Life at the Lake ~ Renovations Series #1...

We are finally nearing completion of the Lake House Renovations.

You've heard me talk about it since the summer began.

Soon the remodeling will be complete, and I can retire my paint brush....for a very long while! "smiles"

The Lake House consists of two duplexes, a bottom unit and a top unit with a loft. My FIL resided in the bottom until he passed away a couple of years ago, and we lived full~time in the upstairs unit until we bought our current home 3 years ago. Combine age and hurricane damage from years ago, we were long overdue for a remodel. We decided to tackle the bottom unit first, and hopefully will do the upper unit this winter. The upper unit mostly requires only cosmetic updates.

Over the next few days, I would like to invite you to join my tour....

Hope you enjoy your visit!

I have done a lot of refurbishing with pieces we had, and others that I found thrifting and junkin'! Now that is where my heart is! "smiles"Some people rescue animals, I rescue things! LOL!...probably no real comparison, but this is my passion!

We will begin our "Tour" on the porch. We had these chairs, weather~beaten and ravaged by years left exposed to the elements. Kevin tightened arms and replaced missing screws, and I painted them black....

I found the blue cushions at Wal~mart on clearance for $4 and here the chairs now adorn the back porch, facing the lake.

Now on into the living room area...

I wish I had taken more "before" pics, but a lot of things were moved out before I was able to get some shots. You can see the appliances and furniture out on the porch. The entire duplex was originally sprayed "builder's white." This was my first experience with the chalky, paint~thirsty mess! It was quite a job to cover the walls with new paint!

The doors were replaced after the hurricane damage, (from rain), years ago, but the sheet rock hadn't been finished. The wood floors also had to come up. They were warped from the rain/water damage and replaced with tile. ...much better for a lake, anyway!

And here are the sneak peek pics from my last post...

I made the arrangement, based on one similar I saw in another blog online. Sorry I can't give due credit, it was one that I stumbled across and can't remember where!

The sofa and chairs are new, found at a local wholesale Italian Leather Distributor, that was selling discontinued floor samples! The tables were free...can't get any cheaper than that! "smiles"

I just loved these old, vintage prints, which were actually out of a local beach magazine.

I cut them out and framed them! The colors complimented really well!

I wanted everything in this unit to be serene and peaceful, ...retreat~like!

But last week as I looked around, it screamed ....BORING!

I found this lamp at the Goodwill, and was able to incorporate just a bit more color and give the space a little more visual interest.

Remember the gold lamps of the 80's???...The white one in the picture below began it's life as such..

It was a freebie, also and is now dressed in a fresh coat of white!

The contractor walked by as I was spray painting it, and said, "You must love painting! You paint everything!" I laughed and replied, "Not really, but I do love the outcome. There is nothing that paint can't fix!"

We had a contractor add mouldings throughout the house, around the doors and windows! They did an outstanding job! You can't really tell in this picture below, but the ceiling is painted green, about three shades lighter than the wall.

I am still washing paint out of my hair....LOL!

This concludes Day One of my Lake House Series.

(I apologize for the spacing between paragraphs, pics, and sentences, blogger is giving me a fit today! )

Come back tomorrow, and we will go on into the kitchen area and Hallway.

I also have some awards I would like to pass on to some special bloggers!

Hope you are having a great day! ~Rhonda