Guesthouse Progress: Inside a Scandinavian Inspired Bunkie on Lake Superior

You already saw me spruce up the exterior and today I'm sharing a look inside our guesthouse!  Here's a look at the "before" (pop over to this post for more photos):

When we bought the lakehouse we were pretty enamored with this guesthouse, which boasts a three piece bathroom, sauna, and small sleeping area.  At first I waffled on the use of this space: I wanted the Etsy shop out there, but heating in the winter proved cost prohibitive - which is why my second idea, a sewing studio, didn't pan out either.  Instead, we cluttered it up, storing boxes for other people along with some furniture we no longer needed.  We finally got the room cleared out this fall and decided to make it a lovely guest space.  The sauna floor needs to be repaired and we have to build new benches, the bathroom needs some cosmetic upgrades, and the roof shingles need to be replaced (hey, guess who's going to learn some roofing skills next year?) which leaves me with a decor budget of approximately $0.  Not a problem!  I shopped the house to create a cozy space where guests can crash and I'll be slowly tackling some more projects throughout the winter. 



When I shared my to paint or not to paint the pine paneling dilemma, so many of you were Team Pine and I'm so happy I kept it natural because it saved me a lot of time and money.  Thanks for the excellent advice!  Because this is an impossibly small space there's no fooling the eye into thinking it's spacious.  The pine works with the small size and plays up the cozy factor, instead of trying to fake spaciousness.  To break up the pine just a little, I replaced the small mirror that was hanging beside the bed with my large DIY black and white painting:

 
We set up the bed (and all white bedding) from the townhouse guestroom and it just fits.  Making the bed is an aerobic activity (no idea how folks with bunk beds do it) and guests will have to clamber in from the end, but I didn't want to have to subject guests to a double.  This works! 

My Mom gave me the maple dresser I had been borrowing (which I hope weathers the winter okay out there).  Mom and I were going to sew new pillows but then I remembered I have the Marimekko pillows that used to live in the living room; they match perfectly with the freshly painted turquoise door and exterior trim!

(Behind the open turquoise door is the doorway to the three piece bathroom - to the left is the sauna).

I'd love to replace the old curtain rods but for now I just painted them a creamy white because they were super rusty.  Mom sewed really pretty sheers to offer guests a little privacy, without obscuring the lake view.  I didn't want the sheers to touch to electric baseboard heaters and, more importantly, there is literally no room for them to drape between the bed and the wall (it's a tight squeeze) so we decided to keep them short, which is such a change for me because I always prefer floor length curtains but they're just more functional at this length. 

From the outside, the sheers look much, much (much!) better than the forest green towels that used to cover the windows.  Is it me, or does the guesthouse feel more welcoming from the outside with these gauzy window treatments (you can compare against these exterior photos)? 

To add a little visual - and literal! - warmth to the space (and cover up some of that faux wood laminate flooring), I ordered this beautiful braided, 100% wool rug from RugsUSA.  I considered a natural jute rug, like this one, but ultimately I loved the look and feel of this soft wool rug.  It's a creamy neutral, which will complement any bedding or pillows down the road, plus it's really thick and cushy, so I hope it adds a little warmth underfoot because although this building is heated, it's not insulated very well.  I ordered the biggest rug that would fit and it runs under the dresser and bed, hopefully adding a little insulation to the floor.

Look at that gorgeous texture!  I want to incorporate some more soft textures into the room, so I'm currently dreaming about making a huge chunky blanket or maybe even a woven wall hanging for one of the other walls.  

The guesthouse has two overhead lights and one of the light switches is in the bulkhead, toward the wall with the hooks.  You have to stand on the bed to reach it, it's hilarious!  There's quite obviously no room for side tables in here, so maybe some wall mounted sconces are in order.  To facilitate bedtime reading as best I can, I added a lamp to the dresser - it's the old one from my office.  I haven't needed it since we gave the office a makeover, so I'm happy I can make use of it in here.  

I'm torn about decorating the dresser.  I want to add a tray and plants and make it homey, but there's SO little room in here that I think guests would just prefer a place to put their stuff because floor space is at a premium. 

I originally wanted a really spare, Scandinavian-inspired look with a black, white and pale wood color palette, but I deviated a little.  I couldn't help but add just a little turquoise ;)

I think it still has a Scandi cottage kind of vibe.  Although it's technically ready for guests, I want to tackle a few more projects over the winter so it feels even more inviting and cozy for next spring.  In addition to making a cozy throw for the bed and maybe some DIY sconces, my Mom had an idea for those hooks: add some kind of DIY felted wool pouches with long handles that people could use to stash a phone or book, in lieu of night stands.  Isn't that clever? 

