Need cohesive interior design for vintage/modern mix lakeside cottage
Jan H
4 years ago
last modified: 4 years ago
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Comments (23)
CDR Design, LLC
4 years agoRelated Discussions
What Style For Our Cottage?
Comments (21)Do you have a piece of art or specific pieces of furniture you will bring to the cottage? If so, that, along with the age of the cottage, the wood ceiling and stone fp, plus a few inspiration pictures can serve as a starting point for the rest of the cottage. Here are some random ideas/thoughts that may (or may not!) help: The age of the cottage lends itself a bit to MCM, which you seem to like. I think MCM plays pretty well with a bit of Art Deco, and with Japanese style too. Are you drawn to minimalist type interior? Japanese design often seems quite minimalist. You list 'rustic' as a neutral, just the location and the use of wood in the cottage make it rather rustic, so you certainly don't need to add any further rustic elements if you don't love them. Do you like live edge wood at all? You see that a fair bit with Japanese design too, and with some MCM. I'm thinking George Nakashima. He is an architect and designer (I think) who according to Wikipedia " His style is considered an extension of the Arts and Crafts movement and ... Mix"es> Japanese, American and International Modern style he designed furniture lines for Knoll and Widdicomb-Mueller "using timber organically and deliberately chose boards with knots, burrs and figured grain."[3] Too arts and crafts perhaps? I often see rocks/pebbles used in Japanese interior (and exterior) design. You could continue that theme, starting with the fp of course. I have a Japanese inspired master bath that includes live edge counter, pebbles and wood flooring, it all works together well I think. How you given any thought to the kitchen? Fitted or unfitted? Do you like any of the images below? Once you have your basic elements (i.e. inspiration pictures you love, some art or furniture you will have at the cottage) you could start a separate post for ideas. I'm sure you'll get lots of input. Good luck. Here is a link that might be useful: Nakashima...See MoreCan I do a craftsman interior in a Victorian cottage?
Comments (32)I was glad to see this question. I am getting ready to move into a 1890 cross gable Folk Victorian (and I would consider it a farmhouse.) I live in a city in the very southwest of Calif. (almost to the border) In the late 1800s,, early 1900s, ten acre lots were sold to gentlemen farmers from the east and midwest to plant lemon groves. The agreement included that they had to live there and build a house that was worth at least $2,000, which was a lot in those days. Some have been destroyed, but the city is sprinkled with quite a few large, fancy, Queen Anne Victorians, many that are restored perfectly. They are called Orchard Houses, of course because they were built by the owners of the orchards . This house is an Orchard house, but not as big and fancy as others. I can get more info about it at our Historical Society Museum, but I have not gotten over there yet. Maybe they skimped on the $2,000 or maybe there was more to it before. Maybe it had a guest house, or horse stables. I know nothing about old houses but my family is all in Minnesota and this looks somewhat like the farmhouses and rural, in town houses that my aunts and uncles lived in. I had to search pictures and articles to determine that it is probably a Folk Victorian, but I think I am pretty close. I say "move in" because I will be renting it from my brother in law who has had it for 37 years, but it is a rental and he built 2 apartments behind it. He doesn't know much about it and hasn't had a lot of interest it it, other than to keep it rented, even though the Heritage Society has been out to see him a number of times. My brother in law spent his youth in rural Minnesota, so this is just a house to him. I have always liked the house. It is definitely "folk" and doesn't have any fancy Queen Anne style trim etc... It fact I thought it was a craftsman, until I found out when it was built. It is structurally very sound, but is sort of unkempt looking. I am a retired teacher, single and don't have experience in this, but he is happy that I want to make it look as close to how it was originally (but not for much money LOL!!) Just to have it clean and really well kept up will make him happy. The block has a couple more old houses, one Queen Anne Victorian that is not kept up at all. Otherwise it is a hodgepodge of 50s and 60s. This is the one very visible old home, so the neighbors are sort of hinting that they don't like it being such a mess. I especially want to get the bushes cut down in front of the enclosed porch so I can open the windows and use it for that. I saw the house 35 years ago, and now have only been able to do a quick walkthrough. The Craftsman question interested me because I have quite a bit of Craftsman style furniture