Glad you like so much of it! How funny that I called that wide basement hallway an "art gallery" when your daughter is going to be an art major in college. The wide hallway just "happened" when I put the two bedrooms and bathroom in along the right side of the basement. The leftover space wasn't quite wide enough to be the bar/kitchen area (and besides I wanted that by the windows at the back) and I couldn't see any other use for it. But just calling that wide space a hallway seemed so mundane when it was wide enough that it seemed like it OUGHT to be useful for something. Then I thought, well they could put bookcases along walls or hang artwork so voila it became the "art gallery". Serendipity! LOL! Thanks for posting the exact measurements of the foundation. I was off enough that there will HAVE to be some changes to the design...especially to the main floor bedroom/bath area. But you wanted changes there anyway so that's okay. I don't think the new dimensions will force any dramatic changes to the walkout basement. By wanting the dining area "closer to the lake", I'm assuming you mean that you'd like a view of the lake from the dining room. I don't see any possible way to actually put the dining room along the back of the house without either a) moving the master bedroom to the front of the house somewhere or b) turning the great room by 90 degrees. Option "a" won't work with your foundation unless you're willing to have a really skinny, winding hallway going from the front door, around past the office and master bedroom and bath to reach the public areas at the back of the house. Since you've already mentioned a desire to have a view of the lake from the front door, I'm guessing that's out. Option "b" would turn the "vaulted" ceiling of the great room so that it faced towards the side of the lot instead of towards the lake. Pretty sure that is out as well! So, no way to actually put the dining room at the back of the house. BUT, I could basically swap the kitchen and dining room areas so that you would be able to see the lake thru the great room windows when seated at the dining table. However you wouldn't have as good a view of the lake from the kitchen if I do that. So, which one do you prefer? I can easily open up the view from the front door by getting rid of the office closet and the entry way closet. You don't HAVE to have either closet. I might be able to fit in an entry way closet if I change the staircase from a tight U to a loose U. (i.e., have two landings instead of one big one with some steps between the two landings.) Actually, since that space I'm putting the staircase in is almost two feet narrower than I thought, there isn't going to be room enough beside the stair for a chair so a loose U that spans the whole 10'-6" ft wide (interior measure) space would probably look better anyway. I'll play around with it and see what I can come up with. I THINK it might be possible to move the laundry room to where I currently have "her closet" and then put the two bedroom closets between the bedroom and bath. The laundry room would probably have to be a bit smaller but you would still be able to have a window in it. But, before I do too much rearranging, could you verify a couple of other foundation measurements? (the ones shown in red below) These will affect exactly how much room is available for the master bath/mudroom area and with plumbing, sometimes inches can be critical. So I want make sure I have the available dimensions right. As for getting cross breezes through the house, for really good breezes you need windows directly across from each other that are oriented in the direction of the prevailing winds. Obviously this works best in skinny houses that are only 1 room deep and your foundation isn't right for that. But you can get reasonably good breezes by having windows on two walls in most rooms. Even if the walls are perpendicular to each other and neither faces the direction from which the wind blows, you'll still get some breeze. And, you can improve the flow of air thru a house by installing operable interior transom windows above doorways so that even when interior doors are closed breezes can flow thru the house. Or you can use ceiling fans to stir up a breeze artificially.

Thank you Beverly! Those are lovely options. And, I agree that napping at a lake house is super important.... but my hubby does not want to crowd the petite living room with large furniture. So...at this point I’m leaning toward the IKEA ektorp loveseat and chairs in either beige or dark beige and brighten it up with navy and white pillows. Any ideas on paint color? I tend to use classic neutrals like edgecomb grey or revere pewter. But since the stone fireplace is grayish/bluish, I want a cooler more blue color. Any thoughts on a cool neutral blue? Thank you!

Congratulations on your new vacation home! We just redid our kitchen/living area at our small lake house. We also did it on a tiny budget. Our biggest savings was getting cabinets used that someone else didn't want. You have an easy straight run of cabs there. If I were you, I'd haunt Craig's List, facebook marketplace, Habitat's Restore, etc. and see what you can find. I could have done ours 3x over with great cabs I found online. I remember kicking myself for not waiting a bit as someone was advertising an almost new set of cabs from a basement kitchen they were removing for $500! Solid wood drawers and everything. As it is, I was able to get a decent set of maple lowers with large drawers (drawers rock!) and white uppers for about $600 total. Don't put new counters on those old cabs. At least replace the lowers. I def. agree about removing that weird peninsula thingy. Have you thought about adding cabs where the white stand alone cabinet is now? I'm not clear about whether you are changing the flooring? In terms of paint, I always have a general idea of paint colour in my head when I start a reno whether I know it or not. If you haven't already, start a pinterest page and gather images of similar spaces you love and then you'll get an idea of the direction you want to go. I agree with your husband about the ceiling. It will be the centre piece of your room. However, the paint colours you are considering are not going to do it any favours. The blues are too cool and are going to make the space feel smaller and lower the ceiling. Personally, I'd do everything a warm, neutral white (Steam by Ben Moore?). Before you do anything with the wood stove bricks, check and see what you need for safety. Our new wood stove could be closer to combustible sidewalls than our old one, but each stove has its own specs. ETA: Is the furniture in the picture staying?

Mockup time! I tried to use the blue from your 'Wish list' album, but kept some warmth to go with the brick and fencing. The trim color hasn't changed much, a warm slate grey, I somewhat matched the roof with it. In real life the roofing should indeed be picked before the paint. Window frames and (garage) doors in offwhite, towards cream. No idea what material is on the steps/deck, but I muted the orange a bit. Hope you like it. (to return a favour paypal.me/rinkedit)