Lake House
When my friend first introduced me to the lake house project last June, I was anxious to learn more. Situated on 17 acres and boasting a big blue lake amid dozens of Florida’s iconic Live-Oak trees dripping with Spanish moss, the exterior views were serene and inviting. One might imagine spending lazy afternoons on the lanai, reclining on a Russell Woodard vintage recliner, sipping lemonade and reading a novel.
Before
The interior – stop the music – was another story. The explosion of cheap wall art, mismatched carpets, outdated valences, along with mancave-type leather seating, and other misaligned elements called out for help.
What we did and why
Mentally undressing it, I imagined how the house would look naked. I knew that underneath all that heavy makeup was a natural beauty longing to emerge. The new owner had purchased the home fully furnished “as is,” with the intention of hiring an interior designer. She wasn’t sure if she was going to keep it or flip it, so I presented a few ideas based on each scenario.
The 13–16-foot cathedral ceilings were an asset, but they dwarfed the standard-size passthroughs separating the area from the kitchen/dining room. We felt this variance was disproportionate and incompatible with the redesign and so we suggested to our client that the height of passthroughs be raised.
I presented a few hand renderings to illustrate the possibilities to our client. One option was to eliminate the narrow wall dividing the area and install a pillar to bring architectural interest to the area, while still dividing the rooms. Another was to eliminate the divider, widening and lengthening the area to create an open concept space. Lastly, we illustrated what the room would look like if we created an archway and our client fell in love with this option.
Here I cannot express the value of hand sketching. My client, who is no stranger to the design process, was unimpressed with the digital renderings I created. Instead, she insisted on a quick and simple sketch by hand. I confess, it wasn’t until I sketched the room with the archway that I was convinced this would be the way to go. Once I submitted the sketches, the client was sold on the archway. She left me the following voicemail:
“I love the archway! I love it. I just love it … three loves! Oh my gosh, it’s made it so much easier. I was able to print out the sketches you did and what a difference it’s going to be. I can now visualize it, and it’s going to be beautiful!”
Our general contractor, Eric Olds, the owner of Painting 2 Perfection, became an integral member of the entire project and was eager to please. He was down to create the arch and he and his family worked tirelessly to achieve the look we desired.
After
We were very pleased with the new design which created an open concept area adding a sense of grandeur to the area while still distinguishing the living room from the dining room and kitchen. Note how this change, impacted the overall feel of the home, bringing the outdoors into all areas, which could be now be enjoyed from multiple perspectives.
