August 24, 2015

Wow! Summer 2015….

Oh my goodness…what can I say about this Summer, in fact this whole year has been utterly amazing for the Doll’s House. (Nan would be so chuffed – “Nice one girl” she would say after a cheeky cackle and a nudge in the ribs!)

We have been so busy, made so many friends (who knew that people who owned beach huts or “HUTTERS” were so lovely!) and received some fan-bloody-tastic comments…We are on cloud nine. There isn’t anything that could make it better.

For us this was a project of complete love for the beach and a dream of owning a beach hut all rolled into one. It is now a thriving beach hut rental business, which has crept up and taken us by complete surprise but also delighted us immensely. We receive such lovely comments and feedback from every single person who hires out the Doll’s House.

It has been a lesson in organisation which I had not had before. Having an administration background I thought I could apply my previous work process to this…..Erm a big fat no!! Running this is a completely different ball game…I have had to learn to be patient but quick off the mark at the same time, I have had to co-ordinate my family life around the bookings, something I had never considered before, I had to become more approachable and willing and learn to have complete faith in complete strangers.

I have had my fingers burned and realised that no everyone can be trusted but it was fine as it made me realise that the way I worked needed to be altered….which I did and now all is well and runs smoothly.

I am also receiving enquiries for 2016, which has delighted me, and if I am honest scares me….the realisation hit home this weekend that this is now much bigger and not what we originally set out to do. Don’t get me wrong, we love what we have achieved; we have given the hut back the love that it hadn’t had; we returned it back to what it once was. No longer is it an empty unloved, tatty shell left to rot and get damp. It is now a glorious thing of beauty basking in the bright white paintjob and the mini-beach I have created at her feet (Shells, pebbles, oyster shells and sand). It is now a fully stunning, very popular, well maintained and busy little hut.

It is also NOT what we intended to do. As much as I love and cherish and thrive on what it has become, this is not the dream we had in mind. Sounds awful doesn’t it?! Apologies. My family and I have not yet been able to use the hut ourselves AT ALL as I have forsaken our time for more bookings, and it does get addictive. And now we don’t enjoy it. We love the Doll’s House and I am very protective of her, but she is now no longer fun.

So…..we have decided to sell her. She can now be owned by someone who is happy to take her on and continue to love her. I know I know I know, it’s just a shed, why do I sound like I am referring to a member of my family….because I am that’s why. For the last year, the beach hut has day-by-day become a HUGE part of my family’s life, and I/we will miss her.

There you go ..I have put it in writing. I have put it out there and admitted it. We are selling the Doll’s House Beach Hut.

We have had an absolute blast and loved every single moment, and are thankful to everyone who has supported us, given us advise and encouragement. And we will truly miss being part of the “hutting community”…..Who knows maybe we’ll be back to bring another little “Doll’s House” back to life……………..Watch this space.

Thanks

Stacey and Gill

March 2, 2015

The one who did all the hard work….

I must just do a HUGE shout out to the person who has been my knight in shining amour with Dolls make-over. I don’t want you to be under any misapprehension that I did all the hard graft, oh no! ALL the heavy-elbow-grease-required work has been done by my wonderful contractor Chris. I have mentioned him in previous posts, but I want to him to know how much I (and the Boss AKA Mum) really really REALLY appreciate him, and his work. I/we would recommend him and his work in a heartbeat.

His prices. This is no word of a lie, he is EXTREMELY reasonable. Chris was the second contractor I met to give me a quotation for the exhaustive work that Doll needed. I was slightly apprehensive as the first contractor had quoted me a figure of OVER £4,000, there and then without even pricing anything. I had a HUGE amount of trepidation and anxiety as I thought my mum, AKA the Boss, would string me up for buying a miniature money pit. However, Chris immediately put my mind at rest.

A beach hut owner himself, he could empathise with me, the beach hut and the work involved. He was also incredibly honest. One entire side wall was damp and required replacing, I knew this but didn’t point it out, I wanted to see if he would be honest and blunt with me or give me a load of flannel. We went through the list of things I wanted quoted for, a new work surface, a new complete front drop-down panel, the whole hut repainted inside and out and I wanted a bench seat made. Chris being Chris told me that everything I’d listed was do-able, but he wouldn’t be able to give me an overall figure until he worked out all the material costs. He said that in his opinion if the total figure of all the work went over £2,000 then he would tell me to get rid of the existing hut and buy a brand new one, which can be bought for a minimum of £2,100.

