Cottage Life

The go-to source for cottagers, the award-winning Cottage Life offers valuable advice as well as profiles, how-to articles, recipes, essays, issues pieces, and lifestyle stories that help readers look after their cottages, entertain guests and, of course, kick back and have fun.

S’more stuff • How you can read, watch, stream, share, and visit—Cottage Life is everywhere!

Contributors

Cottage Life

Editor’s Note

Your letters

Waterfront • Warning: contents of this section are overtly in-your-face super Canadian.

Canada’s most unwanted pests

Boat safety, hot real estate with a wacky decor, and a hybrid mammal discovered

Quiz: How Canadian are you? • A cottager questionnaire

What Canadian-made treat should you eat this Canada Day?

This engineer built a boat during the pandemic

TV at the cottage: yay or nay • After we posted this shot, our Instagram feed exploded with comments. Ultimate Canadian cottage moment or ultimate Canadian cottage blasphemy? You be the judge!

Late ice-off causes issues for breeding loons

Seeking arrangement: Wh friends bought a cottage together

Caring for your canoe, lumbar support for Muskoka chairs, and a solar-powered security camera • Sometimes, it’s the little things we do that best show our affection. In celebration of Canada’s most beloved vessel, here are three easy ways to care for your canoe that will boost its longevity.

How to protect your canoe

Repurpose your Muskoka chair into a coffee table

DIY lumbar support for your Muskoka chair

A security camera for off-grid cottages

Stabilize a floating dock with these tips

The superior Robertson screwdriver

A brilliant, uncomplicated, and labour-saving jig

The case of the light bulb caper; sunscreen and the environment, are mice material averse?

Patching an inflatable; what can I use to wash my dock?

The significance of cottaging in Canada • Cottaging is Canadian, like hockey and talking about snowfall amounts, eh? But whether it belongs to this country exclusively may be a matter of debate

Navigating cultural appropriation and appreciation • How to make your way in Canada today without getting stuck on the shoals of cultural appropriation

Three tiny cabins inspired by the aftermath of a wildfire • These three tiny cabins in B.C.’s Okanagan Valley draw inspiration from the scorched landscape—and from a global community

What creature deserves the title of Canada's national animal • Beaver? Pfft. Our contributors weigh in on which critter truly deserves the title of Canada's National Animal

An east coast cottage inspired by Roots • How one couple brought the soul of a little log cabinto the heart of their East Coast cottage

Landscaping solutions for eroding slops, septic beds, and post-construction • Eroding slope? New septic bed? Post-construction wasteland? If your landscape needs a little help, here’s how to bring your little corner of Canada

Campfire dinner recipes • Cooking over the fire feels fun, not fussy. These simple recipes help you max out the good times

The American Goldfinch • It’s a carotene-heavy diet that helps American goldfinches burst out in bright yellow for the breeding season

Before You Leave