Sadler House Blog - Page 4 of 5

Free “No Smoking” Printable

As a vacation home owner, you are prepared for a lot. You choose furniture you can bear to part with. You ensure that your linens are replaceable and that nothing in your home is so precious that you will cry if it’s destroyed. Every devoted rental owner has to walk that fine line between providing a wonderful guest experience and acknowledging they have to be tough, because accidents and inconsiderate guests are bound to happen.

For non-smoking families, however, there is really no preparation for how upset you are going to be when a guest breaks your policies and smokes in your home. Beyond the emotional distress of finding your beloved house smelling of of smoke, there are many cleaning tasks that become necessary and which also come at great cost.

Make Your Policy (Politely) Clear

Even though I have always emphatically stated in our listings and in our rental contract that smoking is not allowed, I wanted to find a way to remind our guests of our firm non-smoking policy, even while they are staying at the house. With that said, there’s no reason to settle for a boring “No Smoking” sign when you can make something more entertaining! I had so much fun creating this one that I thought I’d offer it to anyone who wanted to have a similar sign in the beach or coastal (or just New England!) home.

Just click the link at the bottom of the page to download a png of our sign. I created it using a public domain illustration found on vintageprintable.com, which is chock full of fantastic images.

This is designed to print as an 8×10. When you send it to your printer, be sure to select 8×10 as your printing size and make sure the “fit to page” box is NOT checked.

Once the sign prints, you can trim it and frame! Voila.

I hope this entertains you and your guests and that it keeps your home smoke-free for many years to come.

FREE PRINTABLE SIGN

Sadler House April 10, 2015 2 Comments Permalink

Rockland “What’s New” Round-Up for 2015!

Some people would call us crazy for heading north to Maine for spring break, but we would have it no other way. Not only does it give us an opportunity to take care of projects around the house before a fresh season of guests, but it allows us the chance to enjoy Rockland in the off-season, when there is no waiting at restaurants and everyone has time to chat.

No matter where you go, even with cooler weather persisting, it seems you run into someone you know, and it’s so much fun to feel the strong local ties that you don’t notice in the summer, when the town is full of visitors. Of course, after a tough winter like this one, there’s also the happy feeling that summer is on its way. The snow is finally (!) melting and Rockland is buzzing with quiet excitement about several new additions. Make sure not to miss these new Rockland favorites as the weather warms and outdoor living resumes.

Sadler House April 8, 2015 Leave A Comment Permalink

Industrial Coffee Table

If someone asked me to define the style I had in mind when we furnished Sadler House, it would be tough to summarize. We wanted the house to be comfortable, yes. We wanted it to be grounded and unfussy. Most of all, we wanted it to feel fresh and light.

Industrial Coffee Table - Sadler House We also had a tight budget.

Have you ever gone shopping for a coffee table? Man, those can be expensive! After building the farmhouse table for the dining room, I importuned Dan to take on the coffee table. Even buying one used to refinish was looking to be much too expensive. Why not just craft our own?

While scrolling through the hundreds of tutorials on Pinterest, I came across a photo of a table someone made using wood and plumbing parts. That was it. I loved the spare and sturdy design.

All the materials we used for this table were found at our local home improvement store. If you wanted to, you could do this really cheaply using pine. We splurged a little and went with poplar, since it is more durable and has a cleaner look after being stained.

All-told, buying the materials for the table cost us about $125…although I must confess I have long-since misplaced the receipt (oops). Suffice to say, we got a beautiful new table for much less than we would have paid in a store. Read more →

Sadler House March 8, 2015 42 Comments Permalink

So You Want to Run a Vacation Rental: Cleaning Secrets

When I used to tell people that we were going to buy this house in Maine and manage renting it ourselves (remotely) people kept their opinions to themselves but largely looked skeptical. Certainly, operating Sadler House has been a huge adventure and one I wouldn’t trade for anything. We were ready for much of what came our way, because we did our research. Not surprisingly, however, a few things caught us off guard. If you are planning to undertake this type of project, you have to expect the unexpected, as the saying goes!

One of the biggest fears that kept me awake at night was managing cleanings between guests. If you live in the same town as your vacation home, you have the luxury of checking the home before guests arrive. You can clean it yourself, or you can cover for your cleaning service if they don’t show up or if someone is sick.

We can’t do that.

I knew from the beginning that we would be totally reliant on our cleaning service. That’s why I almost had a heart attack trying to find someone to do our vacation home turnover cleanings. Fortunately, thanks to the recommendations of good friends and local social media, I have been partnered with two outstanding cleaning services over the years.

Be Informed

If you are planning to operate a vacation home, you should do a little research about what cleaning services are available in the area. If you are in an isolated area, or a small town, finding someone to reliably clean your home could be a major obstacle — especially since the majority of weekly summer turnovers all happen at the same time every Saturday! Don’t put yourself in a bad spot by assuming you’ll find a cleaning service and then realizing there is nobody to do this for you. If, due to a lack of cleaning companies, you will need to hire an individual who is local to the area, consider how you’ll find that person and what you’ll require for back-up in case of illness or emergencies. Read more →

Sadler House November 5, 2014 2 Comments Permalink

Balsamic Pesto Caprese Bites

I love serving antipasto when we have guests over, but sometimes the delivery is challenging. If you don’t give people something they can easily eat standing up, they won’t always take it.

This is the perfect time of year to be using late summer ingredients like basil and tomatoes. This weekend, I threw together my own twist on caprese bites. These were a huge hit at our gathering and every single one was eaten!

Sadler House September 28, 2014 1 Comment Permalink

Flex Your Mussels: Two Delicious Recipes

When my husband and I first met, we lived in Boston and Manhattan, respectively, so our first real “date” had to be one of those volatile weekend visits that destroy so many fledgling relationships. He was coming to visit me. I was racking my brain to think of the best places to take him and the most not-awkward things to do: first date on steroids.

