Designing a Lake Home

We looked for a time for a design inspiration for a Lake Home. We loved the images of the beautiful shingle-style Nantucket homes we found. Their vibe seemed so comfortable and coastal. So warm and welcoming. A bit luxurious but understated. We had found our inspiration.

designing a lake home

Walk in the entry and the lake view calls you right on through to the great room. The warm oak floor is complimented by the cabinets which have oak bases combined with white upper cabinets. The island is topped with a multi-colored granite in our colors.

Designing a Lake Home, Designing a Lake Home, BY DESIGN furniture + interior design

designing a lake home

We put in a lot of personalization. For example, those music prints over the piano were originally painted by our friend Denny B. He created prints of the oil paintings, and we framed them. We love them.

designing a lake home

One challenge with a great room home design is that one room has a lot of functions and can be a bit chaotic. We addressed that challenge with two tactics. First, we added a bit of symmetry to the room by choosing a pair of Lawson sofas and a pair of Belmont glass front cabinets. Symmetry calms chaos. The black metal Belmonts have an oak back, while the Lawsons are covered in a comfy but elegant white leather. The second tactic was our choice of a serene color scheme which tends to unify the space.

Designing a Lake Home, Designing a Lake Home, BY DESIGN furniture + interior design
designing a lake home

Designing a Lake Home, Designing a Lake Home, BY DESIGN furniture + interior design

We chose pocket door cabinets on one side of the kitchen. Our idea was that the lines would flow from top to base without a counter break and add a touch of simple elegance. We also pushed this same wall back a couple of feet. This allowed us to flip the island to face the lake rather than lie sideways to the lake. This choice shrunk the pantry a bit. We feel it was worth the trade-off.

designing a lake home

designing a lake home

The dining pieces are from Vanguard Furniture. The large extension table is finished in a Cascade white finish. The chairs and the buffet have soft, organic lines and are finished in a black finish. We hoped that the blacks and whites would give a subtle separation to the dining area in this multi-function room.

Designing a Lake Home, Designing a Lake Home, BY DESIGN furniture + interior design

Here is the Beach Bathroom. The glass door comes right off the lake to the shower for cleaning up those sandy feet. We really fell for the terrazzo floor because we felt it helped tell the lake home story.


designing a lake home

We love our beach kitchen!! (And yes, it is right behind the regular kitchen – but that’s not the point!) It is our homage to cottage style. That Smeg refrigerator is baby-blue. The classic subway tile and alternating width panelling felt very cottage too. We assembled the worktable from a Uline kitchen prep table and a piece of unfinished butcher block.

Designing a Lake Home, Designing a Lake Home, BY DESIGN furniture + interior design

The glass garage door raises to open the room up into the screened in patio. This room makes people smile like no other in the home. It seems to just say fun. And personally, we’re thrilled with this room. If you find yourself designing a lake home, you should consider it.


designing a lake home

Just off the entry is the office / den. We painted it a deep, dark blue. Ceiling too. We used our fireplace rock to back the hanging shelves nook. The woven window covering adds another warm, natural element. That’s the BDI Linq desk you see.

Designing a Lake Home, Designing a Lake Home, BY DESIGN furniture + interior design

designing a lake home

The master bedroom features another great view of the lake. The Xander Canopy 4 poster bed has lovely tapering lines. The Annette cuddle chair offers a comfy reading nook. The Sydney bench offers a landing place for dressing and doubles as an ottoman for the Annette. The Edge nightstands are from Vanguard Furniture. It’s great to have a quite retreat during those busy entertaining weekends!

Designing a Lake Home, Designing a Lake Home, BY DESIGN furniture + interior design

The master bath is pretty fun. It uses the same cabinets as the kitchen. We couldn’t resist that great soaker tub. The floor is heated marble and the shower wall tiles are ceramic porcelain.

designing a lake home

Designing a Lake Home, Designing a Lake Home, BY DESIGN furniture + interior design

This is our Wellness Room. It is in a space in the floor plan called a safety room. Because of the level of the lake and ground water a basement isn’t possible. So each home has a first floor room with concrete walls and ceiling for storm protection. Our vision is an efficient workout space with an infrared sauna. We’re still working out the details here.

designing a lake home

When we began this project, designing a lake home, one driving vision was sitting out on the patio sipping a cold drink and watching the sunset. Now we’re so ready.

Designing a Lake Home, Designing a Lake Home, BY DESIGN furniture + interior design
designing a lake home

Here is another view of the screened porch that is off the beach kitchen. The site of many future great shared meals.

Designing a Lake Home, Designing a Lake Home, BY DESIGN furniture + interior design

A whole lotta sand beach here. It kinda calls for an umbrella, a chair and a cold drink doesn’t it? In the end we love this home. While there were many opportunities for obsessing about unimportant details, we’re left with this final lesson:

Bonita Clark About the author: I graduated from Iowa State University with a degree in Elementary Education. I taught for four years (and loved it!) before entering our business, WoodStock Ltd. Unfinished Furniture, full time. Since then we have created several new furniture stores. I love working with our customers and our designers. We’ve had the opportunity to meet so many great people in business! To me, both business and life are all about relationships.