Rustic Lake Cottage: Part 1

Last fall we purchased an antique Fishermans shack by the waters edge in New Hampshire.

This little place was built in 1910, and it looked like it. 

But the lot was so wonderful, situated right next to the water,

and that was all it took for us to want it for our own.

A beautiful view of Northwood Lake could be seen from the windows of the shack.

Summer days spent outside in hammocks, with dips in the lake, burgers on the grill,

and trips on our boat were dancing through our minds.

We bought it without stepping foot inside the place, knowing that one day we would likely

rebuild a sturdier more practical home here, but for now this sweet little camp would do.

 After we passed papers we headed over to the "camp" and checked it out...

I have to say I was a little disappointed. 

Undaunted and determined to make the most out of it however 

so we could use it during the summer months to escape from the city.

To have a place for Mr. Maison Decor's boat and watch our kids water ski.

So I called up Matthew Mead and asked him about spraying it white inside...

 A few days later, Matthew and Jenny Mead came over and we sprayed and sprayed.  

The old barn board soaked up the mildew killing primer

 we applied giving it a white washed effect.

It was coming out almost kind of charming!!

The old windows dropped down inside of Indian shutters and 

revealed full screens that let in the air.

And the view.

It was showing some promise after all.

 Jenny took a break with Piper out on the old dock, which was begging to get put back together.

Mr. Maison Decor worked on setting the sections of dock back in the lake, 

while the rest of us sprayed the cottage interior.

By the end of the day, we had a place to dock our boat, and lay our heads!

Now back to the interior...

 Wait, no, this isn't the finished cottage!! 

This is my inspiration for the Rustic Lake Cottage.

It is a lake cottage in Michigan, owned by designer Suzy Stout.

All the elements I found so appealing...

the vintage accents, the white background with the colorful

palette and floral elements would be my guide to our own Rustic Cottage.

 More inspiration from Suzy Stout.  Wicker, and more wicker!! And I love the green wicker most of all!  She mixed it in with the white wicker.

I love the look of the overall green and white with floral.

 Here is a sunporch of the small living room.  

White painted floors and painted furniture abound.

 Another angle showing the wicker rocker in that delicious green color.

 Loved this scraped pine bench with bark cloth floral pillows, the fun patting, and the pretty sconce.

All the white wood walls and trim look so fresh and perfect for a lake cottage.

 She had a couple of bedrooms with painted pieces and floral fabrics with bright colors.

The green painted bed was so beautiful!

 I loved how Suzy decorated her cottage and she inspired

me to bring the same joie de vivre to our own tiny cottage.

Last fall after we bought the cottage, I stumbled upon a yard sale where the woman

was selling all kinds of old white wicker pieces, including a long day bed, and 

a Bar Harbor loveseat, and more.  We hauled all our yard sale finds up to the cottage

on the 4th of July and set up our little cottage.  A few days later I went hunting in

some of my favorite antique shops and found this glorious green wicker chair!  

And an old painting of hollyhocks, which seemed perfect for my Suzy Stout inspired cottage decor.

There are random bits that came with the cottage like the navy and white durrie rugs.

Not my first choice, but fine for now.  

 This old pine work table from our original Boston Maison Decor store found its home

in front of the triple windows in the center room, which we are calling the porch.

A set of 4 old oak chairs came with the house and have a Scandinavian feel.

Sturdy and rustic and useful.  Maybe one day they will get painted, but for now 

we had a list a mile long, and if it works its fine for now.  This is not a decorators cottage,

but a real life summer cottage that isn't trying to make the cover of a magazine....yet.

The yard sale find wicker love seat came into the porch, and the pine table got

an April Cornell tablecloth in a pretty blue French print. It was fun to just add things

here and there without trying to make it match.  Seemed like the more it didn't match,

the better it looked!  Remember, this is using what you have and throwing it together.

And its soooo much fun to decorate like this.

 The kitchen was the runner up for maybe the grossest room in the cottage.  

It was really dingy and dirty and the owners left behind a harvest gold fridge that didn't work.

As they had yanked out the electricity from the cottage five years prior.  And now the electric 

company wouldn't hook it back up unless it was "to code".  Which it clearly is not.  

There is a shallow enamel sink with a brass spigot that carries water from the lake.  Yes. 

This is a true RUSTIC COTTAGE.  I happily hung up some cup hooks and added colorful coffee cups in a green majolica, and added some other bits to the old wooden shelves.  The most we use 

the kitchen for is putting the cooler on the counter top, which happens to be made of lead.

There was a lovely round sink hidden under one section of counter.

We have been told by many that this is where the fish would be cleaned.

There are four rooms to this cottage.  The main room upon entering,

which was an addition in the 1950s or 60s.  Then you enter the "porch"

where we have our table and couch, and then in the distance is the tiny kitchen 

that was also an addition at some point.  And to the left you can see another room.

That is the bedroom.  We called it the Scary Room.

As a matter of fact, it was so creepy that neither my husband or I wanted to sleep in there.

Until I spotted this old brass bed at Eagle Antiques, the same day I found the green

wicker chair at Rustique, a resale shop with vintage and refurbished pieces.

 I knew this would be the perfect solution for lifting our air mattress off the floor.

And so at only $40, it came home to the rustic cottage.

Over the years I have found many treasures here at reasonable pricing.

Located on Rt 4 in Epsom, NH, its next to the Hannaford supermarket.

Hubs marveled how sturdy the brass bed was....and then he cleverly built a wood

panel to hold the mattress and our weight.  In one night we were sleeping in

our little bedroom....no longer the scary room at all.

It was enchanted sleeping in this old brass bed with a candle, and a mosquito net.

More decorating to come, and one natural disaster....

thats next on Rustic Lake Cottage Part 2.