Its been months and months of planning for the lake house that we
plan to build next year in New Hampshire. Dream homes come in
many shapes, sizes, styles and prices and ours is a modest one,
but a dream home nonetheless!
I have a lot of experience buying a home and redoing it, but never
have we built a home, and so this is exciting but a different process.
We are using a modular company that will build this house to our
specifications, and it needs to conform to the allowances by the town.
When I saw this home of @featherglass on Instagram, it struck me that it was very
similar to the design we had going on our drawing board.
We will have windows flanking a French door topped with transoms facing
the lake, with a side staircase, similar to her home, also in New England.
Her home has more doors and windows, but this photo is indicative of our plan.
It was so nice to see a house in real life that mimics one on a drawing board.
Our floor plan is very open with the kitchen, dining space, and living room all
in one big room. We will have our sofas and tv and fireplace in the area closest
to the wall of windows and French doors, while the kitchen and dining area
will be on the other side of the room. Ellen, of @featherglass has her
dining table near her staircase, where we will have a sitting area of toile furnishings.
Most of our existing furniture will be coming with us if it fits in the house and we
can use it and it looks good. We aren't millionaires (yet) and so this is the furniture plan.
There will be two separate seating areas in the living room.
We love these IKEA Extorp sofa and love seat in beige we purchased two years ago.
They will be centered around a fireplace with an antique mantel creating a cozy space
for our long winters on the lake.
An antique mantel will be something we will hunt for to give the house some character,
like this one I saw on eBay. So many antique shops up there, so it will be fun to find the right one,
that fits the style we are going for, which is more farmhouse than fancy.
Then there will be a second seating area facing the French doors that open to the lake,
which will be lovely during the summer with the doors flung open to the deck and the view.
This personal favorite fabric, Bosphorous Toile by Covington,
will be made into a slipcover for the new purple sofa that we recently
got from an estate sale. I love it's soft gentle colors of sand, grey and misty green.
The seating area will include the French bergere chair and ottoman that
wears the same fabric which I did several years ago.
On my wish list is a fun and coveted piece, like this French Pastry table, that I can use as a
bar and serving table for entertaining. It will be one of the few "new" things
that I hope to find for the lake house.
The color of the walls will be white. There is not a lot of wallspace in the room and we
don't want an outline of color around all the doors, windows and transoms.
We want the lake and the trees to be the focal point and
this color will create a serene feel to the space.
A reupholstery project for the dining room chairs is underway, using
this pale blue gingham check by Lilyoake designs at Spoonflower.
Much of my antique lighting will come along, like this basket chandelier.
And this square lantern will hang in the front entryway.
Vintage lighting is one of the things I like best when decorating a home.
Overall there will be less fancy French gilded things.
Less things in general. Which is a challenge for me!
The goal is simplicity and comfort with the addition of a few well chosen antiques
to create that age that I think gives a home soul.
