Pretty Little Greenhouse

Happy Friday friends! Today I want to dedicate a full post to our beautiful greenhouse. I put together a cute little reel for you on Instagram showing the whole process but I want to get into FULL details here. When I was researching greenhouses there really was not a lot of information out there- especially for this specific greenhouse kit. I saw the greenhouse kit while shopping but I could not find information on the purchasing and set up process. Even the few bloggers I found with the same greenhouse had limited details on their blogs. Unfortunately there were many things that we had to learn the hard way so I hope that this blog post will help others. Let’s jump right in!

Where To Buy

I remember the first time I ever came across this beautiful greenhouse- I was researching gardens and saw it in a Wayfair ad. After that I started seeing it on other websites and saw a few bloggers that had the same greenhouse. As mentioned above, the greenhouse is actually a kit that you assemble. It’s made by Little Cottage Company but you can buy it from various websites. The tricky part is that each website sells it at a different price. I found that the best price was from Amazon, which is where we ended up purchasing it from (we went with the 8×8 size option). But of course there is a catch- it takes forever to ship. Amazon says 3-4 weeks but it ended up being 6 months. I would assume all the other websites also take forever to ship because of supply chain issues but I am just letting you know what our experience was like.

After I purchased it on Amazon a very friendly representative from Little Cottage Company reached out to me and said it would actually be 2-3 months before I get my greenhouse. She said the sale would probably get canceled via Amazon but they would save my credit card information and just charge it once it got delivered.

Shipping

This was by far the most difficult, frustrating part of the whole process. Let me explain why. When you order on Amazon there is very little information on what to expect with the shipping process. I read a few reviews where people had issues but nothing truly explained what we were about to experience. Since this is a giant (over 1500 pounds) package, it has to be shipped via Fedex Freight. This is NOT the same as getting a regular Fedex package dropped off at your front door. A few days before it was delivered, Fedex Freight called me to set up an appointment for delivery. I specifically asked the representative if we needed anything to prepare for the delivery and she said no. WRONG! When the semi truck arrived at our house there was NO way of getting it off. They make it your responsibility to figure out a way of getting this giant package off the truck by either using a forklift or taking it apart piece by piece. The latter would be a great option if you had 4-5 strong people to help you but we did not have that. Since we did not have a forklift and we did not have friends to help us then and there, we had to reschedule delivery.

After I rescheduled the delivery I went to a local Facebook group seeking help with this ordeal. A very kind man said he could help us by bringing his Bobcat forklift and getting it off for us. He was truly our angel! Another recommendation I was given was getting a tow truck with a big bed to come unload it for us. That would have been $100-$150 for the service.

Another heads up about shipping, if you end up having to reschedule your delivery like we did, Fedex Freight tries to charge you a “rescheduling fee” of $275. I was not told about this when I rescheduled our delivery so when they sent the bill I called and disputed it. They gave me a “one time curiosity” waiver but I was frustrated because it was not my fault it had to be redelivered in the first place. I hope this does not happen to you!

Flooring

The greenhouse kit we went with did not include a floor BUT you can pay a little extra and get a kit with flooring. After researching best options for greenhouses, we decided to drop some money on getting concrete poured. You can also do this yourself by buying cement bags but we did not feel confident enough doing it that way. Another more affordable option is making the base pebble rocks. I have seen others do this but since our yard tends to flood, we did not think it would be a good option for us. You can also just leave it bare (grass, dirt etc) but you run the risk of exposing your floor boards to the elements.

Assembly

Although the greenhouse kit came with very detailed instructions, we decided to hire a handyman to put ours together. I am so glad we did because we had some issues with how the greenhouse fit on our cement pad. The handyman we hired also happened to be a master carpenter so he was able to cut out a few pieces that would not fit with the pad. I do think if you are crafty and good at following instructions you can do it without a handyman. Just be aware that each piece is heavy so you will need at least 2-3 people to help.

Painting

If you watch my reel, you will see that the greenhouse is not painted upon arrival. Even though ALL the photos I saw of it were white, the greenhouse does NOT come in a white option. After ours was put together, we painted it the same color white as our chicken coops- Glacial White. It took two coats of paint and was time consuming because of all the window ledges.

Investment

This greenhouse was definitely an investment piece for our forever home. For anyone wondering, here is a breakdown of the cost-

• Greenhouse: $4600 (the most affordable one now is $7645)
• Cement Pad: $2300
• Forklift Help: $50
• Handyman: $550
• Paint: $100

Grand Total: $7,600

As you can see everything adds up and it was definitely not a cheap process. I do think you can cut some costs if you are crafty and prepare-do your own cement, unload and assemble yourself. But for us it was worth to get the professional help so it could be done correctly.

I hope this blog post is helpful! I tried to address everything but if I forgot something please feel free to email me or leave a comment below.

Happy gardening friends!