and kitchen things. If you're going to be using a place for just inside of four months it can be much more pleasant to fluff it up with your own items, your own style. Rentals are typically a bit utilitarian when it comes to bedding and kitchen items, you'll feel more at home with your own little "extras".
I have a love of old wool blankets and I've collected them over the years, typically from Etsy. They came in handy at the chalet in the living area, I threw them over the existing furniture which warmed up the room but also protected the furniture from spills and mess.
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This black and white wool blanket from Iceland covered a chair.
This one is my favourite, it's from the 1970's. |
I brought in plenty of pillows to throw around, these linen pillow covers from Pottery Barn with the ruffled edges are my favourite. I have five of them so we ended up using them all over the chalet:
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| Linen pillow cover Pottery Barn. |
We really enjoyed the fact that the chalet was quite different from our house, very open-concept with a wood-burning fireplace and plenty of space for large gatherings. High ceilings and huge windows made it feel really spacious and we loved the views of the water and the forest.
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| Large windows looking out over a forest. |
I was very focussed on fluffing up the beds in the chalet. I have several quilts from LLBean that are cozy and evocative of the 1970's-1980's. I put one in each of the four bedrooms.
Rentals rarely have mattress pads on the mattresses, and I'll tell you, as far as I'm concerned mattress pads are KEY. I buy them from Lands' End typically, and I go for the ones with the highest cotton content.
I then layered the beds with flannel sheets and vintage wool blankets, all topped off with one of the quilts.
They definitely do not make wool blankets like they used to. I have a couple from northern Europe that I found on Etsy, they are literally nearly an inch thick. They also have wonderful patterns and colours:
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| Thick wool blankets. |
Most of the flannel I own is from Lands' End, and some of it I had embroidered with cute chalet-style monograms:
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Cute trees on bedsheets.
Snowshoe-themed flannel sheets from a discount store. |
I brought lots of baskets to warm things up with their texture but also to help keep us organized. We typically had friends and family with us which meant that we had plenty of recycling to do (wine and beer bottles hehe) as well as lots of supplies coming in to feed the crowd.
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| Basket for recycling. |
There was a large square table in the open living area that was perfect for meals, I warmed it up with a tablecloth that had belonged to my in-laws. They used it at their ski chalet so the cloth itself holds many happy memories. I also love the colours and 1970's-feel of the loomed texture:
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| The tablecloth warming up the dining area. |
The kitchen was quite small and somewhat primitive: no dishwasher and limited cupboard space.
I brought our own dishes in a white, yellow and blue colour scheme as well as a good coffee maker, electric milk frother for the coffee (that was a popular item) and an electric slow-cooker.
We typically had plenty of snacks and late dinners, usually out of the slow-cooker.
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| Snacks. Yup chips and dip. |
Even though I am a big fan of cloth napkins this was not the place for it, I bought colourful paper napkins:
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| More snacks, and paper napkins. |
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| A typical dinner, chicken from the slow cooker with vegetables. |
I really enjoyed cooking at the chalet, I just did lots of easy meals like minestrone, here ready to go in the slow cooker with a wedge of reggiano thrown in for flavour:
Lemon garlic chicken was another favourite dish:
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The slow cooker insert with chicken ready to start cooking.
I liked this one because the insert was stove-top safe.
This allowed me to braise things before the slow cook process began. |
In the early winter we went for plenty of walks in the area:
Scout loved the chalet (it was dog-friendly, that was key for us). She especially loves the snow, she was in heaven on those chalet weekends.
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| Scout living the life. |
Our rascal kids did lots of skiing with MrBP:
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| Ole Rascal and MrBP ready to head down the black diamond slope. |
The evenings were cozy by the fire and felt especially good after the fresh air and exercise of the day.
Scout loved lying around by the fire:
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| Scout holding hands with Rascal G. |
It was a busy winter going back and forth, this is one of the reasons I haven't had much time for the Mop Philosophy blog. I have our chalet extras back home and stored away in a trunk for the next time we rent for the season, probably not next year but maybe sometime in the future.
Have you ever rented a vacation home for a season, be it winter or summer?
Do you have a dream of owning a cottage or a chalet in the woods?
xoxDani