As it happens, the total cost of all the works came to a lot under £2,000 (phew!) and I will just say that not only has the work Chris has carried out been absolutely bloody marvellous, he is also a bit of a top notch carpenter! He made me a beautiful bench seat. He has been easy to work with, honest, friendly, trustworthy and put up with all my kids!

He has also recently been back and replaced the floor and laid my lino, and what a job! Simply lovely. There is nothing, NOTHING I have to complain about him. He really is that good! So much so, that in between working for me, he has carried out work for my in-laws. He made from scratch and erected a side canopy made of timber. They love it and it is stunning!

NOT ONLY that he has also been my go-to person for advise and tips with sorting out the beach hut for rental.

He doesn’t know I am writing this post. He hasn’t asked me to write this post. I feel compelled to write it, as I feel that he is such a top man who does such fantastic work, I simply must shout about it. I could of course keep him a secret from you all, but that would be mean to you and to him.

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This is the ONLY recommendation I will post on here. Promise.

If you are local to me, and you need a quote for anything, then Chris is your man. He doesn’t just do beach huts, he can do pretty much anything.

His contact details are:

Chris Carter

email: sheddie@sky.com

mobile: 07837 277502

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So Chris I want to say a HUGE THANK YOU for all your wonderful top quality work, honest and straightforward advise and just being a lovely bloke! You are a complete star!

February 26, 2015

Rental Information

The Doll’s House is available for rental all year round. You can find details on www.beach-huts.com using reference 112274

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Vintage Style, newly refurbished beach hut – Doll’s House, 34b Southcliff, Walton the Naze, Essex, CO14 8EL

Located on the 2nd row directly behind the ice cream kiosk, it benefits greatly from being situated in a secluded almost private patio/path area. A real HIDEAWAY! Lovely views of the pier.

Child and pet friendly. Extremely close to the water tap and beach with its beautiful outlook. Close, but far enough away from the Pier and toilets.

Facilities include, but not limited to: Gas hob, kitchen equipment, crockery, cutlery, water containers, windbreaker, first aid kit.

For further details and to check availability please email on sdacolley@hotmail.co.uk and quote 34B Southcliff

RATES:

Daily rate (Monday to Friday) £35

Weekend (Saturday & Sunday) £60

Peak Weekly (5x days Monday to Friday) £110

Off-peak (5x days Monday to Friday) £100

Deposit required of £10 to secure booking. This will be deducted from the final rental bill

PHOTOS:

Before and after

View from inside

February 4, 2015

Time to crack on

Hello people. Happy New Year – Sorry it’s late!

It’s been a while since we last updated the blog, but you know how it is with all the festivities of Christmas and New Year, normal life gets put on the back burner. You can relax now, as we are back, a few pounds heavier, the bank account is a more than a few pounds lighter but we have survived the dreary month of January and are now into a very cold but sunny February.

I am relieved to report that on the whole, Dolls’ House has stood up to the winter weather bashing quite well. She is quite a tough old girl I think. However, she does need a some new floorboards, poor thing. The original oak floorboards have done well, but now need to be removed and replaced. Not bad for 30 odd years! Still it needs doing, and with my wonderful contractor/hero/carpenter Chris, I am assured she will be back to tip-top condition.

Once the flooring has been sorted it really is just a case of a spot of cleaning, a few bit and bobs to be bought, furnishing to be put back in and then we can start advertising her for rentals to start from Easter. It won’t be long before that is here!

I will upload some new pictures of her soon. Stay tuned.

October 20, 2014

She’s had a facelift…..

It’s been a while since my last post, but it has been a busy time for our Doll’s House. She has been given a make-over, and it’s very nearly finished, and she is looking GORGEOUS!!

We really did have a very long list of things which needed doing, and the more we looked, the more things we found. We needed to replace the entire side wall, it was completely rotten, which was a blow and dampened our mood a little. However, we hit the jackpot when we found our contractor Chris. It was lovely to come across someone who didn’t patronise, was honest and told it how it was. An experienced beach-hut owner himself, he understood what was needed and what could be achieved, without paying over the odds. He even turned around and said that if the final cost was to exceed a certain amount he would recommend just removing and replacing the entire hut. Obviously we didn’t want this, as we fell in love with the hut and character it has, so we were delighted when the final quotation figure came in at a very reasonable price.

We had the entire left hand side wall replaced, the whole hut prepared and repainted inside and out, the old cooker and lino removed, a bench seat made to measure, a new drop-down hatch and front panels made and installed, new work surface, cupboard doors removed and, new hinges put on, as well as all the supports and other bits and pieces that go with it all.

While all the paint was left to completely dry out, my Mum set about making all the furnishings for the Doll’s House. She made a lovely and very comfy cushion for the bench seat, a curtain to cover the cupboard front, cushions for the seat.

