Thanks! Yes, it was costly, due a lot to the work you can't see. It all started with a leak from the balcony into the garage and the balcony needed to be completely rebuilt/resurfaced, so in the process I wanted a new railing and then it snowballed from there into a total exterior makeover.

We have already adopted a lot of this into our design. Big Don Aslett fans here, too. And yes, having a room that can be converted to an older kid bedroom is useful even when they share. In our case it’s going to be the LEGO room off the play area - it’s for big kid projects and things the littles shouldn’t be into, and I’ll convert it for the college student or two of the bunch down the road. Otherwise it’s three bunks per bedroom and a bathroom for each. Girls room, boys room, extra flex room, and if absolutely necessary, the guest bedroom/craft room/handicapped accessible extra master for our special little guy :) We were thinking over space and privacy in the shared rooms and came to the decision that full beds over a desk and drawer area were the best choice, possibly with curtains rails around the top if they want to pull them for some privacy. Then there is a schoolwork area, personal drawer space, and a mini ‘room’ for the child while still living together. That’s how we made it work in the dorms and I think it was a good setup. It also means we don’t need absolute enormous closets since those are only for hanging dresses and out of season gear. If it comes time to sell it makes the room a lot more functional as a normal master suite and not some sort of freakish planned communal room. YES to a bike loop in the yard, even if the yard is small. Perimeter tracks are SO useful. YES to a drinking fountain in the mud room (outside isn’t useful if your area freezes like ours does). YES to laundry by the bedrooms - we are doing one laundry area in the hall to the master suite, on the main floor, and another laundry area in the upstairs between the kid rooms. They’re many feet apart so two makes sense, and we can barely keep up on laundry with a single machine anyway. Many more amens and agreements to the other list items. When the design is well planned and lives well for the family the square footage becomes less of an issue. I can exist in half the house if I have twice the storage ;) And as another Speed Queen devotee, I cant recommend them highly enough!

Fresh and lovely. Nice update to a lake house. Please post the final outcome.

its hard to see the detail in the photo, but the bottom part on each side are 2 left over sheets of white faux cedar shake shingles, giving it a little more texture and changing things up a bit. We had just 2 pieces left over so it worked here perfectly to be able to use them up in a creative way.