Houzz Tours
Houzz Tour: Couple’s Forever Home by a Texas Lake
A builder designs a house around the owners’ love of midcentury modern design and quilting
Because the couple plans to age in place here, Wright incorporated universal design elements into their forever home. Here, you can see that the entry on the street-facing side of the home is flush with the sidewalk.
Porch
The screened-in porch has a floating bar and midcentury modern-inspired railing pattern. It also has Haint Blue ceilings.
Ceiling paint: Porch Ceiling, Sherwin-Williams
The screened-in porch has a floating bar and midcentury modern-inspired railing pattern. It also has Haint Blue ceilings.
Ceiling paint: Porch Ceiling, Sherwin-Williams
Living Room
The first floor has public spaces that are open to one another. The entry leads right into the living room. The doors on the left side lead to the husband’s office and the master bedroom. A soaring vaulted ceiling allows a large second-floor loft space to overlook the living room.
Inspiration: The wife’s love of quilting inspired bold color blocking throughout the house.
Wall and ceiling paint: Eider White, Sherwin-Williams
The first floor has public spaces that are open to one another. The entry leads right into the living room. The doors on the left side lead to the husband’s office and the master bedroom. A soaring vaulted ceiling allows a large second-floor loft space to overlook the living room.
Inspiration: The wife’s love of quilting inspired bold color blocking throughout the house.
Wall and ceiling paint: Eider White, Sherwin-Williams
Dining Room
Bright blue upholstery on the dining room chairs plays off the kitchen cabinets. A chunky table stands up to the proportions of the room.
Bright blue upholstery on the dining room chairs plays off the kitchen cabinets. A chunky table stands up to the proportions of the room.
Kitchen
In keeping with the midcentury modern theme, the couple opted for Formica countertops in the kitchen and in all the bathrooms. “I was amazed by how many patterns Formica is available in these days,” Wright says.
It’s out of view, but the only TV the couple has in the house is in the kitchen. “They love to watch football while they cook,” Wright says.
Kitchen cabinet paint: Stratford Blue, Sherwin-Williams
In keeping with the midcentury modern theme, the couple opted for Formica countertops in the kitchen and in all the bathrooms. “I was amazed by how many patterns Formica is available in these days,” Wright says.
It’s out of view, but the only TV the couple has in the house is in the kitchen. “They love to watch football while they cook,” Wright says.
Kitchen cabinet paint: Stratford Blue, Sherwin-Williams
The one exception to the Formica is the stainless steel island countertop. Here you can see a craftsman “grinding swirls” onto the surface to give it a midcentury modern look.
Deck
To help the owners navigate the steep slope down to the lake, Wright designed a three-tiered deck. She fashioned a fire pit from an inexpensive trough.
Wright says the owners “did not want to take down a single tree to open up to their big lake views.”
To help the owners navigate the steep slope down to the lake, Wright designed a three-tiered deck. She fashioned a fire pit from an inexpensive trough.
Wright says the owners “did not want to take down a single tree to open up to their big lake views.”
Powder Room
Bungalow style: The couple brought five-panel doors and a few other exterior doors in a similar style from their bungalow, and Wright repurposed them around the house. She copied the style of the bungalow doors for the other new doors used in the house, but in wider sizes that conform to universal design principles.
Bungalow style: The couple brought five-panel doors and a few other exterior doors in a similar style from their bungalow, and Wright repurposed them around the house. She copied the style of the bungalow doors for the other new doors used in the house, but in wider sizes that conform to universal design principles.
Master Bedroom
To the left, a hallway leads to the master bathroom and a large closet.
Flooring: Wright used a trick she’d heard about and successfully tried in a recent restaurant project.
“I put down the first layer of stain on the concrete floors and then threw Miracle-Gro [plant fertilizer] on it in these sort-of starburst patterns. The copper in the Miracle-Gro reacts with the acids and creates some blues and greens in the floors that you can see when the sunlight hits them,” she says. “Get the basic old-fashioned Miracle-Gro, the ‘dollar store’ kind to do this.” After letting it sit and react for a while, she added another coat of finish on top.
To the left, a hallway leads to the master bathroom and a large closet.
Flooring: Wright used a trick she’d heard about and successfully tried in a recent restaurant project.
“I put down the first layer of stain on the concrete floors and then threw Miracle-Gro [plant fertilizer] on it in these sort-of starburst patterns. The copper in the Miracle-Gro reacts with the acids and creates some blues and greens in the floors that you can see when the sunlight hits them,” she says. “Get the basic old-fashioned Miracle-Gro, the ‘dollar store’ kind to do this.” After letting it sit and react for a while, she added another coat of finish on top.
The master bedroom has its own entrance to a study.
Study
The furniture, window and minimalist woodwork give the room a midcentury modern look.
The furniture, window and minimalist woodwork give the room a midcentury modern look.
Master Bathroom
Quilting inspiration: A tile pattern inspired by quilts extends above the bathtub. The red color revs up the otherwise neutral color palette.
Quilting inspiration: A tile pattern inspired by quilts extends above the bathtub. The red color revs up the otherwise neutral color palette.
Universal design elements: Wright included a shower bench, a threshold-free transition into the shower, a handheld faucet and a comfort-height toilet in the bathroom.
More bungalow materials: Because recycling and repurposing are important to the couple, they wanted to use scrap wood left over from the remodel they had completed in their bungalow. Wright “just sort of hodgepodged them together” in a funky composition behind the toilets in two of the bathrooms.
