It’s hard to believe we celebrated our 5th summer at the lake house in North Carolina this year! My, how time flies! We’ve come a LONG way in these few years and it’s fun to look back and see how the kitchen looked when we purchased the house in 2011. Want to see how it looked originally? Come on over!
Our lake house is named Happy Hill and was built in 1970. The original owner named it and carved the name in the foundation of the house. My husband discovered the marker and we love the name! It’s perfect.
When we bought the house it was in its original state. We know that because there was carpet throughout. Even in the kitchen! About one hour after closing on the house, my husband and I, along with my parents immediately started ripping out the carpet. We actually slept in the house that night! Here is one year old Lacey helping with the carpet removal. <3
The kitchen and eating area are a few of the biggest transformations in the house! We kept the original kitchen for a few months since it was functional, but started immediately on the dining area. We suspect the eating area was the original screened in porch. The walls had exterior siding and the ceiling was tongue and groove wood. The original ship lap I think! (Mr. E. was onto something even before Joanna Gaines!)
Below is the kitchen after we ripped out the carpet. At this point we still had a long way to go!
We wanted to keep as much of the original charm of the house as we could so we left the ceiling as is, we just painted it white to match the trim. The owner’s children wanted the original Tiffany style light fixture. It was “not conveyed” which was fine because I had an adorable vintage chandelier in my stash and knew it would be perfect for the space. It was white and I painted it black and added the black and gold drippy sleeves. (My Mother says my rule of thumb is if it’s white, I paint it black and vice versa.-So, you’re right again, Mom.) It is not centered exactly but we plan to put in a round table at some point. I think it will better fit the space. I’d also like to install built in banquets along the back two walls, but that will come much later. I love this little chandelier with its funky shape and metal flowers! (see the ship lap ceiling?)
We tried painting the paneled walls, but it looked too rough since it was exterior siding. So, we sheet rocked over it. We painted the walls a dark green. I think the color is called Garden Gate. (I picked it out because I liked the name.) I bought the dining chairs at a consignment store and painted them white and reupholstered the seat cushions in a black and white ticking stripe. We bought the rectangular table locally. The vintage stool in the corner belonged to my Grandmother.
The wall between the dining area and the den is small and we thought about knocking out the wall altogether and opening up the two rooms but we really needed the wall space on both sides. We turned the space in the den into a little work area with a desk and chair.
In the kitchen we added a coffee bar with a microwave. This gives us much needed extra storage. We incorporated a plate rack, wine rack and glass shelves for wine glasses and coffee mugs. All of our cabinets and stainless steel LG appliances were purchased from Home Depot.
We had wide plank hardwood flooring installed throughout the house for better flow and low maintenance. The kitchen is still small but much more functional. We put black granite on the countertops. In hindsight I wish I did white quartz or a marble countertop, but that ship has sailed. So, black and white it is. Still, it’s a classic look. And we love the space. It looks directly out to the beautiful lake and the sunsets are spectacular! We adore our sweet lake house!
Hope you have a safe and wonderful holiday weekend! Happy Labor Day!
See more of our lake house transformation on the blog! xoxoxo
