I used to subscribe to Coastal Living magazine and they had some good ideas. Not sure if its still in business.

I used to live on a sailboat full time and suggest you look into a marine grill for the outside. I think that the way to go with corrosion is to get the best you can afford or go with cheap and replaceable.

I have had two homes and the only way to survive is to get an extra everything and just keep the weekend/summer place as fully stocked as possible. Otherwise, you are schlepping a lot or going crazy trying to figure out which house you "left it at." When we used to go to the Cheaspeake to sail every weekend, I started getting packed up on Thursday and felt like I was still doing laundry on Tuesday. Do the math...one day "off" from boat work each week, all summer! I finally got smart and outfitted that boat with as much as I could fit aboard.

Outdoor furniture should be heavy. Or light enough to bring indoors in a hurry.

Get Tupperware Modular Mates for your food. Nothing keeps food fresher in a marine environment, IME. Read up on stocking a pantry. It's possible to have a decent meal from boxes and cans when you arrive, before you've had time to shop. Be ready for power outages...more prevalent along the coast and more likely in summer (hurricane season.)

Think about using Sunbrella for all your fabric/decorating needs. From upholstery to draperies to bedding, nothing will stand up to the elements like Sunbrella. Back when I lived aboard, there was hardly anything to choose from. Now, the sky's the limit.

Congratulations and good luck. I lived in NJ for years and have fond memories of The Shore.

We have a house by the RI shore. I do get Coastal Living, so it's still in business... for now!

I agree with having as much as possible at the house. I have a friend who has a ski house without laundry facilities, so they bring all their sheets, towels, clothing, etc., back and forth between houses. That's not for me! We keep at least 1/2 our summer clothes in RI, and the rest at home. If we're staying for an extended time, we bring more stuff with us in those large Rubbermaid covered boxes.

Regular grills have worked fine for us in our location. For outdoor furniture, think HEAVY. Everything blows around except for our patio dining table/chairs set, which we splurged on but it holds up great and doesn't move. It's a heavy metal, not sure precisely how it's treated but I bought it locally and explained our proximity to the water, and bought what the salesman recommended!

We haven't used air conditioners so I have no recommendations there.

Invest in decent quality, no matter what you're buying. When we bought our first house in RI, I bought the cheapest plates, kitchen utensils, towels, etc... and ended up replacing them all over the first few years as they broke or got ruined in the laundry.

My favorite piece of decorating advice is to have fun! Our place in RI is totally different from our 'regular' house. Brighter colors, funkier furniture (almost all from flea markets or thrift shops), and lots of shells and rocks piled around!

Oh, one more.... invest in a comfortable bed. Another one of my 'cost saving measures' was to buy cheapo mattresses. The kids' were fine, but our mattress killed our backs. Four years later, we had to buy a new one and we looove the new bed.

Have fun!

I don't own a vacation home, but I certainly would think about security, to be sure all your wonderful treasures remain safe when you are away. I love the Coastal Living magazine, giver it a look...and have fun. :-)

You can probably count on some rusting and some moisture indoors. You'll probably want to keep stuff in canisters etc. even for things like crackers, chips etc. because they'll go stale in 2.2 seconds.
Because of that, try not to bring any expensive electronics with you that you will be sad if it breaks from rust/moisture corrosion. Be careful of tv placement and try not to position too close to a sliding glass door/window that is open frequently.
Consider your flooring for sand and water damage. You will get sand inside and people will track it in.
Hope this helps! I lived on the beach (like if you fell of my deck, you fell onto beach sand)for 10 years and lost ALL of my wedding gift electronics. I had a gorgeous view though so enjoy!

Congratulations! We own a beach house too, and just came back from a beautiful weekend there. I'd consider the following:

Couches with slipcovers

Furnish with things that can be replaced; don't want to have family heirlooms or one of a kind items at the beach. Storms can do damage quickly. If you know that everything is replaceable, you'll sleep better if a storm is approaching.

Outdoor furniture that you can bring inside if needed; again, the storm/corrosion factor. We went with stackable chairs and two medium size round tables outside. They can come inside the house for the winter, and they still look like new after several years of use. Check out Telescope outdoor furniture. It's fabulous.

Enjoy!

This is going to sound crazy, but my suggestion: flannel sheets.

My parents have a beach house on the shore in RI and once the sun goes down, it can get quite cool/misty. Regular sheets can get damp but the flannel ones are just cozy - and not too warm.

My grandparents also used to use flannel sheets on their boat, which is probably where my mom got the idea...

Ditto on the tupperware. Next worse thing besides damp sheets - soggy crackers.

Congrats on your new Beach House Freedee! I lived in Cape May, NJ for 17 years in a home one block from the beach. Coastal, northeast winters are brutal on beach homes, and the salt air is a definite concern for all belongings, inside and out. We now live in a small, rural PA town, but kept the CM Beach House. Since we don't live in it full time anymore we pulled up all the carpeting and installed laminent (to avoid that musty smell), installed central air (again, to avoid musty smell), bought a small shed to put our patio furniture in when we leave, installed a security system, and inlisted the help of neighbors to be "watchdogs" while we are not there. My DH and DS head to the beach house pretty much every weekend - me, I'm more of a "country girl."

