To Rent or Not To Rent: That IS the question.

Panorama to the North from the pool deck...

Panorama straight East...still have the big orange box in view...working on that...

So the April trip came and went.  It's awful waiting and waiting to go to the DR, and then have it woosh by so fast that by the time I'm home and have worked one day, I already need a vacation again!

We arrived at the house after a less than optimal overnight experience in a rental house in Puerto Plata...not going into details about that here...to a house full of boxes ready to be opened!  (I mentioned in an early post that we used CPS shipping. It worked like a charm!) It was like

patio set from Wayfair

Christmas except I had picked and purchased and paid for these particular 'presents' to be shipped to our house!  There was a patio set from Wayfair, a queen bedframe for our queen mattress, an indoor/outdoor area rug, a twin bed frame and two twin mattresses (inner coil...but individually wrapped coils, so the mattresses could be rolled up and compressed into impressively small boxes!) kitchen table/island, stools...etc. Every item was perfect and had arrived undamaged. FUN!

bar height table from amazon

saddle stools from amazon

indoor/outdoor rug fron Wayfair

Unfortunately, I dropped the ball on taking pictures...I kept waiting until the light was right...or there weren't tools and boxes everywhere. It never happened.

So here are the choices I made. First priority, it had to be in a style that I liked and that matched the house. Secondly, I wanted the furniture to be simple and not so expensive that they would be irreplaceable. And they have to hold up to the weather and sweaty people that will be sitting on them!

We had enough seating and places to sleep for the April visit with my mother and the kids.  It was a successful first family visit. The kids are excited to go back...and I think my mother also. She's a bit reluctant to tell me what she really thinks, so I'll base my interpretation that she liked it on her facial expressions and non-verbal signals. LOL!

Now we need a couple of chairs, a space saving sleeper sofa (IKEA's poäng chairs in beige and a Friheten sofa sleeper in orange) and tables...lots and lots of tables, 5 or 6 night stands, a coffee table, couple of side boards, etc.  That we will be looking locally in DR for unless some amazing Wayfair or Amazon deal pops up.  I should seriously consider buying stock in those companies, I can't believe what deals can be had!  Unfortunately those ships have sailed...I also found that IKEA's HÅLLÖ series patio chair cushions will work perfectly with with our patio chairs and make them more comfortable to sit on and have a cocktail pool side!  Ahh...the life!

poäng chair from IKEA

My first project will be to create washable cushion covers that slip over the ends of the cushions and tie onto the chairs in an attempt to keep the cushions clean.  The only color options are beige and black. Black would be WAY too warm.

IKEA's HÅLLÖ series patio chair cushion

As you can tell, we aren't furnishing in super high quality and there are places to shop around the island, it's just pricier than if the house was here in North America and because of that we are having second thoughts about renting it out on Homeaway/ VRBO or Air B&B.  We know that rental wear and tear is different than owner occupancy.  I don't really want to have to re-furnish the house every few years.  So, we're hoping that we can rent to people we know enough to pay for the operational costs of the villa.  We think if they come stay with us for a week and learn the ins and outs of what to do when power goes out and when to run the pump to fill the tanks from the cistern ...which we hope has water...  Then they will know if it's the right kind of house rental for them and we would feel confident that they won't mistreat the house. Well that's the plan anyway...Funny I always say that I hate shopping, but I realize I LOVE decorating a house from nothing...it's fun!  Sorry, Mom, for never understanding...