We were hard-core campers when we started our hunt for a cottage three years ago. We snorted at Coleman stoves, we snuffled at air mattresses, we were all backcountry and portages. But hard-core is just that: hard. And life with three kids (Harper, 10, Oliver, 7, and Jessica, 5) soon left my husband, Paul Kilback, and me longing for something more permanent.
We were wrapping up a whirlwind tour of mobile homes with our realtor (by this point we’d seen every possible application for Astroturf, including a bathroom floor!), when we suggested she show us her lowest listing, a 900-square-foot cabin three hours northeast of Toronto. With no plumbing, no electrical and no drywall, it was essentially a box. But it was a well-built box, and more important, it stood on four acres of forest with 250 feet of shoreline. Our realtor looked at us cockeyed, her voice half disdain, half disbelief: “If you’re into that sort of thing,” she said. Apparently we were into that sort of thing.
Between rustic and sophisticated
Layering rustic elements like reclaimed-wood shelving with a sophisticated gold, charcoal grey and white scheme creates a rich depth in the bathroom.
A fun find like this claw-foot tub was bought for $120 from a nearby farmer. A quick coat of charcoal paint was then used to make it pop beautifully against the white bathroom walls.
