It’s easy math: Friends + sunshine + steaks on the grill = A perfect cottage weekend. Unless you mess up the steak part. Which won’t happen, if you follow these 10 commandments from the experts at Cottage Life and Muskoka Brewery.

1. Buy the best. In the steak world, grade and age are the difference between tough and tender. In Canada, that means grade AAA or Prime. Steaks are often aged just 4-16 days, but 21-28 days—or more—is better. If it’s not on the label, ask your meat person.

2. If you’re feeding a crowd, don’t buy individual steaks for the whole mob. Instead, grill a few really big steaks, to slice and share on a platter. It looks great and can save you a car payment.

3. Before cooking, bring your steaks to room temperature, rub with a tiny bit of oil, and season generously. The oil delivers the flavour of your spices into the meat.

4. Unless you like grey meat and burnt sugar, avoid marinades. If you must marinate, wipe away excess liquid before grilling. Serve sauces on the side.

5. Searing and browning are good. Steaks burnt black by greasy flames, bad. Keep the temperature under control and avoid the hot spots on your grill.

6. Sear your steaks on a hot, clean grill. After 2–3 minutes, rotate the meat 90° for grill marks, and cook for 2–3 minutes more. A skinny steak might be done right now. Big, thick steaks will need more cooking, but not over the flame. Once they’re beautifully browned, switch to indirect grilling. (See Commandment #8.)

7. Do not leave steaks unattended. This is serious business. That GoPro kiteboarding shoot will have to wait until dinner is done. Appoint a Hydration Assistant to deliver cold beer to the cook.

8. Thermal inertia will cook steaks a bit more off the heat, so pull them from the grill when they’re just shy of done.

9. Let ’em rest. Meat tenses up and contracts when it’s hot, squeezing delicious juices away from the centre. Give your steaks five minutes to relax.

10. Up your game with off-the-hook toppings. Try grilled thick slices of Vidalia Onion, sautéed fancy mushrooms, a short skewer of grilled shrimp or some crumbled Roquefort cheese.

You don’t have to be selling your cottage to create the front porch or entranceway of your dreams, and it doesn’t have to be a difficult or expensive undertaking. With a little bit of imagination, you can transform any space into an inviting place that your friends and family may never want to leave.

To create a relaxing and cozy vibe, focus on all the senses. Think colour, texture, lighting, and scents. Whether your space is big or small, keep the following tips in mind when you design your entranceway will lay the foundation for an inviting space.

Start with the pathway

What can be more inviting than a pathway that’s dotted with brightly coloured bushes and bordered with plants that give off a lovely vanilla or citrus scent when brushed? At night, bushes that glow with mini lights and a meandering pathway invite guests to explore. Use wildflowers and native plants, and scatter mini lights between the plants and the path. For the path itself, use flagstone for the pavers, with moss growing between them.

Look at the walls

In a lot of cases, walls will benefit from a good power washing—you’ll be surprised what a good cleaning will do. And don’t under estimate the power of paint chipping off your cedar shingles to create a cool vintage effect, especially if you don’t have the money to repaint this year.

Photo courtesy of Pinterest

Other options to bring walls to life include letting plants cascade down the walls instead of planting traditional climbers like ivy. And for a finishing touch, antique windowpanes make great dividers, wall decorations, and planters.

Focus on the floor

If you want your space to be cozy and warm, think “under foot.” Soft textures that take away from the harshness of wood or concrete will transform the space, and they don’t have to be expensive. For example, to create a durable outdoor rug, find old pieces of vinyl, flip them over, and paint the underside. You could also paint or stencil directly onto the floor, or allow the climbing plants to spread across the porch.   

Add accessories

This is where the fun begins! Not only is it inexpensive to change your throw pillows, but you can also add as much colour as you want without making drastic changes to the house or surrounding landscape. For furniture, add a bench or some comfy Muskoka chairs. Get crazy and paint the chairs—you can always sand them down if you don’t like the colour. To make a shady space pop, try using bright colours like yellows, purple or teal. Choose shiny fabrics to reflect more light, or for more of a warm and cozy look, use pastel colours, throw pillows, or blankets in soft fabrics.

Photo courtesy of stonegable.blogspot.com

You can also make a table using old tree stumps of different heights. Leave them as is, or you can paint or whitewash them. For a porch swing, use an old pallet or old garden chairs with the legs removed. And instead of a vase or a large planter, hollow out an old tree stump and stuff it with your favourite flowers, grasses, or moss.

Create ambiance

Nothing will make your space come alive like lighting. There are plenty of options for entranceways, but try to focus on ambiance rather than security. Low-voltage lighting or solar-powered mini lights give off just enough light to make this space the most welcoming spot at the cottage—without creating any unwanted light pollution.

