Lake house bliss

Oh the joy of a lake house purchase!

Lake house bliss-

Upon purchasing our lake home, we discovered that the actual cost was going to be double the amount we were comfortable with spending.. (yeah, reality check) Finding the “cheap” summer house was not an option.  “Cheap” bought something we didn’t want to own.  This left me with a shoe string budget to furnish and decorate it.  (Honestly, I had less than a shoe string budget)  So I began the search for things I could do and make look like it was NOT homeowner done.. Too much DIY is not a good thing. There is a fine line between shabby chic and just plain crappy.   And since the man I love dearly is frugal (-he takes very good care of his family, I am very spoiled, however when he draws a line in the sand it is more like drawing a line in concrete) I searched high and low for minimalistic décor that I could live with.  I discovered that I would be doing most of the DIY projects myself, since the man has a full time job, I needed to be able to accomplish what I wanted by myself.  And I needed to be able to transport the finished projects the two hour drive with ease. 

With four grown children, the oldest two married and expecting our first two grandchildren, all of them in relationships, that would take our family total to 12.  But I had a secret agenda; I wanted the house to be able to do our family Thanksgiving dinner.  That would take the total up to 22+.   Our current house offers the room but there is a lot of creative adjustments to do this.  I wanted the rooms in the lake house to sleep the as many people as possible in beds.  That meant adult bunk beds.  You can find queen bunk beds to the tune of $900 per bed. Which was way way out of my price range since; I would need mattresses and bedding as well.  So beds would definitely be on my DIY list.. Again, I want to stress I did not want this to look modged podged at all.   Also I needed them to be beefy enough to hold two adults on each level.    I decided on queen bunk beds in two rooms.. I would make them.  I had a plan, off to prototype, my idea.

The dining table was the next big hurdle.  I wanted to seat 20+.  So that meant 20+ feet long.. Well, if you have ever priced large tables you know the cost is nuts.. $3,900 for a set was not in my budget.  I knew I wanted miss matched chairs all painted the same color.. I saw this done and LOVED it..   I searched craigslist like a crazy person.. Every time I could snag a chair for $20 or less I did.  (I know you think 20 a chair is high.. but after looking it is not.  The cheapest chair you can get at Ikea is $30) so I knew this would make my total for chairs a hefty chunk of my budget.  (I put $700 on chairs, that became my MAX and the search began)

I became a craigslist stalker, and snagged my first 8 chairs for $150 dollars.. Yep that is $18.75 a chair.. I was so excited I could have screamed..  The next big find was a kitchen table & 4 chairs for 80 bucks.  The table top would need painted and two of the chairs were in need of attention.. But they were fixable.  I needed the table –to turn into a poker table that could use the dining chairs. (another project) I snagged four more chairs at 15 each. ($60) Then a friend gave me six chairs, I had another one in the garage.  You got it 23 chairs for $290… I am painting them all a shade of blue.  (I’ll post that soon)

After a long exhausting search I found a farmhouse table plan that I could modify to work for the sheer size I needed.  Then I priced it out and I could make it for less than $200 smackers.   Done and Done..  

The next thing to tackle with this ongoing project was the fact that this home needed to be dog friendly.  Yes you heard right dog… When the entire family is together there are 20+ people and 7 four legged kids, ranging in size from a 10 pound terriers to an 80 pound great dane mix. Not to mention we are NEW grandparents, and grandbabies make joyful messes.  All the floors throughout the house needed to be “shiny” surfaces- as I call it.  Meaning now I needed throw rugs for beside all the beds..  Cold feet getting out of bed was not an option, in this house.. So I crocheted throw rugs from rope.. Yep, you heard right ROPE from the local hardware store.