It pays to have friendly neighbors.
We wanted to be productive during all the recent COVID-19 downtime so one of the big projects we undertook was updating the furniture in most of the guestrooms. We loved the sleigh bed in Taupe and the 4-post bed in Rose but the other rooms were a combination of headboards and steel frames that frankly didn’t move us from an aesthetics perspective. On top of that, a few of the rooms don’t have closets with limited hanging clothes space in the rooms. We wanted armoires that matched the beds for more appealing functionally.
Finding Chilton
Chilton is literally right down the street from us and we were there once or twice after we moved to Maine looking at pieces for our house. During one event we met Jen and Jared Levin, the owners. We found out that they are transplants as well, having bought the business as a means of relocating to a place they always wanted to be. So their story resonated with us.
We sent them a note about our interest and set up a meeting. Their Shaker-inspired line was the most appealing to us but we didn’t want to do the same pieces in every room, in order to help us differentiate our rooms. Jen worked with us to identify the pieces out of their many furniture lines that made sense for us.
We placed the order and were off and running. And then lockdown hit. which meant that the furniture makers couldn’t get into their workshops to make our pieces and if they could, they couldn’t ship them when they were done. Finally, at the end of May, everything was ready to be delivered.
Don’t forget the mattresses
We had already decided to replace the mattresses as well because all of the new beds didn’t need box spring sets. Another Jen recommendation led us to Portland Mattress Makers right in downtown Portland. They were kind enough to supply the hypoallergenic zip-up mattress covers that allowed us to add another layer of protection for our guests.
“Missed it by that much.”
With new furniture and new bedding in place we were set, right? Not quite. Bill didn’t do all his homework and one of the armoires was too big to fit up the stairs to the second floor. So back that had to go to be remanufactured. But before you know it, we were getting a call to set up delivery and this time it worked like a charm!
We hope you find the new furniture unique and functional and the new bedding comfortable. We tried to find pieces that we would appreciate if we were guests staying in the room. Our housekeeper appreciates the new beds because they don’t need a box spring and the associated bed-skirt which invariably has to be straightened after every stay.