Photo courtesy of michelleragoltd.com

For a crafty approach, you can make your own mini light covers. If your porch is covered, use tissue paper flowers to go over the mini lights. Or you can use small tin cans with holes punched in them. Another option is to use flameless candles wrapped in banana leaves, twigs, paper, or fabric.

You don’t have to be a designer to knock off a designer look. Imagine your porch as an extension of your cottage, and with some creativity and imagination you can have the outside looking as great at the inside (maybe even better).

Jennifer George is a certified staging professional and owner of Curbed Appeal. She has more than 10 years’ experience working in the interior and landscaping design industry.

The landscape of cottage country doesn’t always allow for a garden, but who needs one with planter options like these.

It’s time to open the cottage, making May Two-Four one of the most chore-filled weekends of the year up here. But there’s no reason it has to be all work and no play. There are things that absolutely need to be looked after, but not everything is urgent. Here’s a checklist of stuff you absolutely need to do between drinks on the deck.

Before you go

There’s nothing worse than arriving at the cottage to realize you’ve forgotten something. Sure, you’ll always need to make one more trip to the hardware store, but the better prepared you are, the more quickly you’ll be able to kick back and relax.

• Make sure your electricity is turned on. And be sure to phone whatever other services you’ll need before heading up. Its always best to do this before the weekend to be sure someone can help you.

• Be sure that everything is insured and you know where the documents are. This includes boat, trailer, and cottage insurance. And if you’re pulling a trailer, be sure to test all the lights and connections before your family is loaded into the car.

• Try to remember all and any keys you’ll need. Track them down and make sure you bring them with you.

• Put a tool kit together. You will need tools this weekend. Figure out which ones you’re going to need and pack them. And don’t forget the duct tape!

• Gather some cleaning supplies. You’re definitely going to need to do a little bit of cleaning this weekend. Even if all you do is wipe off the deck chair, you’ll need to have the right equipment to do it!

• If you’re going to need filters or batteries, then charge them and pack them. And obviously you’ll need clothes, water and food.

On arrival

After this year’s dramatic spring, there’s no telling what could be waiting for you when you arrive at your cottage property, especially if you haven’t been there all winter. The first thing you’ll want to do is look around for any outdoor or indoor issues that need to be fixed.

• Check for any damage to power lines, phone lines, the chimney, the deck, the dock, windows, screens, and under the cottage at the posts, pads, and beams.

• After surveying your property, head inside and check cupboards and counter tops for signs of mice or other animals, and look for any water damage that may have occurred over the winter.

Tuning up

Before the relaxation begins, start the cottage season off right with a few minor chores that will make sure everyone is safe and sound for the summer.

• Replace batteries in smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors.

• Make sure your fire extinguishers are charged.

• Replace batteries in any flashlights.

• Clean the eaves troughs.

• Clear any large branches off the building and trim any that may have become too close to your cottage over the winter.

• Replace any filters that may need to be changed.

Turning on the taps

Perhaps the most involved part of opening the cottage is getting your water system going. If you have a pump that draws directly from the lake, here are the steps to get it up and running.

• Inspect all lines for signs of damage.

• Replace the pump’s filter.

• Prime the pump.

• Open a cold-water tap in your cottage, and be sure the cold-water valve to your hot water tanks is closed.

• Switch on the water pump at the panel box.

• Open all valves between the pump and your cottage.

• Open all cold water taps to remove air from the system.

• Close all the taps and look for leaks and hissing.

Turning on the hot water

Once your water’s running, you need to fill your hot water tank with water before turning it on. It’s pretty simple, really, but there are a number of steps you should follow to ensure you do it right.

• Be sure the hot water tank is off and all your taps are closed.

• Connect a hose to the drainage valve and run it outside. Open that tap.

• Open a hot-water tap.

• Close the drainage valve.

• Turn on the cold water intake to fill the tank.

• Watch the open hot-water tap. Once water is flowing through it, the tanks is full.

• Turn on the hot water tank, and watch for leaks.

That’s it! You’ve got water, hot water, a shelter, and electricity. What else do you need? You remembered cold beer, right?

Spending time at the cottage is such a wonderful luxury. I’m grateful to my grandparents all summer for setting up such an amazing inheritance to pass on to each generation. But there are times that the generations still using it make it feel small. Admit it: a full cottage is a blessing on one hand and a frustration on the other. Cottages can start to feel cramped and small no matter how much you love them and the people in them. But don’t despair—there are ways to make your space feel and function like it’s bigger. And here’s the surprise—I’m not going to tell you to paint it all white!

