Want to see my Lakehouse remodel (including kitchen)?!

14 years ago

We bought this place last May. We've wanted a house at this lake for the longest time and this place is right next door to my brother who lives there (super bonus!)

Don't be horrified because the place is a little rough. But it was a double lot, lake front property, great location, again next door to my brother - which as a second home we are not there for nearly 9 months of the year, so to have him keep an eye on it etc, is great.

We did this renovation in 2 weekends and on an EXTREMELY tight budget! Aside from the $$$ of buying a second home we also need to buy all the fun stuff for it - boat etc, so the goal for the house itself was just to get it clean and liveable. ((And you never know, we may decide to move there permanently which we'd tear down and rebuild)) so just cost was the #1 factor all around.

We did all the work ourselves, with the wonderful help of friends and family. Ikea is my new best friend. I would never have attempted to do the kitchen if I hadn't been so familiar with Ikea - having done my primary home kitchen with Ikea. However, this time around was the cheapest style cabinets and the cheap laminate. although the island was the butcherblock. but again, the highlight of this home is outside on the water, not in the house.

Oh, and ignore that we still don't have the closet doors on, I kinda got used to them being off and liked it! maybe this year...

Here is a link that might be useful: Lakehouse

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Comments (27)

jrueter
14 years ago
Wow! great job with limited time and budget. It looks like a wonderful place to be. I can't believe you did all that in a couple of weeks! I agree it is better to spend your time enjoying the lake and family than in remodel mode, IMHO.

OT- I wish I had thought to take a before picture of the inside of my old range - complete with scorch marks where the element exploded and caught fire! LOL

Enjoy your new home!
numbersjunkie
14 years ago
WOW - What a transformation! And for such a small investment in time and money too. You guys did an amazing job. Now you get to enjoy it!
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@ SapphireStitch While it would be nice to wave a magic wand with an unlimited checkbook - I don't have that. I do have access to some money (got a HELOC). If some of the changes need to be done in stages and can be done effectively - we can do that, because the more money I have to pull upfront from the HELOC, the more I'll end up paying in interest. (yuck). I'm also not averse to acting as my own general contractor/project manager, if needed; I've done that before (successfully) But I'd rather not have to overall manage the project, just because my current employment is a boatload more demanding than my previous employment. The nice thing is that we don't have a defined deadline where "this must be done by" - no one is getting married, boatloads of relatives aren't coming to visit, etc. However, the kitchen as it currently stands is a source of daily irritation. We're getting to the point that if anyone is already in the kitchen, we try to avoid going in there until that person has left the kitchen. Tempers flare....we've got my boyfriend (who was envisioning a quiet, child-free retirement), my teenager (while she's not as much of a drama queen as some teens - she's just starting the teenage years, LOL), and me - frustrated as the primary food purchaser, preparer, organizer, clean-up person. And if my boyfriend happens to suddenly realize his blood sugar has dropped - get the hell out of the way in the kitchen. He's not very good at listening to his body - he literally passed out one time when his blood sugar dropped too low - he dashed into the kitchen, grabbed a glucerna and the last thing he remembered was opening it up - but he woke up on the floor sitting in a puddle of the stuff. (I wasn't home at the time). When either I or my teen are in the kitchen and if boyfriend does the mad dash into the kitchen - we pretty much have to drop what we are doing so he can grab something and while he stands there and he starts shoveling whatever down his throat. And since the space is so tight - it can mean leaving stuff cooking on the stove, etc. One time he dashed in, grabbed a breakfast sandwich out of the refrigerator, yanked what was already cooking in the microwave out, and threw his sandwich in. Anyhow, I digress. I know that some of the things we want are going to be big-ticket items - new cabinets, granite or quartzite countertops, slide-in induction stove. That's why I'm also looking for cost-efficient plans, such as instead of moving the sink to the middle of the room, let's keep it on the same wall and just shorten the distance from the hot water heater to the new sink location. Let's not blow out any of the exterior walls, and we can keep the current windows, dishwasher, and refrigerator. If replacing the 10'x13' current laminate would be cheapest to match new hardwood to the existing hardwood, rather than ripping it all out and putting tile down in a 20'x13' space, I'm fine keeping hardwood. If a nice, medium-stain maple cabinet is cheaper than white painted cabinets, I'm find with the the stained version... I prefer it, personally. Rather than a huge pantry cabinet, if building a pantry closet with adjustable shelves is cheaper, I'm fine with that (plus with all the small appliances and bulk-purchases from Costco and BJ's - I think it would suit our storage needs better). If getting an island fits the layout, but is out of reach - I'm fine holding off on installing island cabinets and countertop and using a kitchen table in the meantime. And because we don't have a "get it done by" date... once I have a really solid design/layout... I have the time to shop different cabinet lines and stoves, wait for sales and then to be ready to capitalize on hopefully a decent deal. I don't know if it's true, but I did see some articles that indicate the best time to shop for kitchen cabinets is November to early January.
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motherof3
14 years ago
So warm and cozy. I love the brick wall. Your view is absolutely amazing......and then I got to your budget! Amazing that you were able to do such an wonderful transformation. Bravo!
countrygal_905
14 years ago
Amazing transformation!!!! Enjoy!!!!
bostonpam
14 years ago
Unbelievable - only 2 weekends AND fully furnished under $6K! We're not just talking a kitchen but knocking down walls, the painting all the walls, all new floors, 2 bathrooms... I can't believe there's only $200 worth of paint to cover the dark paneling. It looks sooo much better - opening up the main rooms and the light painted walls. It must be like walking into a new house - so refreshing. You did a wonderful job on such a limited budget. Enjoy!
remodelfla
14 years ago
BRILLIANT! What a wonderful place that is going to be for the family to get together and enjoy simple beautiful times together. Hope you have many blessings there.
chinchette
14 years ago
Awesome space. What a find, and great transformation.
sabjimata
14 years ago
very impressive!
mythreesonsnc
14 years ago
Hard work, priceless!!