that I already own, and I felt that it would match the farmhouse feel that this house has. Of course I am just talking about furniture, interior decorations, etc..., no permanent changes. Overall though, I don't think my brother haschanged much (except in the kitchen.) I believe he has maintained original moldings, possibly even lights and he hasn't done any dumb stuff like take out the built ins or put big modern closets. The bedrooms still have the tiny little closets (with the original doors) where you can hang a few things and I think tenants have made closet type spaces by putting rods and curtains at the corners of the gables, so that did not change anything structurally and can look cool with the right kind of material. He is a contractor and does most work himself, and if something can be fixed or maintained as is, that means he doesn't have to spend money, so the house is lucky in that respect. It has a basement with an inside door and an outside cellar door (so I will be prepared for tornadoes), and it has a mudroom, because in Southern California I need a place to put my parka and snow boots (we don't even have rain LOL) and those steep gables will keep the snow from collecting so my roof won't collapse. They built what they knew when they got here!! I think the combination Victorian Farmhouse/Craftsman will work because it has a farmhouse feel and we are only talking about furnishings, I do have one final question though, and I hope this picture comes through. It is odd looking because this house is flat in the front. It has an enclosed porch that is flush with the outside wall, a very small porch for the front door, otherwise, there is no other porch with posts and a covering like Victorian's (and usually farmhouses) seem to have. It looks like something is missing. Maybe something was removed over the years. Or is there a way that a larger porch could be added to make the front look more interesting, and to have a place to sit outside, but still in character with the style of the house? I might be able to talk my brother into it because he could build it himself. I am excited about the enclosed porch because those windows have hinges and open completely out but have not been opened in years. I suggested that it would be really nice if he could take down those dumb apartments, but he wouldn't go for that!! Lol!!...See Morevintage farmhouse versus craftsman kitchen, what wood for cabinets?
Comments (22)"... is there such a thing as cottagey craftsman farmhouse, lol?" Mine! Although all of the original trim was replaced by the PO in the early 1980's with ... weathered gray barn siding. He even did shiplapped oak barn siding on the walls in the LR, and added gray sculptured carpet to match. With all the gray, that dude was ahead of his time, but I found it depressing, and cleaning that rough siding was not on my to-do list. We covered the shiplap with sheetrock so that the walls would be smooth, and I've used paint in the colors I mentioned above. I have mostly cream-painted cabinets and beadboard in the more cottage-influenced kitchen. The rooms we've added are more cottage style, but I've often thought about adding some wooden 'beams' to the ceiling to make the LR more Craftsman, and replacing the painted barn siding trim with a nice stained wood. My furniture is mostly earth tones, which matches the Craftsman vibe. I'd love to be able to afford some Batchelder tiles for the FP surround....See MoreFrench/English country, French/English cottage, cottage, shabby chic
Comments (26)I just wanted to chime in to say that I've seen pictures of homes with doors and window sashes that are unpainted wood paired with trim work that is painted, and I thought it looked beautiful. Basically, anything that opened/closed/moved was unpainted wood, and the rest was painted. So that's something to consider as an option. I wished I'd thought of that option before we went with all wood trim and doors in our main floor living areas and all painted trim and doors upstairs (bedrooms, bathrooms, and laundry room). We have lots of stained wood (trim, doors, built-ins, etc.) on our main floor, so I understand the challenges of decorating around it and finding colors that work with it. But when you find the right colors to bring out the best in your wood AND give you the vibe you want, it's worth the challenge. There were times (after spending too much time looking at trendy design magazines or web sites) when I second guessed our decision to go with so much wood, but I've come to love it more over the years because of its character and richness. I grew up in a house that had unpainted fir paneled walls in every room (even the bathroom, though the walls in there were varnished), so for a long time I just longed for light, bright, painted walls. After having those for years living on my own, I guess I finally came around to appreciating natural wood again....See MorePatricia Colwell Consulting
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