Switching Gears

I wrote previously about also acquiring a lakehouse early last year. I thought in honor of the 4th of July holiday, we'd switch gears and I would give you a virtual tour of what it looked like when we bought it.

It's a cute little 1920s bungalow about four blocks off the water and six blocks from downtown. I affectionately named it the Blue Bungalow however my family is split in deciding if it is in fact blue or grey.

So summery, huh?

It has a big front porch which is a fun area to relax. It's in need of some repairs so that's on the list to improve.

When you enter the front door you are in the long narrow living room, which is a trick to lay furniture out in-

In my opinion, the previous owner had everything turned around. But you'll have to wait to see what I've done with it.

Then you walk through old pocket doors to the "dining room" which I had big plans for...

It had a lovely island that I knew we could reuse. It also has hardwood floors throughout the home which we'll revisit in another post.

Just off the dining room is what the previous owner used as the laundry/dressing room which also includes this small bath. It's kind of strangely laid out but we plan on turning this room into another bedroom/living space.

Lastly on the main floor was the kitchen which was super small, almost like a butler's pantry and very dated. It was clearly done in the 90s.

Going up the stairs, there's a closet and window on the landing and a beautiful old staircase. And then a window at the top of the steps looking out our backyard.

The house sits on a corner lot, so there's lots of yard considering it's in a lake town. Which is good because we have a big family and two big dogs. :)

At the top of the steps is another full bathroom but it's under the eaves, so it has sloped ceilings.

Going down the hall are three bedrooms, two across from each other and the master is at the end.

Both bedrooms were painted the exact same green. And both had carpet and nice-sized closets. All the bedrooms have sloped ceilings as well.

The master is fairly spacious. It can fit a king-sized bed and the front windows look to the south, the direction of the lake.

This is looking out our back door from the kitchen. And then there is an old basement that doesn't really require a tour.

If you know me, I can't leave well enough alone. :) I can see what a place should be and its potential. There have been many changes since we first toured the property. We've been busy!

It isn't much, but it's ours. And it truly is my happy place. I can't wait to show you all the projects we've done to it and many more to come! Hope you've enjoyed your tour!

Not So Modern Farmhouse

Let's talk a little bit about the whole modern farmhouse movement. Do you all follow Maria Killam? She's a designer based out of Canada I enjoy for her love of color.

She is also a huge proponent of timeless design. Her tagline is "to love your house forever." For example, not following trends in places that can't be changed easily like tile and flooring. And one of her biggest design proponents is finding the undertones of colors to help you match fabrics, tiles, paint, etc. together. She sells a color wheel for just this purpose.

But mostly she hates on this movement to paint the world black. And I find it so entertaining because I really do feel it's a cop-out. In ten years when this movement has past, are you really going to want to repaint your stone or your siding to a different color from black?

For example, the black faucet and black hardware on the cabinets in this picture keep your eye roving for a place to land.

Tell me where your eye goes to first in this picture?

Your eye is immediately attracted to the darkness of the countertop. (Not a fan of that backsplash. Yikes.)

How about this picture?

It creates a very moody atmosphere, right? Now compare that to the picture below-

I realize that black is the bold choice. And it absolutely has a place in design. But the way that it is being used now is just a trend that in five years you are going to hate. Take the use of your black SPARINGLY. Trust me.

Anywho, I digress. The farmhouse movement is really starting to get dated. People are throwing out their signs with words on them, their galvanized decor and the all-white color scheme. If you love those things, please keep them. I truly think you need to decorate for you, not for trends. But if you are over those things, I'm here to tell you the trends now are more for color and a more traditional look- stained wood, traditional furniture pieces, patterned curtains. People are tired of changing things every few years for the latest trend. And while we'll never get away from trends, trust me, this black-and-white thing is definitely a TREND.

So plan your homes for more timeless decorating and something that, dare I say it, is a little boring in an adorable way. Think Erin Napier of Home Town.

If you want more about the timeless, traditional look that's becoming trendy, you can check out my Pinterest board, Grandmillenial.

Check Out Pinterest Here

Our modern farmhouse just won't have the black-and-white features that would probably fit the current trend. I'm going for more timeless and boring so I will "love this house for a long time."

Making Plans

As with any good house renovation, it's always good to have a vision and a plan. I also like to figure out what the house's inside used to look like. Once the house was cleaned out, it was time to figure out just what this house was telling me it used to be.

I could see that the main floor bedroom was originally open and once part of the living space. But it is hard to know what the main floor bathroom was once. Perhaps a small bedroom?

It's our intention to rent this home, so we needed the bedroom to stay a bedroom. Of course, it could be used for an office or a guest bedroom or a den. But for a bigger family, they may need that space. I also decided to keep the bathroom a bathroom and use it as a large bath, since it had the space.

So the living area is pretty small on the main floor. Good thing there is an extra space upstairs for a second living room or a game room or maybe just a very pretty closet system.

I can also tell by the architecture of the house that the kitchen was added on to the original house. The kitchen runs the length of the back of the home and is pretty good sized. The previous owners were going to add a sliding glass door where the windows are, but there are so many doors already. And, there's a breezeway to access the backyard. In my opinion, it wasn't necessary. I would rather leave that spot open for a little table and chair set. There are actually two spots for tables and chairs in the kitchen. The other end could be a little banquet table or a pub table. Or it has the space to accommodate a farmhouse table. Whatever they choose, it will be spacious and have lots of storage. I think it's bigger than my own kitchen, but ours is not very big.

Upstairs there was a bedroom, a large bathroom and a scary little closet, plus access to the attic door. Again, I think bedrooms are important, so we will convert the large bathroom to a bedroom and relocate the bathroom and reduce its size.

We talked about making the second bathroom a full bath, however, I didn't want to eat up any unnecessary space from the bedroom. So we'll end up making this just a half bath. This is really the only huge footprint change that we'll make to the house.

The stairs are a conundrum. I feel certain that there may have been a set of stairs in a different location in this house. Because the stairs are so narrow and closed in, we decided we'll raise the doorways on the steps and also from the living room looking into the hallway. We also decided we will be taking down the wall separating the steps from the kitchen to open up the space and to help get larger things up the stairs. It will really brighten up the whole space and make it look much larger.

The stairs also had to have been different originally as the top step doesn't match up with the rest. I'm guessing there was an open railing here.

Lastly, the long-term plan. We'll do as much as we can to the inside of the house, but the exterior is on the back burner for now. I know the neighborhood would really love to have it updated but it's just not a super big priority. So someday down the road, we'll paint or side the house, add a concrete driveway, and maybe even put on an addition with a two-stall garage. But that's going to have to wait. Trust me, there's enough to do on the inside. :)