Cottage smell

The one thing that might help is to have air circulation of some kind.

Sounds like you need to get a dehumidifier for the cottage. It will suck the moisture out of the air that is bringing the musty smell out of the wood and fabrics.

We have had good success with using charcoal briquets (opened, left in bags and/or placed all around in containers) getting rid of musty smells in RV/smokey-used-car-purchased, and basement. In all 3 instances, we were told it was impossible. The auto-dealer even reduced the price (!) because they'd "tried everything" (deodorizers, dry carpet fresh, commercial rug/upholstery shampoos, etc.). So we tried everything also, then found out about the charcoal-trick. We leave it for a long time to absorb the odors and change-it-to-dump-and-refresh often.........takes a little time but surprisingly it actually worked for us! Since we have used it for RV and basement seasonally and eventually (just like with the car which has NO MORE odors, smoke-saturated or otherwise) it does smell neutral again. Then after that, we put some baking soda around in small containers just to "top it off" and pull out any remaining odors that may be lurking yet to 'surface'. Comes out perfect for us! But perhaps location might play into the process depending on humidity? Good luck to you!

Charcoal briquettes work quite well. You can place them in various areas of your cottage and they will draw the moisture and smells into them. Placed in corners in small bowls will help. Just be sure to purchase plain charcoal briquettes, NOT those presoaked with lighter mixture. And change out every few months. Hope this helps!

Yes, it does work. I did it in an old musty basement. It takes a while but before you know it, it will be much better as you're not covering or masking the odor but absorbing it. Inexpensive fix! 🤠

Maybe some cedar shavings as well for moths and a nice scent.