Thank you all so much! I was surprised to see 7 posts in one day.

The previous owner left so much great stuff behind. They left very comfy, high quality, furniture. It's a little worn but that's fine. I'm not going to use slip covers. I'll just let my family finish what the previous owners started.

My husband got a plasma tv right away, (not my idea). Would it help if we cover it somehow while we are gone? We will need a new air conditioning unit. Could the part that goes outside be covered while not in use? At least in the winter, if not during the week while we are not there.

The house has been add onto in several stages. The original, largest part, has wood laminate floors. The additions have solid wood that looks identical. This is all in a continuous space. It was nice of the previous owner to tell me that. The laminate part is worn where the floors come up to the sliding glass doors to the deck. It all has a pickled wood finish, that pinkish, whitish tone. It looks a little dated, but it seems appropriate for the beach. At some point I think I'll paint is all. I used to do decorative painting professionally, I can do that myself.

Another thing...we have a vacation home on the CA coast where summer rain is scarce so we put in drip irrigation for our deck plants (especially for my brugmansias which love it there!) and I don't have to worry about them. The only house plant I have left is "Lucky Bamboo" which gets along with a minimum of water.

My family has had a house at the NJ shore for 40 years, and. I grew up spending every summer there as a kid through college. We still have it, though my parents don't go very often. My suggestions: lots of air fresheners, Lysol etc for that musty smell. Go to Costco or BJ's and buy bulk on the staples like detergent, tp, paper towels,paper plates, etc. You'll hate having to run out to replace that stuff on a busy weekend. Buy lots of towels, bath and beach. You'll be shocked at how many you will use. Put a clock radio in all the bedrooms; your guests will appreciate that. Take down tons of paperback books and magazines so you have something to read and offer guests. We also have a big box of cheap toys for the kids to play with that we leave there. For myself, I buy a double of everything I use daily such as hair spray, toothbrushes, shampoo, blow dryer, nail polish, etc., and leave it down for the summer. I also leave down pajamas, some sweatshirts, umbrella and rain-jacket.
We have outdoor furniture that we take inside; it stacks. Get two large wheeled and high quality garbage cans and a heavy duty recycle can. Cheap ones just break apart.
And please, if you intend on loaning or renting out your place, take precautions. We have repeatedly had problems with people breaking into our house over the winter and stealing things. We have a strong suspicion that it is a relative or friends of a SIL and her 'neer do well' family, but have no proof of it. My suggestion is to immediately change all locks on your house. It may also do you well to key one door different than the others and never let anyone have that key. I am checking into changing the locks this summer with a programmable lock that operates almost like a hotel key. It will be around $300, but will save us time and aggravation in the future. You can program it if you are letting someone have the house, and change it back to the master code when they leave. Just be very careful who you give a key to, is my point. As far as that plasma TV goes, that is one of the most frequently stolen articles at shore homes. We're on LBI and there is a rash of them stolen during the winter. Avalon, SH and OC have also have a big problem with break-ins this past winter from what I hear. Don't expect your electronics (TVs), and computers to last as long at the shore due to the moisture.
Don't ignore craigslist for second hand furniture and other items and have fun!

I guess it's too late for this suggestion....but we never had a TV at all at our summer place. Sometimes, we'd watch a movie on a laptop, but we never felt the need to watch television.

We did change the locks. My husband does not want to rent it out. I would, but I see his point. You have to be set up differently if you are going to rent. If you are only renting a few weeks, it's not worth it.

The house came with a functioning, but not so great, tv in the master bedroom. We got rid of it. That has been very good for our relationship.

Our home is on LBI. We have been renting for many years so we know. The traffic getting off the island during the season can be awful. It does pay to get fresh veggies but otherwise, the prices for staples are much higher on the island.

Our kids are in college but we had friends with a 6 and 8 year over last weekend. We had unexpected good weather and were running around on the beach. They didn't bring a change of clothes. I'm going to get a box full of clothes, t-shirts etc for all sizes, and keep them there.

I keep some of my kids' outgrown clothes and flip-flops in case we have company who needs something.

I think someone else mentioned this too, but we keep extra jackets for everyone down there. It could be warm when we leave home, but many degrees colder by the water. We all have extra shoes there too. And lots of books, board games, and puzzles!

We have never worried about, or covered, our TV or other appliances, and they have been fine. We're 3 blocks from the ocean, up on a hill, so we get lots of ocean air/breezes and the only issue we have had related to moisture is soggy food! Maybe it depends on whether the house is insulated/year-round? Ours is.

