Lake House Remodel Part 1
Join our journey as we remodel our lake house and take it from a dark outdated house into a bright modern home.
This lake house remodel began in 2019 which was a challenge during the pandemic and subsequent supply chain issues. However, it was also one of the most satisfying projects we’ve ever completed.
We took a well loved house from the early 90’s and turned it into one that flows with a minimalist vibe and maintains a modern heritage lifestyle.
I listened to the previous owners tell me at closing how they created a home filled with wonderful memories with their kids and grandkids. My husband and I were so excited to write our own chapter for this house and build our own memories on Lake Hartwell.
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Lake House Remodel Exterior Changes
The first step we took in the lake house remodel was a fresh new coat of paint. Stained brown and being surrounded by woods, the house appeared dreary and tired when we purchased it.
Exterior Paint
We chose to brighten the exterior up with Sherwin Williams Alabaster for the siding and Sherwin Williams Urbane Bronze for the trim.
Front Door
We also replaced the front door that had blurred oval glass with a new one that featured three equal clear glass lights. Our silly dogs love to look out the bottom pane to see who is coming down the driveway.
The front door is Sherwin Williams Copper Wire for two reasons: 1-we are Virginia fans (but everyone here thinks it’s for Clemson) and 2-when it rains, three dogs with orange muddy paws are all over that door to get in.
The salesman at Sherwin Williams laughed when I brought in a paint stick with orange mud on the end and said, “Match this!”
I absolutely love our orange front door in the fall. It’s so easy and fun to decorate. Read Welcome Autumn with an Orange Front Door to see it truly shine!
Screened Porch
Meanwhile the white exterior stain really brightened up the screen porch as well. We love being nestled in the woods, but the spiders are everywhere. Don’t get me wrong; I love spiders especially when they’re catching other bugs. I just want to know where they are when I’m sitting outside on the porch relaxing. Brown spiders on brown stain on a shadowy porch was a freak out just waiting to happen! Now we can all get along fine!
By the way, that’s not our dog. That’s our neighbor’s sweet husky, Apollo. He supervised the entire project!
Here is the porch before we remodeled it.
Here is the screened porch after we remodeled it.
New Patio Furniture
Living on the saltwater creek in Charleston destroyed most of our patio furniture over the years. Oiling teak tables and chairs is not fun! And even though the lake is more forgiving, I still chose metal and faux wicker furniture to withstand the elements better.
I absolutely love the aluminum dining set we chose. The metal cleans up so easily and it expands with a flip of the center section!
The outdoor rug is also weather resistant and has survived two houses now with a little pressure washing and drying out in the sun. I will do anything to make my life easier in the cleaning department! After all we moved to the lake to relax, right?
Read more about our porch makeover in our lake house remodel in Cozy Porch Ideas.
Lake House Remodel Interior Changes
Walls and Paint
When we began our lake house remodel, we wanted to leave the wood paneling a natural wood tone inside the house. However, when the previous owners moved out, there were outlines of clocks and picture frames on the faded wood panels.
We ended up painting the wood paneling and the window/door trim SW Alabaster (yes-it’s my favorite white).
We left the doors and actual window frames their warm wood stain color. We also removed the popcorn ceiling and painted it white, but left the natural wood beams as they were.
And yes, Apollo came back to check on everything!
Field Stone Fireplace
One of our biggest challenges during the lake house remodel was the stone fireplace. When we first purchased the property, we envisioned a lake house with bright fun colors and funky furniture for our vacation home. This earthy stone fireplace did not jive with that plan at all. It was all brown colors and massive!
I spent hours and hours researching ways to paint the stone, to acid wash it, to remove it completely, etc. There was no reasonable solution. The only option was to embrace it and change the rest of the plan, and I am so glad we did!
After removing the bulky antique brass fireplace insert and replacing it with a new slim black screen and andirons set, the fireplace didn’t appear quite as massive.
Also, painting the paneling white provided a better backdrop for the stone in the fireplace. Instead of brown stones blending in with brown walls, the lighter streaks in the stone started to shine and the browns became more caramel and taupe. They were beautiful!
I really love our fireplace now, especially at Christmas. You can read more about my holiday decorating in my post: The Joy of Christmas Decorating.
The Secret to Choosing Paint Colors
Changing our color scheme from fun and bright to neutral and organic was key to making this house work for us.
I have a friend who remodeled a house on the beach and literally sat on the beach with her fan deck to pick colors for each room. She matched the ocean, the sand, the sky and the sea oats. Her house was beautiful! The colors coordinated with the surroundings in a natural way that felt so harmonious. I loved it!
I did the same thing for the lake house. I found the various colors of the tree leaves outside, the caramel in the stone, the warmth of the clay, and the dark blue of the lake. It worked! Our house flows inside and out with the surrounding woods and lake views.
New Flooring
Initially our lake house remodel budget did not include funds for new flooring, but we ran into some issues when renovating the kitchen.
The weight of the new countertops and appliances and a very concerning squeak near the refrigerator prompted us to remove the vinyl flooring. Thank goodness we did because we found a floor joist that was compromised.
After repairing the floor joist, we installed pre-finished wood floors. Even though this was unexpected, I am so glad we replaced the floors.
For the complete details about our kitchen remodel (including my disastrous tile choice), read Lake House Remodel Part 3: Kitchen.
Back to the wood floors! The tile at the front door and around the fireplace hearth had some cracks and loose pieces that we didn’t know how to repair. New floors solved those problems, as well. We ended up replacing almost the entire main floor of the house with the hardwood flooring.
In the bathrooms, laundry room and adjoining hallway we installed tile.
Downstairs we used vinyl laminate plank flooring because we were concerned about moisture issues. Thankfully we have not had any, but the flooring still works great for that space. More on the bathrooms and basement later!
I absolutely love the pre-finished wood floors! They are durable, easy to clean, look amazing and feel very nice underfoot.
If there’s anything we learned from remodeling our lake house, it is to be flexible and patient. We had so many curveballs during the process and still managed to end up with a home instead of a vacation property.
During the pandemic we barely finished renovating before the global shut down. Thankfully we were able to move in and work remotely from our property. Eventually, we chose to live here full time and put our roots down permanently!
Our lake house remodel turned a tired outdated house into a bright modern home.
Check out Lake House Remodel Part 2: Modern Bathrooms next!
