Furnishing a Vacation House In Hawaii From Sacramento

Furnishing a vacation house long distance requires organizational skills and preplanning.

Somewhere across the ocean, about 2,400 miles from here, is where I have been busy furnishing a vacation house from the comfort of my home office in Sacramento. Some of you may remember when my husband and I bought a house in Hawaii. That was in 2015. All of this time, we’ve been waiting for the sellers to move out. Feeling like this rental situation could continue indefinitely, we decided in January to give our tenants (the previous sellers) a notice to vacate by September 1. Yes, I know, we are overly nice.

I had been expecting the sellers to move and for me to take a trip there over Labor Day. However, they just found a place and are moving in two weeks. Yikes. On the one hand, this means the house will finally be ours. On the other, it’s basically empty. We negotiated a few pieces of furniture in the offer, but we don’t have anything, really. Not a coffee maker. Not a dish nor utensils. No bath towels.

Fortunately, I am a fairly organized person. When I was in Hawaii on my wor-cation last December, I visited a bunch of stores, shot photos, took notes, measured spaces. I did all of this so when the time came to buy furnishings, I could do so long-distance. Furnishing a vacation house is fun in many ways. It’s like being 18, only this time not so broke. No bedroom door stacked on cement blocks as a table this time around.

Furnishing a vacation house takes a lot of preplanning as well. For example, the number one thing on my list right now is internet service. Nowadays, internet service comes bundled with TV service. We don’t have a TV there. We also don’t have a media stand on which to set said television. Have you looked at new TV’s? You don’t need all of those gizmo boxes anymore because Smart TV’s are here. 4K and OLED. One remote. Whoa. If you haven’t bought a new TV lately, you might be in for a shock.

The nice thing about Hawaii is commerce is laid back and casual. You can actually call the Costco warehouse and talk to them about inventory and make arrangements to pick up the TV. Well, I won’t be personally picking up the TV because it’s too big to fit in an SUV. I am coordinating delivery with the guy who painted our ceilings. First the TV will arrive. Then the media stand. Then the guy from Oceanic to hook up internet. Within 24 hours of arrival, I’ll be watching Grace and Frankie or Girlfriend’s Guide to Divorce.

The internet will allow me to stay in connection with my clients without being forced to resort to a hotspot. Since most of my Sacramento real estate business involves email, cell and computer, without a lot of face-to-face interaction to conduct negotiations, this should work out perfectly. Being an optimist doesn’t hurt.

I was sharing with my manicurist that I’m loading up a suitcase with bedding. She could not understand why I wouldn’t just ship everything to the house, but nobody is there to take delivery. It’s just as easy to bring it myself. I can’t leave the house when I get there. I have to wait for our furnishings to be delivered. Having the foresight to meet with the people last year who can help us with furnishing a vacation house was a really good idea, if I say so myself.

The photo is just an illustration from Big Stock Photo.