Building a Balsam Lake Dream Cottage
Nancy and Vince built their dream house and were feeling absolutely grateful to be where they are at starting retirement. When they walked into our offices, we knew we were going to hit it off - they had an energy to them that was contagious. After cottaging on Balsam Lake in the Kawartha Lakes for years, the long-time married couple had planned retirement at the cottage and had just completed a new build on their existing cottage lot. When we arrived, they had committed to only using the existing dining room table, but not in its original oak. They had been waiting for help making the furniture choices they needed to last well into the future.
After taking some time to look at inspirational photos and understanding what Nancy and Vince needed, we set about making a furniture plan and putting together some storyboards to help them picture their currently sparse rooms furnished. Nancy wanted a say, but only knew what she really didn’t want and Vince promised to not get in the way too much, except to have the occasional veto if it really didn’t work for him. After a few good conversations about the feel we would try to achieve in the cottage, we decided that we would use a combination of bought and custom pieces. The only caveat was that our design was to fit into a very specific budget. Vince watching closely that we didn’t step out of line, Nancy (and us admittedly) certainly tried to push.
We visited Canadian furniture maker EQ3 to take a look at some of their feather-filled furniture and we decided our carpenters would take on the task of building some furniture from scratch. We needed to add some character to what would be all new furniture. Our cabinet manufacturer Lucvaa was going to provide us with some built-in units and Lisa from Recovered Treasures Upholstery would provide us with a bench seat cushion and some roman shades. We would paint out the existing table and Jonathan Adler Lighting was going to add a bit of contemporary flair with new lighting.
Nancy really wanted a beach feel, but for everything to be simple, the view from the great room should take front stage. We decided on some fabrics and different sofas and chairs for each space and then started making side tables and our cabinet maker, some built-ins.
We can’t always find the right style or size of side table and when we do are sometimes scared off by the custom pricing, so we decided to take these on ourselves. We discovered Jack Van Halteren at Van Halteren Machine and Tool in Lindsay who built the metal frames for all the side tables based on simple sketches. Woodview Farm and Forest Products in Lindsay supplied all the tops. They have a great supply of wood and we always have great success in finding the right wood products.
Once everything was ready we asked Nancy to spend the day away from the house and our team brought everything in. It took the day, but we finished everything up, put some of the old furniture into our trailer and told Nancy she could come home. Nancy is often outspoken with her joy and the excited tears came room after room, her tears and excitement shared amongst our team - this was after all, a dream come true.
