House Crashing: Rustic Nashville Lake House

Justin and I visited my brother and sister-in-law two weekends ago down in Nashville.  While our visit was short, we were able to fit in a lot of activities.  Justin, his mom, his uncle, and my brother, Sean, all ran in the Country Music Marathon on Saturday morning.  It was a great weekend with perfect weather to meet up with family.

Right before we jetted off back to Detroit, we spent a day at my brother and SIL's lake house enjoying the boat and water.  I had to bring back some pictures to share with you all because they've put so much hard work into their lake house.

One year ago we visited Nashville to watch my brother run the marathon (this is his third year running).  It happened to be the same weekend that they purchased a lake house about 45 minutes east of Nashville.  We got to see the house in it's "before" state - which was desperate, to say the least.  They had an amazing vision for the house that they brought to life over the past 365 days. 

My brother works for a Global Investment Firm, and often travels for work throughout the week.  And my SIL is an instructor for the Nashville Ballet.  What amazes me the most is that they've accomplished all of this work themselves only on the weekends over the past 52 weeks.  (My brother reminded me that they did hire a company to reline the chimney... okay, so other than that, it was all their own work).

What you see here is the house in progress.  And it's come so far from where it started.  They tore out the subfloors (that were rotted), replaced them and installed new flooring throughout.  They wanted a great place to relax that reflected their personalities.  I think they did an amazing job.  Here's the tour:

This is the view that graces guests as they walk through the front door (not that they have a lot of guests here yet).  Cedar planks run the length of the ceiling across the house.  Making the room seem like it goes on and on. 

 

The barnwood that wraps around the peninsula is from my SIL's families tobacco barn in Kentucky.  I love that the house has this personal touch.  And you'll see it all over.

 

 
The original flooring in the house was water damaged and rotting.  So they tore out the floor and subfloor, replaced it with sturdy plywood and layered on this gorgeous dark 3/4" hardwood. The floors had to be replaced, but the layout of the house was working for them, so they were able to keep the original floorplan.  They removed all cabinets and fixtures in all other areas of the house, but they were able to salvage the cabinets.  You can see here that they are in the process of refinishing the cabinets (funny enough, they're at the same stage as we are in our kitchen renovation - priming and sanding).  It's a painful stage.

They both loved the idea of a unique chandelier over the peninsula.  They created this fixture themselves through an online website.

Being the true frugal lake house owners that they are, they found many ways to save some dough while getting the look they wanted.  Instead of splurging for cedar tongue-and-groove, they ordered cedar fence planks for a fraction of the cost.  They prepped the ceiling with brown paint so that white ceiling didn't poke through the gaps.

My SIL said that this is their one splurge in the kitchen... and she loves it! I completely agree.  A hammered-copper sink... Drool.

Right off the kitchen is the guest bedroom (where Justin and I plan to stay on our Nashville getaways).  Barnwood accent wall... yes, please!
 

If an accent wall wasn't enough of a feature, they used extra barnwood and created two platform beds (for this room and the master bedroom).  Let's just say that my bags are already packed for our next trip down south.

 

Downstairs is also a guest bathroom which had to be gutted and redone completely. 

 

I love that they continued the cedar planks throughout the bathroom too (it's even in the closets).  That's not a window or toilet in the shower - just a weird reflection from the sunny day.

 

Now let's take a little trip upstairs.  There is a foyer area between the stairs and the living room that would be a perfect sitting area.  I can't wait to see what they do with this space!

 

I'm a stickler for the details.  The extra mile that is taken to get a project perfect.  This is one of those details that I noticed right away and one that I just love.  They used barnwood (sanded down) for the hand railings.  Anything else wouldn't have been this perfect. 

 

The second level opens up to the master bedroom.  Are you ready for this? I know I've had dreams about this room.  That ceiling!  Ahhh!  I. want. it.  It's okay...you can stare. 

 

 

Here's another detail that I noticed right away.  And I love that they thought to place trim around the ceiling fixture.  It finishes the fixture off perfectly.

 

 

When they originally installed this ceiling, they ran the planks from wall to wall and didn't have furring strips.  They added the strips later and I'm a fan.  I like that the furring strips break up the run of the planks.

 

 

Are you ready for my favorite part? I saved the best for last.  It's tough to get better than the master bedroom.  But they did it.

 

This picture right here is enough of a tease to make anyone want to walk through that doorway.  It's my favorite view in the house.

 

 

The marble. The cedar planks.  They all work together in harmony to make this sweet little space my favorite. 

 

 

They turned what would be an awkward bathroom into a dream space.  I have always dreamed of a marble bathroom.  But now I dream of marble bathrooms with cedar planks.  I love this combination.  Something about the formal marble mixed with the cozy cedar.  Yup... Designers take note. 

 

 

As we go back downstairs, we see that the cedar continues through the stairwell. 

 

The final room on this tour is the living room (which is the space that is entered from the front door).  They plan to update the fireplace after they wrap up the kitchen.  There is also a sun porch off the kitchen that needs to be rebuilt.  I've seen their plans and let's just say I'm green with envy.

I'm so proud of everything they've done.  And I can't wait to take you all through it again once it's painted and decorated.  Oh, and wait till you see their view!

Thank you so much to my bro and sister-in-law for letting me take you all on a tour of their lake house.  I wish I could pack up that marble bathroom in my suitcase and bring it back home with me.  If there's extra room, I would take that master bedroom too.  What about you? What's your favorite part?