To create the feeling of a larger space, many people build open-concept cottages without walls to impede the view. But then they struggle with where to put their furniture and how to have a little privacy. One trick is to delineate spaces with rugs and furniture. You can also add curtains that can easily be pulled back when privacy isn’t required. This open-concept space does all of this, and the monochromatic colour scheme works to make it flow from one area to another.

The type of furniture you select is also important in creating a greater sense of space. Many cottages require a large number of dining chairs for a multitude of guests. Because over-stuffed and upholstered chairs take up a lot of space at the table, consider using a something more pared down and flexible. These chairs would also work as outdoor chairs at a moment’s notice.

Photo courtesy of inspiracionline.blogspot.ca

Play around with the idea of using space that’s not typically thought of for storage or function. For example, a shelf placed in front of a kitchen window is a perfect spot for fresh herbs or pretty dishes, and it doesn’t impede the view or light.

Photo courtesy of www.houzz.com

Another example is the hallway. It can be used for a lot more than circulation. Add some proper depth shelves and you have a whole wall of found storage space.  

Photo courtesy of homebunch.com

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: spaces in cottages need to be multi-functional and multi-purpose. Why not make that cozy little reading nook an extra space for an overnight guest? It’s not hard, and it will come in handy time and again. Simply add some storage below for sheets and towels; install a reading light at bed height; and include a side table or nightstand. People will be fighting over who gets to sleep there.  

Photo courtesy of theletteredcottage.net

The big debate at our cottage (and that’s the polite way of putting it) is whether to paint the tongue-and-groove bead board white. At the moment, it’s beautifully aged and so cozy in the winter, not to mention an original feature of the 100-year-old place. But it’s a little heavy and dark in the summer, which is when we use the cottage most. Design trends of late would suggest painting it all white and completely brightening up the space. I think a good compromise would be to paint the walls and leave the ceiling.

Photo courtesy of homebunch.com

I’ve tried the whole “I’m the expert” thing at my cottage, but that doesn’t really work—especially with my brother-in-law. And since he’s the one who would be doing the painting, I have to tread lightly. (Besides, he’s sensitive!)  

The fact is, we all have to live and get along at the cottage no matter what size it is.   Therefore, my best advice for making your cottage feel bigger is to take care of the people who enjoy it alongside you. Nothing makes a space feel smaller than fighting with the people who share it with you.

For some, the arrival of summer long weekends mean one thing: fireworks. And sure, they’re fun, but boy can they be dangerous. So to help you create a display that’s both spectacular and safe, we’ve compiled a few tips on how to put on a show without having to call the fire department.

Invest in quality fireworks

Fireworks may be pricey, but good fireworks are worth the money. Don’t try making them yourself, and don’t buy old ones from some bargain basement. This may sound like common sense, but the number of fires started by home fireworks displays is staggering. Select a range of fireworks for the full duration of the show. And set a budget, because these things can add up quickly.

Decide on an order

There’s no right or wrong here, but a good basic structure to a fireworks display is to start with a bang. This gets everyone’s attention. Then you can move on to a range of different effects. All fireworks should have a description of what they do, or you can always do a little research online. The finale is obviously the most important part of the show. Save your biggest rockets and bangers for this time, and if you can combine multiple fireworks safely, then go for it. A great ending to your show will make everyone forget about any mishaps during the middle.

Set up in the light

Everything is easier in daylight. So decide where you want to set your fireworks off and arrange the order so it’ll be easy to work with once it’s dark. A large flat area, free of dry grass is a good start. Then remember to look up. Don’t position your entire display under an overhanging tree. A big, metal bucket filled with sand is a great place to set off fireworks, a large sandbox is even better. Arranging them in a long line with one person lighting fireworks at each end of the line makes things easy and safe. Just be sure to space them well enough so this doesn’t happen! Make sure to push the fireworks firmly into the sand.

Wait until dark

This may be a tall order in the long days of summer, especially for the little ones, but nothing is less impressive than a fountain of sparks in the daylight. Enlist a helper who knows where everything is, and use a long barbecue lighter to light the fuses safely. If some fireworks don’t go off, douse them with a full bucket of water before approaching and continuing.

Safety above all

It goes without saying that safety is the real key to a successful fireworks display. Have a large bucket of water on hand and a hose if necessary. A bucket full of sand and a fire extinguisher wouldn’t be the worst things to have around either. Keep the crowd a safe distance from the detonation zone. You could also keep any pets indoors, as their reaction may be unpredictable. And rule number two after being safe? Have fun!

Score some extra points with mom this Mother’s Day by giving her one of these easy-to-make projects.

Sad, isn’t it? No one’s ever around when you need to fix up the place. If you’re puttering solo, pay extra attention to safety, never work tired and preoccupied, and try these tips to get by without a little help from your friends.