The Cottage: Create Your Perfect Summer Oasis

As things start to get busy and the Home Show season approaches, a quick weekend up to the cottage is a true blessing.  It’s the place to  escape  when craving  some down time and to connect with family, nature and yourself.  

Take a deep breath and create a summer oasis

Sunrise is the best part of an early morning waking up at the cottage.  It makes the drive worthwhile and the overuse of the snooze button '5 more minutes' not required.   A breath of fresh air as you absorb the views  across the lake,  taking a deep breath it  feels  like you are the only one in your piece of the world.  The concrete jungle and the gentle hum of the city and the office are far in the past.

The early morning sight of the serene natural beauty of the lake brings about 'happy place' to life.  As the morning light blankets the lake, calm and beauty  take control.  The lake is so calm, like glass,  a big sigh releases the  weight of the world as it falls off your shoulders.  It's the best part of the morning, taking in the serenity of mother nature, while sipping your morning coffee from the dock.    A popular instagram moment for me to share my happy place as morning coffee is inhaled as the rest of the world awakes.  And why is it coffee always tastes better on the dock. 

Fresh flowers a simple way to add colour and natural beauty to your cottage.

Nothing brightens a space quite like a pretty vase of fresh flowers, so why not brighten the cottage too.  Be creative with simply ways to display the beautiful blooms.  A great way is to reuse what you have.  Clear or coloured bottles are perfect to brighten the entrance with a few wild flowers. Simple but so pretty to great you and your guests.

Be dramatic with beauty. 

At it's finest, a simple peony sits pretty in a simple glass vase.  Beauty of this magnitude can stand alone.  A must for the cottage garden adding fragrance and beauty.. . and adding to a glass vase - voila spendor!   

Another great way to keep it simple and low maintenance for cottage gardens, container gardening.  In this case it's so easy to use hanging baskets (with the hangers dismantled) displayed throughout the rural landscape.  Repurposed old existing or adding tree stumps  provides a simple natural stand for flowering budding blooms and pops of colour.  Easy to maintain and easy to water, no hose required.

 Candleight Crush

Bring the party outside and take your sense of style with you.  Giving the cottage a boost of style, outdoor lanterns bring warmth glow to the outside.  These gleaming oversized Lanterns with groupings of pillar candles bring shimmering light to life as the dark skies fall.  Candlelight, like open fires, have a certain allure — one of warmth and romance. 

Create an outdoor living space, bring the inside out.

A  cottage, whether a summer retreat or a yearlong abode, needs to reflect your personality and lifestyle.  By extending the living space and bringing it outside, a relaxing home away from home is created.  In any addition to the natural landscape, keep it simple and let the natural beauty play a large part.  The outdoor furniture is important that it reflected the views but comfort was the major factor.  The deck is now an outdoor living room of comfort and enjoyed by the whole family. 

Create an Outdoor Dining Oasis

In addition to the main cottage a gazebo/Bunkie space existed - over the years it's uses changed from relaxation oasis with relaxing large pillows and flowing drapes to a mini adventure Bunkie.. .and never used.  It underwent a mini makeover with the screens taken down and the addition of a teak table -- and an outdoor dining oasis was born.  It breathes new life into the landscape and now a popular gathering  place for delicious dining overlooking the lake with dusk settling in or the moon rising. 

Take time to enjoy your surroundings.

Live life to the fullest and make time to 'unplug' .  Enjoy what mother nature has to offer.

- Special thanks to Marketplace Events' Toronto Home Show Manager Tina Holmes (@TinaLovesPinot) for letting us into her beautiful summer oasis.

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