Lake Home Tour at Chatham Hill

I love homes! It is good that they are too expensive to have too many or I would have one at the beach, in the mountains, on a farm, over a small shop, a loft in the city and then I would want them in every style…shabby chic, transitional, modern, and eclectic.

I am fortunate that one of our businesses is running Vacation Rental Properties so I did get to decorate 2 distinctly different styles in the same floor plan.

But today I wanted to share a tour of our personal vacation home on Table Rock Lake.

It’s funny because I wasn’t looking for anything this fancy. I wanted something kind of charming with a porch and gardens. But after 3 years of searching, we found a home that my husband fell in love with.

I tease him that he only wanted it because it had a place for a TV to be mounted out on the back deck.

Wreath is from Hobby Lobby.

All of these pieces are from Ashley Furniture Store…the chest is a Steinway.

The kitchen was and is amazing. It doesn’t have top of the line appliances or a gas stove, but the arrangement makes it so fun when we have guests down which we often do.

Two islands make it possible for us to literally have 8 – 9 people working and chatting inside the kitchen at a time! When friends come we often are all preparing things together or helping the main cook by setting out platters and making drinks.

Our Counter Stools are from Pier One Imports.

Our cabinets have some great features that most new homes have but I had never had them before…the slide out spice racks, the cookie sheet holder, the pull out shelves just make everything easy to organize and retrieve.

While we have many aprons hanging out, this spot is also a place where we encourage our guests to send us a picture from their weekend stay and we remove the little cards that came with our clip boards and replace it with our friends. As you can see only one family have caught on so far. The box clips, hook board and sign are all from Pier One Imports.

The Butler’s Pantry shares a little hall with our Kitchen Pantry, both of which we have grown to love. We aren’t big wine drinkers but our guests love it, so having this wine rack makes storing a lot of wine a pretty option. The really large pantry allows guests to bring their sacks of weekend supplies and feel free to store them out of sight.

I set up a coffee bar upstairs in our hallway because some of our guests must have a fresh cup first thing in the morning and don’t want to dress and stroll down to the kitchen. This coffee bar with a Keurig makes tea, coffee or cocoa anytime of day or evening and I always keep some fresh baked goods or bars out for them as well.

Hospitality must be in my genes. I pretty much turn my homes into mini bed and breakfasts based on the great Bed and Breakfasts we have stayed in over the years. So also in the hallway I have a selection of novels, non-fiction, music and movies that our guests can take to their rooms to enjoy in private or slip out to the back deck and read with their wine or coffee.

My husband and I always run to the closet at a lodging whether hotel or Bed & Breakfast to see if we have robes! It may seem silly but there is something about mornings or evenings wrapped in a robe with a beverage and a book or watching a good movie that just makes me happy! With that in mind we have robes in the closets for our guests. It makes me smile when they wander around in the morning in the robe and sometimes stay in them til nearly noon.

Its hard to really apply yourself to an office space at a vacation home. But with my different businesses, it is a must. My husband set our printer up in the storage closet out of sight!

This is our only ensuite for guests. A simple queen bed with a stone walk-in shower.

We have a walk-in attic inside this bedroom and I had not finished with my change over from the holidays so a larger framed picture would have revealed pillows and boxes and much much more all over this our second guest room. The bed linens in case you had not guessed are Waverly.

Lamp is from Pottery Barn. Bedding from TJMAXX.

We set up this bedroom originally purchasing 3 beds…the two seen here as well as a twin, but we over shot that idea, there was not enough room despite our measuring for the twin to work on the opposite wall. This is great for guests that can share a space.

I wanted a casual lake theme in this room and fell in love with these wicker and wood luggage pieces.

This is sort of like a Jack n Jill bath but only one entrance into the hall. But there are two sinks on different sides of the bathroom and the toilet is in a water closet. The towels and shower curtain and the picture are from Target.

The table of my writer’s retreat is actually an old cherry queen ann sofa table that we got when we bought our first home. I think it is the only piece that I have not sold. It wasn’t looking all that great and then I let some oil spill on it from a plug in fragrance container and that just melted the finish off. So this piece will be a DIY in the future. I haven’t got a feel what direction I want to go with it yet. Any suggestions?

Anyway, my writer’s retreat is just a little spot in our bedroom overlooking the lake and woods where I can sit and be inspired.

We found this piece at a furniture store in Springfield, MO. I was captivated by it. It could be just a bookcase inside or you can use it for Television and Books which is what we do.

I kept my eye on it waiting for a sale and when one finally rolled around it was for the floor model only. We may have to sell it with the house because it weighs about 1500 lbs and took 5 guys to get in the room. I just see it as an heirloom piece that we can pass on and our children will want it.

It also was my inspiration piece for writing.

I like to change out the bedding in our rooms for the different seasons but I am so partial to the spring and summer that this year I just couldn’t put my bright patterned Waverly Bedding away for even a moment.

There are a lot of shelves in this bathroom to style and I enjoy changing it out in different seasons.

The Master Bath is huge and the custom cabinetry ample. I love the hexagon wood trim in the ceiling and the little chandelier.

Puppy Beds at the Fireplace and Great Granddads gun over the mantle…wasn’t my idea, but I have to let my husband have his place in the house and not just on the deck and in the garage.

This garage could be a part of the home. I know you can’t see but there are baseboards and the walls are done just as they are inside. We have a ping-pong table set up in here along with a fridge for beverages and some seating for watching the games.

The toys look a little junkie but they are huge and so far this is the best way we have come up to store. I would love to see some more experiences lake home’s storage ideas.

The weekend did not turn out as planned. As soon as our van pulled to a stop in the drive, I was out and walking our path to the lake to get some great shots of the beautifully serene waters. About a month ago the lake had been as high as we had ever seen it and lots of logs drift up onto the land and remain after the water recedes. They are gorgeous drift logs. I simply stepped over one but there are broken off branches all around and one just jabbed my leg. My husband had to help me back to the house…I hadn’t even gone in it yet!

Off to the Urgent Care and a few hours later after lidocaine, rinsing and bandaging, a tetanus shot and a trip to the pharmacy for antibiotics I spent the weekend in bed with my leg elevated. But I got this post out!

How was your weekend? Any trips? Please feel free to share your own special pictures of your home or inspiring places. Did you have a favorite room? I really love reading and responding to your comments!

Debbie