"I also leave down pajamas, some sweatshirts, umbrella and rain-jacket. "

It took me a minute -- I couldn't figure out why someone would need "down pajamas" at a beach house! I mean, I like a down robe for chilly winter mornings, but I live in Colorado ... ;-)

I'm addicted to "The Lettered Cottage" Blog. RIght now she has a few pages at the begining of her blog dedicated to beach homes and one is about a designer that finds run down beach homes and redecorates them. A lot of them are not even large, fancy ones either and the ideas are affordable too. I like her site for other ideas throughout the year too. :)

Here is a link that might be useful: The Lettered cottage

freedee: we are in Long Beach Twp. I try to avoid the overpriced Acme on the island, and shop often at the Delfiglios in Ship Bottom. Not crowded, limited selection, but they have most of what you need. We also get all our shopping done prior to 10 on Saturday morning, to avoid the 'changeover week' rental traffic on the island. That starts after 10 and continues until 2 on every Sat during the summer.
segbrown: ha, you got caught in a bit of Philadelphia-ism slang. When people from the Philly area (including NJ, which is just across the river from Philly), speak about going to the beach, they say they are going 'down the shore'. Not to the beach, down the shore. When I mention in my post leaving pajamas by saying 'leave down pajamas', I didn't actually mean down pajamas!! I meant 'leave them down the shore house'!!
As a peri-menopausal woman, the last thing I need right now is 'down' pajamas!!! I'm sweating right through the cotton knit ones as it is! :-)))

no suggestions....but I love Long Beach Island. I'm so jealous! Congratulations and enjoy your summers!

cearab - the programmable lock sounds like a great idea. Especially for contractors, etc. Which company are you looking at that has them for $300? I looked them up and they were much more than that. I would love to get these for our beach house. Thanks!

Hi cearab, hi neighbor,

I like the little vegetable store V A Tramontano & Sonâ that is on central avenue. Most of their stuff is good and fresh. They are a little over priced, but no to bad. You have to understand that they probably do almost no business in the winter. It's definitely not worth leaving the island in season, to get fresh produce. If I buy loads of stuff at the big box stores, I can over or under anticipate what I need and stuff goes to waste. Anyway, I like giving my business to a family owned place, they are nice folks too.

My daughter (college jr.) gave us a guestbook. So far, we had our friends kids write very cute things in it. It will be fun to look at it when they grow up. I think it's a great idea. What a great way to collect memories.

I looked at the site with the cottages. Our place was expanded and renovated several times over the years. I have an eye for interior design but I have to make some decisions. I don't want to redecorate the whole place. I would like to work with what is there, and add our own personality with small changes. The first thing I have to do is decide on a style going forward. I'm attracted to the cottage style, but I'm not sure it goes with the architecture.

I'm pleased with how this thread is going. I think we can all benefit from the experience of others.

Hi freedee:
We also love Tremontano, but they only take cash!! We are debit card people for food items, so that store is a problem. Have you ever tried getting cash on the island? Not a good idea! They do make nice sandwiches, though. We also LOVE Oakies Meat Market in Surf City for great steaks and burgers, but get there early as it gets very crowded. Last summer we tried Taste of Italy in SC and liked their cold cuts and salads alot.
gail618: I got those prices quoted from a local locksmith in the shore area. I got quotes from 3 different local locksmits and they were all in the same price range. I think the programmable lock was a Schlage (sp?). One of the locksmits told me he has it on his house and loves it. Interestingly, I asked him what people who strictly rent out their houses do about the key problem. He told me he is actually on retainer with several homeowners to go every week/weeks/month during the summer and change the pins on all of the door locks to insure past renters no longer have working keys to the houses!!! I can only imagine how that cost must add up!
The locksmith told me that you have a master program (say 1234) and they you add a temporary bypass code to allow the renter or guest into the house (say 2233). After 2 weeks (or whatever you program into the lock), the code reverts back to the master code (1234). He said there are even locks you can reprogram from your cell phone without being there in person. I hope this helps, let me know if you have any other questions.

I came up with a great labor saving idea. I got a brush at the dollar store. The kind that is made to scrub one's back. I hang one by the front door. I tell guests to brush the sand off thier feet before comming in the house from the beach. I leave another one in the outdoor shower. I find that rinsing off sand gets the sand wet, but it doesn't get it off you skin. The brush works very well.

Here's the really great news. My high strung husband has really been able to relax! I think this place will have a positive effect on his health.

Great idea! I was always amazed at how much sand would get in my beachfront home. I think I heard baby powder works well also.

Good news for your husband. I swear living at the beach for ten years took the high string out of me. I think I have permanently changed!

To find quality hand crafted beach decor design elements or completed pieces, go to my website, we are a 50+ year old store based out of san clemente, CA. We carry 100's if not 1000's of variations of beach decor and decorative pieces weddings or day to day decorating ideas. We carry seashells to hand painted tiles and beach wall signs with vintage surf culture inspired prints.

Here is a link that might be useful: Shoprussells beach decor and more!