And while Mum has been creative, I have been….shopping!! Rugs, pictures, gas hob, cups, mugs, are some of the bits and pieces that have been obtained. We still have some things to get, but we are in no hurry for the moment.

The only thing left to do is to paint the floor, which we intend to do after the winter season has been and gone.

Below are pictures which were taken last week. Don’t you think that she is looking simply fabulous! Obviously without “our Chris” she wouldn’t be looking so good. He really did do a fantastic job, and now we have his number, we won’t be losing it anytime soon! To Chris, a BIG Thank you.

Looking gorgeous!

August 17, 2014

We have the keys….

We got the keys to the beach hut on Wednesday 13th August; I am not sure who was more excited me or the kids!

We bounded up to the Estate Agents, all smiles. I filled in the licence application form which is to be sent to the local Council, and we were given the keys. So what did we do next? We headed straight down to our lovely beach hut of course, after we had stopped off to get some supplies – cleaning equipment, broom, kitchen roll, bin bags, drinks for the kids, a bag of sausage rolls, a packet of biscuits, etc…

I am not sure what we were expecting, but when we got there, the realisation hit home that we now owned this little unloved shack and that all there is a lot of work to do.

The beach hut has been on the market for the last two years. Previously owned by an elderly lady for many years, when she passed away it had been left to her son, who not living locally, decided to sell it. Left unused, unloved and unkept for two years, you can imagine that it now requires quite a bit of tlc to bring it back to be being a beautiful, happy hut.

I opened the hatch, a harder task than you might imagine, as two of the three hinges have rusted away. Oops – not a good start. So we’ve already got the first item on our list of things to do sorted.

We began rummaging through the things which have been left in the hut; a fullsize gas oven, a large gas canister, two deckchairs, two windbreakers, a camping kettle, a jar of coffee, a box of teabags, a sixteen piece stoneware dinner set, cutlery, three picnic tables, a wooden ladder, a broom, I could go on, but there is a lot! Not all of it is re-usable, but much of it is.

The deckchairs are in good condition. A lick of paint and a new seating would make a world of difference. The gas oven however, is not staying. It is way too big, and I dare say that although once it would have been lovely to use, for us is simply doesn’t fit in with our plans for the hut.

While the kids set up camp outside using the chairs and table and having a picnic in the sunshine I started making a list of the work we need to get done. Phew it was difficult to know where to begin.

I am getting there though. I have made my list, met two contractors and I am presently waiting for quotations for the work needed.

I know we can bring this hut back to life, and add a bit more sparkle into it.

August 16, 2014

I love it, love it, love it!

Ok, so I was a bit over excited last week, I hadn’t even got the keys and I was already online ordering things for the beach hut.

Today one of my purchases arrived and I am so completely over the moon, and I cannot wait to be in a position to put it up. Although I feel we are quite a way off from that day! More about that soon.

In the meantime, take a second to sit and stare at my beautiful new fan-dabby-dozey Doll’s House name plaque.

Thank you Doreen at Fired Art! (www.firedart.co.uk)

August 11, 2014

I’m a sucker for a bargain

Oh dear it’s begun. We haven’t got the keys yet and we’re already buying bits for the beach hut. Eager? Maybe. Excited? Very!

So today I took the kids around the charity shops in Frinton. We love doing this, for us it’s a regular occurrence. There is always a treasure to be had. Today, however, I was on the look out for specific items. This was not a “pop-in-and-see-what-we-can-find” type of day. Today we were looking for beach hut buys. For example: Fabrics, ornaments, kitchen utensils, etc. Obviously, with the kids in tow we had the obligatory ransacking of the toys in each and every shop.

So what did I purchase? Well I wasn’t as successful as I had hoped I would have been, however I came home with:

2x good quality cushions for the bench we will have installed
1x dustpan and brush (so exciting, but very necessary)
1x pack of childs foam floor tiles (well you never know!)

But I did come across one thing that made me smile from ear to ear – I could not resist. It is not an essential item, but I love it.

It is a Hunter picnic hamper for 2, complete with all the essentials. All in beautiful, clean, never been used condition. And the fact that it was £14.95, made it so much better!

Now I know it is completely unnecessary, but I don’t care. That being said I rang The Boss (aka Mum), and having given her the description and told her how much it cost, she was completely up for adding it to our collection for the almost ours beach hut. (Come on Estate Agents!!!!)

Now whether or not it will be used, or whether it will sit on the side looking gorgeous is irrelevant. I am over the moon and thoroughly delighted.

I am one happy bunny.