Buying a new home is a massive moment in your life and a huge investment.  As my wife aptly phrased it: you can’t have an amazing home without then decorating it amazingly!  Tis true.  We were very lucky and used the Schell paint option so the house was already painted when we moved in.  With the kiddos, we certainly didn’t want to move into our new amazing home and then try to paint.  We loved the idea of having that phase done before settlement.  This allowed us to focus on furnishing our new home, which is no easy task.
We also had the good fortune to work with Jaime Senard to gain an early start on a few items from Echelon Interiors.
We looked at Johnny Janosik and other stores, we looked online and we looked at brochures but we couldn’t find the additional items we needed for the house until we stumbled across Salvaged and Haute.  Unfortunately, Haute is located right next to Surf Bagel and so extremely close to Coastal Club.  This has proved to be an expensive location for me :).  Haute is unique in that it’s only open for one weekend per month, usually the last Thursday to Sunday of the month to be precise.  Imagine that, a store selling furniture just open 4 days a month! It immediately caught my eye.  So before we moved into our home, I stopped by.  I knew immediately I was in for trouble.  Unique items with a restoration hardware feel about them ranging from beds, bar furniture, light fixtures, bedside tables and everything else in between.
Next door is Salvaged. They sell unique pieces along with the ability to sell chalk paint so you can re-paint your own furniture. We actually had Brynn paint a piece of furniture for us so that it would match the new bedroom furniture we purchased from Haute.  We really loved the finished product and they stored the dresser until the house was ready.  We also picked up some old school lockers! I was dubious but the wife loved them.  Turned out to be a great piece in our loft and it allowed us to store all the childrens’ books! We love it. You can see I came around quickly.
Without telling you about all the pieces we purchased, we really love both stores.  Great quality and with reasonable prices, it has been a savior for us and allowed us to purchase pieces in our home that we could actually see in person and feel we’ve kept to the style we wanted.  Not only that but Travor and his team have been awesome.  They allowed us to store the items we purchased until our house was built and then they delivered to us once we moved in.  The service was amazing and certainly reduced all the stress, especially knowing they were only coming from Lewes.
I can without doubt recommend them to you even though they have burned a hole in my pocket 🙂
Check them out and you will not be disappointed.

Think local. Buy local. Be local.

Local’s Corner is a series where Adam Pettengell recommends a local or independent business.

I get asked by a lot of my homeowners about home insurance in Delaware.  Obviously, home insurance needs to be in place before you go to settlement as you pre-pay your insurance.  A lot of ‘my people’ are from out-of-state and their insurance agents will not insure their home at the beach.  Crazy but true.  Even at Coastal Club with basement home sites and higher elevation home sites with a lower water table, people have trouble.  THIS IS NOT A CONCERN.  Down at the beach we have multiple agents with national companies who can and will insure you for your primary or secondary home.

Back across the pond I never had an actual person whom I knew as my insurance agent.  It was kind of weird when I came across the pond and needed to get car insurance.  Back home, I would have just gone on the internet and shopped around. AND, although I went with a national company, I went with a local agent.  In my thinking, I’m still using local in that sense.  Does that make sense?

We’ve used Eric Blondin from State Farm for a number of years now.  Eric and his team are top notch.  Located on Route 1, Eric’s office is easy to find and his staff are top notch.  What I like about having a person I know is that Eric is always on the end of the phone when I need him.  He knows me.  I don’t have to give any background information or my last four digits of my social security.  I have his cell number and have called it a few times for his advice on matters regarding insurance.  On top of that, I know that I can count on Eric to come out and visit me if I needed a face-to-face or again just to chat about my options.  It’s that personal touch that allows me to very openly recommend Eric as a top insurance agent at the beach.

So true story. We just went on a short journey to Camelback in PA for a weekend.  I handle all the insurance, bills etc.  I’m much better at that stuff and the wife is better with homework and getting clothes out for the kids for the next day.  Got to work to your strengths 🙂 So I digress.  Anyway, we’re on the road, happy as clams, to be giving our children a skiing opportunity.  Not much skiing in England 🙂 Anyway, I digress again.  I’m checking the car details and ask where the insurance card is.  Obviously, the wife looks at me and says that’s your job! I was going to turn around and delay the trip but had trust in Eric and his team.  SO, even though it was a Saturday morning at 6am I emailed Eric and asked if he could email over a copy of the insurance just as a precaution.  Within the hour I had an email copy.  I didn’t need it during the journey BUT having it available certainly made the journey for me less stressful.  It’s great knowing I can trust Eric and his team, whatever the circumstances, to make my life easier.  You can’t put a price on that level of trust.  

So make this part of joining us at the beach easy, and get in touch with Eric and his team: 

www.surfsidecoverage.com
18958 Coastal Highway, Rehoboth Beach, DE 19971
Phone: 302-227-4663
Always remember:

Think local first + Buy local when you can = Being a local!

Local’s Corner is a series where Adam Pettengell recommends a local or independent business.

Cheers Adam