Cabinet color: Positive Red, Sherwin-Williams
Cabinet color: Positive Red, Sherwin-Williams
First Guest Room
The couple’s children are in college. There are two guest rooms for when they are all together at the lake house, and the couple’s daughter plans to use the loft for overnight get-togethers with college friends. The wife made the pillows.
The couple’s children are in college. There are two guest rooms for when they are all together at the lake house, and the couple’s daughter plans to use the loft for overnight get-togethers with college friends. The wife made the pillows.
Guest Bathroom
The two guest bedrooms share this double bathroom. Wright scored the sold brass vessel sink from a neighbor’s yard sale for just $40. She paid for the bargain in sweat. “Hauling this thing around is like hauling a big chunk of concrete because it’s so heavy,” she says.
The Formica countertop has a grasscloth-like texture. The wallpaper is a composition of metallic feathers.
Cabinet paint: Dovetail, Sherwin-Williams
The two guest bedrooms share this double bathroom. Wright scored the sold brass vessel sink from a neighbor’s yard sale for just $40. She paid for the bargain in sweat. “Hauling this thing around is like hauling a big chunk of concrete because it’s so heavy,” she says.
The Formica countertop has a grasscloth-like texture. The wallpaper is a composition of metallic feathers.
Cabinet paint: Dovetail, Sherwin-Williams
Second Guest Room
The wife made a lot of this bedding, including the quilt.
The wife made a lot of this bedding, including the quilt.
Laundry Room
The laundry room is also the dog room for the family’s schnauzers. The cabinet with the grille has a dog bed behind it, and the gray cabinet is a trash pullout outfitted for dog food.
Cabinet color: Burma Jade, Sherwin-Williams
The laundry room is also the dog room for the family’s schnauzers. The cabinet with the grille has a dog bed behind it, and the gray cabinet is a trash pullout outfitted for dog food.
Cabinet color: Burma Jade, Sherwin-Williams
More repurposing: The couple attended the University of North Texas. When the school renovated the football locker room, they were able to pick up six of the old lockers for a song. Half of them are in the laundry room
Stairs
One of the homeowners works for a staircase company, which fabricated these stairs. The stairs are black walnut with a maple inlay inspired by quilting squares.
One of the homeowners works for a staircase company, which fabricated these stairs. The stairs are black walnut with a maple inlay inspired by quilting squares.
Loft
The stairs lead up to the wife’s domain — a workshop for her quilting along with a Murphy bed for extra guests. The loft is 667 square feet (62 square meters).
Flooring: Wright used EarthWerks luxury vinyl planks for the floors. This product has recycled content and is recyclable. It has the look of wood, and the color blocking continues in the yellow and blue stripes that extend across the floor into the bathroom.
The stairs lead up to the wife’s domain — a workshop for her quilting along with a Murphy bed for extra guests. The loft is 667 square feet (62 square meters).
Flooring: Wright used EarthWerks luxury vinyl planks for the floors. This product has recycled content and is recyclable. It has the look of wood, and the color blocking continues in the yellow and blue stripes that extend across the floor into the bathroom.
Storage: The cabinets are outfitted with pullout racks where she can hang works in progress. She also has fabric carts stashed in a storage closet up here.
Cabinet color: Lakeshore, Sherwin-Williams; accent wall color: Ravishing Coral, Sherwin-Williams
Cabinet color: Lakeshore, Sherwin-Williams; accent wall color: Ravishing Coral, Sherwin-Williams
Loft Bath
The same blue we saw on the loft’s storage cabinets continues into the bathroom.
The doors in this photo came from the bungalow. The one on the left leads to a separate toilet room. The one on the right leads to a storage closet for the wife’s fabric carts.
The same blue we saw on the loft’s storage cabinets continues into the bathroom.
The doors in this photo came from the bungalow. The one on the left leads to a separate toilet room. The one on the right leads to a storage closet for the wife’s fabric carts.
Wallpaper: A colorful wallpaper that ties in with the wife’s love of quilts and the midcentury modern theme accents one wall, which can be seen from across the loft. “We pulled every color we used throughout the house, besides the red in the master bathroom, from this wallpaper,” Wright says.
For now the family enjoys this home as a lakeside getaway, and the couple looks forward to the day that they can move in here full time.
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For now the family enjoys this home as a lakeside getaway, and the couple looks forward to the day that they can move in here full time.
Browse more homes by style: Apartments | Barn Homes | Colorful Homes | Contemporary Homes | Eclectic Homes | Farmhouses | Floating Homes | Guesthouses | Homes Around the World | Lofts | Midcentury Homes | Modern Homes | Ranch Homes | Small Homes | Townhouses | Traditional Homes | Transitional Homes | Vacation Homes
House at a Glance
Who lives here: A couple and two college-age children live here part time.
Location: Lake Hawkins, Texas
Size: 2,781 square feet (258 square meters); three bedrooms, 3½ bathrooms
The backstory: As they near retirement, this nature-loving couple decided to build their dream forever home on a lake. Right now they still own a historic bungalow two hours away that serves as their primary home. But after retirement they will make this home their full-time residence.
The style: “They love midcentury modern design and wanted this house to look midcentury modern,” says builder Erin Wright, owner of Wright-Built. “But they also wanted to bring pieces of their bungalow into the home, and recycling and reusing is very important to them.” Wright was able to repurpose doors and scrap wood left over after a renovation of their bungalow.