Annette, husbands can be so inconvenient for decorating at times, can't they! Moderntropicalglam, the paint can is so old I can't really make out the color. Going by the paint used in rest of house, I am going to deduce this is a benjamin Moore CC (designer classics) collection and of those colors I think it looks like Prairie Lily. Also to you and holly, thanks for saying I'm not fluffy but it's ok! I'm pretty fine being on the fluffy side and likely have chosen photos you've seen as carefully as any gal on a dating website.

Your place looks amazing. I live in a lake house full time. Something to consider is the way you use your home, especially the bathroom. I can tell you the number one best thing I ever did (aside from buying the house itself :) was putting a door to the outside in one of my bathrooms. It gets used constantly all summer and keeps the sand and grime some what contained in the bathroom. Before I did that we would walk all the way through the house to the bathroom...no matter how much you brush / off rinse off etc... you get lots of sand everywhere! The bathroom is the most worked room in the house! Now they can go in and jump in the shower at the end of the day and come out without 10 pounds of sand! Don't get me wrong I love the sandy days, but it is nice for everyone not to feel bad about traipsing through the house with wet or sandy feet just to use the toilet. I would LOVE to have a toy garage that faces the lake, so much easier to get all the stuff put away and drying at the end of the day. A place to hang the 64 thousand wet things...

Niiiice! Are the deck and supports in good condition? I would put my money there.... You need a wood shed ASAP to run the woodstove. Place an order for kiln-dried wood. Storing wood under the back deck will be super inconvenient when it's 20 below. Plus, snow melt will drip through the boards of the deck and ice the logs together (been there, done that). The shed should be nearer the front door. Sometime this summer collect blow-down twigs on your property. Garbage cans are great for storing these. Will you have auxiliary heat to keep the pipes from freezing? Otherwise, you're not going to be visiting on winter weekends, 'cos you're going to have to drain the pipes for winter. No concrete for a porch. It will crack in no time. Use wood. Try Trex for the steps, and make them extra wide so you can easily schlepp stuff like firewood into the house. You can use crusher for your front pathway; it does well in freeze/thaw cycles and is cheap to replace. Consider having a more substantial entrance, like a big vestibule or enclosed porch (a very New England thing). There will be muddy boots, wet jackets, skis, fishing rods, waders, hats, snow, wet, mud, everywhere. These get stashed BEFORE people go into the house front door in some kind of fore-room. Slippers get put on. You need a bench or chair there. Extensive doormats and drip spaces. Yep, have a mouse treatment of some kind for the house. Have a way to store food so mice can't get it. At least carpet is warm underfoot. Maybe the right idea would be to have some comfy rugs. The knotty pine is fab. Even minor changes to it would lower the property value, especially whitewash, scraping, paint... If there's a way to take down a tree or two to add more interior light and/or open the lake view, I think that would be smart. I don't think that house has been in the woods very long, so it's not like you'd be taking down historic trees. I disagree that the woodstove should be in a corner or to the side. It's essential for heating the home: it should be central so warmth reaches everywhere. If you have kids or pets, you MUST put a metal barrier around the woodstove for safety reasons. This can have a gate so an adult can access the front of the stove to load wood. Do you have a security system of some kind? Might be a good idea for a seasonal place that's that nice.

Yes, the garage will bring the right side at least as far the left wing, probably farther. I think that left bedroom is probably about 1.5 cars wide, so the garage will be wider. We haven't decided on front or side garage doors but I'm sure my husband would rather have side and I'm fine with that. He also wanted to move the door to the center, but we ended up moving so many windows and walls around that he eventually decided it was too much work and decided to let it stay. It would have been nice for the flow inside to move it, and maybe one day, but probably not. I think if the arches go that it will also make the view from the house better/let in more light. They aren't exactly well done to begin with...