What a fantastic transformation. Want to come to my house?
fleur222
14 years ago
I see children running around and imagine lots offamily memories being made there. It looks so clean and tidy, so light and airy! What a transformation on a small budget and lots of love!
lizziebethtx
14 years ago
I'll echo everybody else....WOW! What an AMAZING transformation! That said, I don't know why you didn't want to keep the pink toilet seat! ha. I know you will make lots of great memories there!
momof3kids_pa
Original Author
14 years ago
sorry just getting back to this, sick kids and lots going on.

Thank you!! The paint was Behr and there was a rebate going on at Ho*me Depot at the time. we used this primer called BIN which is shellac based and it was AMAZING to cover all that horrible dark paneling and nicotine covered ceilings! we also only had one weekend to paint the entire space (mom was watching the 3 kids back home) so we did white all over so there was no cutting in to do -- or agony over color choices!! any color, like in the kit&chen and bathroom, was done after the fact with "oops" paint from Ho*me Depot.

But I will add, my brother is a contractor (as is my dad) so he was TREMENDOUS in helping us with all of this - plum&bing, electrical, etc.

However, I didn't included one of the biggest expenses... all the beer and meals provided for all our helpers!! But it was fun!

PS... I just figured out why people put the symbols etc in the words!! to stop the annoying underlining. awesome!
steff_1
14 years ago
Wonderful inspiration and congratulations for sticking to a budget with a great result.

You and your family worked very hard and should be very, very proud of the result.

What's left to do? Enjoy!
debrak_2008
14 years ago
It doesn't look like the same place! Enjoy.
cawfeegirl
14 years ago
Very nice...super job! Went from being dark and crowded to bright, open and airy!!
Can I ask what lake that is?
wendy2shoes
14 years ago
Dark paneling + primer and white paint = fabulous! I still have painted paneling in our family room after 18 years! I would really like to murder those 60's Dads who thought that look was the bee's knees. It's an affordable, easy, way to brighten a cottage. Good for you for taking the leap.
firstmmo
14 years ago
That is $5,000 of pure magic! You did a fabulous job with what little budget you had. I'll bet that in a few more years all the homey touches and the good times had will make the house a real second home. Happy happy vacations to you!
cj47
14 years ago
Awww...you got rid of the pink toilet seat....

Seriously, it's a wonderful transformation--especially on your budget. And what wonderful views from the windows!
congratulations and enjoy!
Cj
Stacey Collins
14 years ago
I was cheering as I looked at the photos.... way to go! You and your family are going to have soooo much fun there. Congrats.

But: you didn't keep that cool red fireplace? Seriously... I liked it :)
momof3kids_pa
Original Author
14 years ago
cawfee, I sent you an email!

pink toilet se@t... that's nothing! it's hard to tell, but did you notice the HOT PINK SHAG carpet in the bathroom?!! each bathroom had wall to wall shag carpet!!

and yes, that red fireplace. AHH! I did save the brass emblem on it and will say day morph it into some decoration as a reminder of what once was! but the red went so well with the built in mirrored fireplace with red plastic light up ceiling inserts!! (which many people were mad at me for taking out that bar... the couple that lived there were big entertainers -- I actually enjoyed a dr!nk at that bar when I was probably 18! -- so there was some nostalgia to it. but we did save it and the bar is set up in the garage and gets put to very good use!!)
houseful
14 years ago
That is fantastic! The memories will be priceless!
warmfridge
14 years ago
Great job! Just the white paint and getting rid of that bar in the LR was a vast improvement.
westsider40
14 years ago
It's great. You did an amazing job. You will have so much fun at your new castle. What a pretty deck and porches, and insides and great flow and room for lots of people and games.

What still impresses my dh and me is just how much our 19 yr old dd still loves our place on the lake. She was 12 and we have photos of three mattresses plopped on the floor for us. Nothing else. There is an indescribable emotional attachment that you and yours will have to this wonderful escape. Happiness. congratulations
doraville
14 years ago
wow, wow, wow. It's amazing what paint and hardwork can do. Congrats!
country_smile
14 years ago
my first thought - so, we have this detached summer house that needs work on a limited budget...do you have any plans for the next few weekends? LOL

great transformation. It looks like a relaxing place to spend time away from home. Enjoy!
3katz4me
14 years ago
Hmmm.....is it just me? I get a page not found error when I click on the link.
youngdeb
14 years ago
Amazing work!

I'm with Stacey, I really like that fireplace and wonder if you craigslisted it. You could have gotten some cash for that. No, I'm not kidding. No, really. No REALLY!

Want to see my Lakehouse remodel (including kitchen)?!

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Want to see my Lakehouse remodel (including kitchen)?!

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