Making some candles and stocking a drawer in the dresser with some essentials (snacks, some toiletries, flashlights, bear bangers, etc.) is on my to-do list too.  Some more art would enhance the coziness - or maybe some wall pockets with plants during the summer would be a nice touch.  Would I remember to go out there and water them, though?  There's also a boob light I cropped out of photos that needs a replacement.

But this room has come a looooong way from the pile of boxes and furniture - accented by forest green towels for curtains - we started with in the fall. 

I'd love to hear your ideas! 

I have to thank to RugsUSA for generously sending over the rug after I spotted it online and fell in love with the plush texture and Scandinavian vibe.  Right now it's kept securely in place by furniture, but on its own it would require a rug pad so RugsUSA sent along the perfect size comfort grip rug pad in case I decide to use this pretty handmade rug elsewhere:

New Marimekko Living Room Pillows - Plus a FinnStyle Coupon Code for You!

I favor a slow approach to decorating, taking the time to find the perfect pieces and making little changes so a room grows along with me, reflecting my changing style.  I recently made a small change to the living but it's the kind of change that suddenly makes everything "click".  I thought this would be a good time for a quick look back at the living room, to see how it has shaped up in 19 months - and what it looks like now, with the new additions!

Although we sold a lot of things right before we moved to the lakehouse, we kept most of our old furniture for the living room.  Although things were moved around a little, the cream leather sofa, teal velvet chair, minty mingo chair, black organic chair, Ikea wall unit and even our brown ottoman (although that's on the chopping block) all made the move with us. 

When we first set up our furniture, the living room looked a little bland, but it was already more our style because we had painted the walls and trim white and the fireplace a deep charcoal grey.  It looked quite different from when we first viewed the property:

When I spotted some Marimekko Kirsikka fabric on sale, I scooped it up and coerced my Mom into sewing four bold pillows to liven up the neutral sofa:

I liked how the Kirsikka pattern looked with the spherical glass shades of the big chrome lamp we had at the time.  Suddenly the room had more life - pillows made all the difference!

When I stole my Mom's 1960s blue Lotte lamps, I was surprised by how much I liked the blue.  I hadn't planned on adding blue, so the pillows - with their aqua, green, black and white palette - weren't perfect anymore, but I loved them too much to part with them.  Plus, no way was my Mom going to whip up four new ones!  

When I switched around some furniture, moving our black organic chair and replacing it with the mint mingo from the bedroom, the living room started to boast a riot of patterns and colours, but I still liked the pillows.  I especially liked how the swirls of the Kirsikka complemented the swirls of the upholstery on the mingo chair.

Because the same shade of blue from the Lotte lamps pops up in the both the living room and dining room art, I was confident that the new tweed dining chairs I found would suit our open concept living space quite nicely - providing a visual break from my love affair with aqua, without introducing yet another colour. 

With the addition of more blue, though, it was time to introduce a textile that would play nice.  That's right - I finally conceded that the old pillows weren't right:



FinnStyle (one of my favorite shops, long before the days of sponsored posts) recently reached out and offered to help spruce up a room.  I immediately started perusing their inventory of Marimekko pillows and fabric.  Have you checked out their selection?  SO many gorgeous prints and if you shop in store there's a great remnant section too.

I found the perfect fabric right away: Marimekko's Lumimarja, which comes in different colourways, including one with two shades of leafy green and one with nearly the exact same blue as my Lotte lamps and dining chairs (called "white/green" and "grey/blue," respectively).  FinnStyle generously sent me two of each and they're perfect for the living room:




They add just enough colour and interest without competing with any of the bolder elements in the space.  They tie in the blues and greens, as well as the warm teak and walnut wood tones, and complement our cream leather sofa beautifully.  Plus they boast a beautiful, organic print that I think pairs just as well with the Mingo chair as the Kirsikka fabric did.  The rooms feels lighter and airier and I'm so amazed what a difference just swapping out four throw cushions can make!

After mixing throw cushion patterns in the townhouse, I went for a bold set of four identical cushions when we moved to the lakehouse because I liked the graphic quality.  But now I'm inching back toward pattern mixing and the Lumimarja is a great way to subtly achieve that look because the prints are the same scale, but the colours vary - making mixing effortless!

