clutter – BIG

In episode 4 of the Cottage Life Podcast Season 3, we’ll listen to an essay all about collecting classic cottage kitsch. Listen here or visit cottagelife.com for access to all of the episodes.

Three years ago we went shopping for a cottage. Our requirements were simple: All we wanted was a picturesque shack surrounded by rocks and pines – you know, a couple of bedrooms, a big living room with a stone fireplace, a wraparound veranda, and a century’s worth of memorabilia accumulated by the original owners.

Strangely, such places turned out to be exceedingly rare – at least in our price range. We eventually found rocks and pine, but they came with a brand-new, perfectly pristine, split-level prefab. Hydro, hot and cold running water, wall-to-wall carpeting in the bedrooms, and all the charm of a suburban motel.

It didn’t help when Art and I met our neighbours. On one side were Myron and Clara, whose cluttered log cabin had been the hunting lodge of a 100-year-old-estate. On the other side were Buddy and Flo, who had designed and built their own cabin, guest house, sheds, and decks, all of which were filled with toys, tools, and 10 years’ worth of familiabilia. We traipsed back to our barren prefab and focused on the efficiency of the R-30 insulation and the million-watt fluorescent light fixture in the kitchen.

We were desperate to “decorate” – but didn’t know where to begin. Hammering the fire hole in unmarred cedar walls was too traumatic to contemplate. Besides, we didn’t have much of anything to hang on them. Finally, we put up a Navajo rug. Big mistake. It only accentuated the fact that there wasn’t a single other cottage collectible in the place. We sorely felt the absence of clutter.

Luckily, we had relatives. They gave us old linens: brown-and-white plaid sheets, orange-and-brown throws, navy pillow cases, brown-and-yellow towels, not a complete set in the lot. These certainly helped take the edge off our Holiday Inn look.

Then Art’s parents donated an ancient woodstove – big, dirty, and horribly inefficient. We loved it. And after I dropped a couple of hot lids, which left round burn marks on the pristine carpet, we were well on the way (as I kept telling Art) to the we’ve-been-here-forever ambiance we craved.

The second year, I bought a can of taupe paint and painted over the white drywall in the kitchen. The results were ghastly, as Art pointed out when he returned the following weekend: “That’s not taupe, it’s brown,” he said.

No matter. I went paint crazy. I obliterated the too-clean look of the Ikea furniture by painting it dark green. It looked so good, I used the same green to cover up the taupe. Perhaps I got carried away. After an unpleasant scene with Art over the matter of some laminated maple bookshelves he has recently built, and which I thought needed a good coat of enamel, I put the paint away.

An interior designer’s guide to updating your cottage decor

After three years of admiring our Navajo rug, dirty woodstove, bare green walls, and R-30 insulation, we knew something was still missing, but we were stuck in Metropolitan Home and didn’t know how to get out. It was the lamp that finally helped us break through the barrier into true cottage-style decor. Another gift from Art’s parents, it has a ceramic base with little figures and a red shade made of old Venetian blinds – kitsch if ever there was. We weren’t sure we wanted it, until Art’s sister said she wanted it, which made us realize we had to have it. We sat it on the counter, plugged it in, and had a laugh, and it’s been there ever since. In fact we recently acquired its mate – a prancing steed wearing another Venetian lampshade.

The lamps were quickly followed by a dozen family photos scattered across a nearby wall. Then, after three years without a cottage guest book (because we couldn’t find one to meet our exacting design standards), we started taking Polaroids of friends and making them create their own twig, bark, and painted cardboard frames for the Bathroom Guest Gallery. Old posters were unfurled and ruthlessly plastered onto every available wall. We stopped living out of overnight bags and imported Goodwill drawers for the bedroom. We hung up Art’s toy boat and plane to get them out of the way and liked the way they looked. We drilled holes all over the cedar walls for coat and hat pegs.

Everything is still too new, but we know that with time, a continuing influx of clutter, and a little courage on our part, our cottage will be as properly shabby as any other on the bay.

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As peak season winds down, you may be itching to declutter the cottage and get organized. While it’s important to refresh your space, while you’re cleaning out the cottage, you may want to take a closer look at some items that many are eager to put in the ‘junk’ pile. As Wally James of Apsley Auctions in Peterborough, Ontario knows well, some things carry surprising—and unexpected—value.

Fishing equipment

Tackle boxes, flies, poles and lures are staples that many cottagers have accumulated over the years. But be careful before piling up old lures and rods together in a donation box when you’re cleaning out the cottage . “Fishing tackle can have a really high value, and it just looks like junk to some people,” Wally James says. Depending on the condition and brand of a rod, for example, it could be in high demand. James once sold a 1912 Hardy fishing rod for more than a thousand dollars after advertising it to fish and game clubs in the U.S. Flies or lures can also have resale value, particularly to collectors.

Sporting gear

Having an old-school pair of snowshoes tacked up on the wall is popular cottage decor, and if you have a pair lying around that are still functional, they can be valuable that way, too. James says to look out for bear’s paw or trapper snowshoes, the classic woven wood style we see on display.

Handmade furniture

Furniture seems like an obvious item to sell rather than throw away when you’re cleaning out the cottage, and with the ever-increasing popularity of antique or vintage items, it’s worth it to see what you can get for that dented table or chair missing a leg. James says that pine furniture in particular can be very valuable, especially what he calls “primitive” pine furniture, meaning something handmade by a non-professional. “A lot of times people won’t recognize it because it looks shabby and worn,” he says. “But when you find something that was handcrafted, it will always have an important value.”

Your guide to cleaning just about everything at the cottage

Lamps

Although this falls into the furniture category, it deserves specific attention, since antique styles like coal-oil lamps used to be—and still are—popular in cottages for their quaint nature. Though like furniture, not all coal-oil lamps have the same allure. Aladdin lamps, a style where the flame sits in a glass casing and usually has a brass base, can be valuable, as they’re sought after by collectors. Another brand to look out for are Handel lamps, where the glass shade alone can run a high price. James says he was recently at a property where an old Handel lamp was found to be worth nearly four thousand dollars, just for the shade. Antique sellers can be a good route to finding a market for these lamps.

Canoes

A feature at many cottages, canoes can hold their value well over the years, especially if they were used infrequently. They can sometimes be refurbished by sports outfitters or purchased by other cottagers looking to add to their collection. James has seen a vintage canoe from the 1960s sell for nearly seven thousand dollars; it had been hung in the rafters for most of its life and was still in mint condition.

Old maps, magazines, and books

These are usually some of the first items to be tossed into recycling or sent for donation when people are cleaning out the cottage, but depending on the quality and condition, there is a market for collectors and decorators alike, particularly for maps. On platforms like Etsy, vintage magazines are becoming popular as gifts for people with an interest or attachment to a certain era.

Artwork

Like furniture, this may seem obvious, but James says one of the first places to look for treasures in a cottage is on the wall, noting what’s on display. Some cottage owners put up art of the surrounding area or done by local artists, meaning they may sell well locally.

Collector’s items

Stamps, coins, old bills… many take their joys and hobbies with them to the cottage and end up leaving them behind. If they’re not of sentimental value, James says it’s often most worth it to sell things like silver coins for scrap metal; a Canadian silver dollar from the ‘60s, for example, goes for about $14.

Dishes

James was once at a house where a woman had a table full of dishes to send to donation, and another stray box laying nearby. While everything on the table ended up going to Goodwill, the forgotten box of dishes ended up being worth about $700, largely due to the brand name. It’s a lesson in paying attention to the brand, design, and condition of the dishes, which can run a high price in antique or collectors’ circles.

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