Of course we talked on the phone a lot, because we were not able to see each other in person. One night a few days before that first weekend visit, I was listening with only one ear as he told me about his evening. What I was really thinking about what if I shouldn’t take him to my favorite Belgian restaurant for dinner. But did he like shellfish? Polarizing.

Meanwhile, he was rattling on about his evening’s activities, and told me he had just gotten back from the gym. Running along my own selfish thought train, I blurted out “Do you like mussels?”

There was an awkward pause.

“Ummm…what do you mean?” Because, based on the actual conversation he had thought we were having about his trip to the gym, this is what he heard.

“Do you like muscles?”

This could have been one of those moments when so many relationships go horribly wrong and end before they are started. Because, seriously, what kind of a creepy question was that?

Sadler House September 12, 2014 1 Comment Permalink

Presto Pesto Recipe

When you want to feel really self-satisfied over a home cooking endeavor, look no further than pesto. It’s one of those foods that has a sort of glamorous foodie image and with good cause. Pesto adds incredible flavor to everything from sandwiches to pasta. It’s expensive to buy, though, and can be overpowering if you use too much. I think people are a little intimidated by it.

When we finally moved into our own house and I had room to grow as much basil as my heart desired, I went a little overboard. In the summer of 2006, my backyard looked like it belonged to Cheech and Chong. What could I do with all this basil? I just made batch after batch of pesto and froze it in ice cube trays. For the entire winter, we had fresh pesto (defrosted on the spot) to use in our meals. Some summers, since, have been better for pesto than others. This year, I got another bumper crop. As August comes to a close, it’s time to put that freshness away for the cold winter nights.

Sadler House August 28, 2014 2 Comments Permalink

Mom’s Sneaky Whoopie Pie Recipe

Dan and I love food. We love to cook it and we love to eat it. That’s why it was a surprise and a frustration to us when one of our two children turned out to be one of the pickiest eaters we’d ever seen.

Suffice to say, this child has not eaten a vegetable in any form since he was old enough to feed himself.

I tried all the cook books promising that I could hide veggie purees in my child’s food. None of them worked. He’s a detective — seeking out and systematically rejecting any recipe that has incorporated a vegetable in any form.

Man, does this kid love a whoopie pie, though — and why not? The whoopie pie is truly one of the best things ever to come out of Maine, is it not?

Recently, I came across a recipe for a supposedly delectable double-chocolate zucchini bread. It’s no wonder; everyone I know is buried under a pile of zukes at this time of year. Zucchini recipes are needed, stat! I started to ask myself if it might not be possible to create a whoopie pie that hid a pile of zucchini inside its delicious, cakey goodness. I figured it might be a total failure, but I had little to lose. Sure, I’m still handing him the filling to go with all that veggie goodness but, hey, you pick your battles, folks.

Spoiler: THIS WHOOPIE PIE TURNED OUT TO BE TOTALLY RAD. More importantly, the child ate it.

Yep. He ate it and begged for more. Having tasted the pies of whoopieness, myself, I am totally sold. They pack the electrically sugary punch that a normal whoopie pie might, but the bite of the dark chocolate and the moist density of the cake is ideal for balancing out the sweet filling. We are totally sold.

We already ate the first batch and it’s only been two days. If you have a child who could benefit from some zucchini, try serving this up as your next dessert.

Sadler House August 5, 2014 4 Comments Permalink

Idea File: Day Out in Lucketts

Old house enthusiasts are a special breed. Nothing seems to please us more than an afternoon of spelunking through a flea market or strolling around a swap meet. It’s not surprising that, for our 10th anniversary (kid-free) date afternoon, Dan and I chose to hit the Virginia wine country, starting with a leisurely stop in the nearby town of Lucketts, which has emerged as a really inspirational place to browse for vintage and antique items of every conceivable type!

Of course, you needn’t even buy anything. Just looking around allows you to leave richer: both in funds and in ideas. One of my favorite parts of the Lucketts stores is that there are so many salvaged doors to gawk at. How amazing would it be to put these on your house somewhere? I’ve thought of them as a wall decoration. Or what about a sliding door on a barn door track inside a room with a soaring ceiling?

Divine.

Perfect portals!

Sadler House August 3, 2014 Leave A Comment Permalink

From Curbside to Cozy: Master Bed Makeover

Every trash day, my son notices that I drive more slowly down our neighborhood street. I was mortified the day he said “Are you looking for stuff for the house?”

Busted.

I’m pretty choosy (and a little sheepish) about grabbing discarded items off the curb, but this is what I figure: curbside finds are both free and ecologically friendly! Furthermore, you sometimes come upon a gem you wouldn’t know where to find anywhere else.

When we were decorating Sadler House on a budget, we talked a lot about how we could make our master bedroom more elegant without shelling out the big bucks for a headboard. Of course, there are tons of headboard tutorials on Pinterest, but we were hesitant to take any of these projects on with so little experience.

Then, one trash day, I saw this odd piece of heavy, overly decorative fabulousness on the curb.

Dark and overwhelming, but full of possibilities!

I furtively grabbed it off the trash pile and threw it in the back of my car. When I showed it to my husband, he was dubious. What did I think I was going to do with it? I shrugged. “Hang it on the wall?”

He was skeptical.

It was about this time that I discovered Annie Sloan® chalk paint. I decided that this piece would be so much less oppressive if it were white. What if I messed it up? Well, it didn’t matter, since it was free, after all.

Sadler House June 9, 2014 Leave A Comment Permalink

Make Your Policy (Politely) Clear

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