If something at FinnStyle caught your eye, you're in luck!  FinnStyle is offering Dans le Lakehouse readers a 20% discount.  They asked if readers would prefer a giveaway or discount and I figured a discount because then everyone can find something - I hope I chose right!  Click on this link, enter your email address and get your 20% discount right now.  I've been an email subscriber for years and I promise they aren't spammy.  I appreciate getting emails about their flash sales because I have scored some super sweet deals!

Thanks to FinnStyle for providing the Lumimarja pillows for this living room spruce.  I was provided the product, but not paid or prompted to provide a positive review - this is the best kind of collaboration, because you already know that I'm a huge fan! 

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Mid-Century Inspired Open Concept Living Room

The lakehouse is far from "done," but with the completion of the kitchen makeover and dining room credenza, the open concept living/dining/kitchen combo is probably already unrecognizable for the former owners.  Today I wanted to share a quick tour of all three spaces together, because so far you've only seen them discombobulated.  While I'm at it, I might as well chat about my ideas for what's next - and what's getting in the way of my plans.
 
First, though, there's a sweet and simple change that I'm way too excited about.  Where there was once a redundant light switch, there is now art (the watercolour painting of chairs from Paris).  The dining room light was controlled by a switch beside the patio door as well as a switch on this wall and we really didn't need two, so Hubby worked his electrical magic and removed this switch which we covered with a blank wall plate.  He's not an electrician, so there's no tutorial, but we did do everything to code and it's been safely hidden.  The painting was strategically hung to cover the blank wall plate.  Moving from a townhouse with more rooms and three floors to this single level open concept space has meant a serious wall shortage - bad news for our burgeoning art collection - so I'm happy to have reclaimed a wall.

Here's a quick reminder of before:

Sometimes I forget how much it has changed.  I wish I could accurately capture the brightness and liveliness of the lakehouse but my pictures just don't do the house justice.  I'm still learning how to properly photograph a space flooded with light (what a fabulous problem to have). 

Here's a flashback to a year ago:

There are still so many things I'd like to do in this space but I have to keep an eye on our budget.  We have to buy a new furnace this summer and get a land survey - both of which will cost thousands.  And both are un-fun ways to spend cash (although not freezing my butt off next winter will be fun).  Still, I'm on the hunt for new dining room chairs or the perfect fabric for the ones we have because I'm really tired of the brown leather.  Similarly, I'd like to make a smaller, more mod ottoman.  Do you know I have a secret sofa?  This mid-century sectional is languishing in the garage but I'm still waffling about spending the cash to have it recovered because our cream leather sofa is in perfect condition.  But a sectional would mean more seating so I'm saving up for the fabric and upholstery job, despite my reservations.  Hey, I'm sure I could always spend the money on something fun like shingles or pumping our septic tank...

Ultimately, budget can't stop us and we're steam rolling ahead with some smaller paint and upholstery projects in here, as well as tackling projects all over the house. 

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Living Room Punchiness

The living room got a little more love from a bold new lamp and some even bolder Marimekko cushions.

I had actually purchased extra velvet fabric from the garbage chair makeover with the intent of making cushions for the sofa but it looked a little too matchy-matchy.  Meanwhile, a local shop that carries all Finnish design recently decided to stop carrying Marimekko fabric because of the rising MSRP.  They slashed the prices on all remaining inventory and I picked up the black/green/blue Kirsikka print for less than 1/2 price.  There were only a few fabric choices left, and this happens to be one of the few Marimekko prints with turquoise (I'm actually lusting after the upholstery grade in blue and grey)!  I'm going for a bolder, less cluttered look and I love the impact of four cushions with the same striking pattern, instead of mixing and matching patterns like I've done before.  To sew them, I didn't DIY, but instead held my Mom hostage at the lakehouse.  My easiest DIY project yet! 

I had originally wanted a floor lamp for the living room but a company specializing in lighting offered me the opportunity to review a table lamp from their collection.  I fell in love with this substantial George Kovacs lamp because it has a retro feel and really makes a statement.  It gives off a lot of light (we have four, 60 watt bulbs in there now), but it also has a dimmer for cozier evenings.  I've just had a couple problems with it that I hope will be sorted out soon.

The living room is inching toward the bright, bold, and pared back space I want.  It's a fabulous start, but I have still have so many big plans for this space.  As a reminder, here is the before:

At the end of February you saw the room again:

And now it's got more oomph:

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