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By Lori Johnston
A guest bedroom
where blue color
palette is used.
Inside
When you’re paying for the view, a vacation home
doesn’t need to have fussy decor or over-the-top
interiors that distract from the lake setting. “That’s
the reason why they’re buying the house,” said Alicia Mooney-
Macchia, owner of Alicia Mooney Interiors, an interior designer
at Lake Oconee, Ga., and throughout metro Atlanta. “What
you want to do is walk in the house and look straight back at
the view.”
Heavy fabrics and details such as fringe on furniture are
out, replaced with clean lines, linen fabrics and neutral colors,
she said.
Still, vacation homes don’t have to be shabby or suffer
from the bare-bones look of a college apartment. Lake home
style can enhance the serene environment while maintaining
functionality for friends and family.
“The layouts are more efficient and effective,” said Dan
Jones, owner of Jones and Jones Premier Builders and president
of the Lake Oconee Builders Association. “There’s not as
much wasted square footage. Obviously, openness is a contin-
uing trend, and less walls.”
Carol Morrison, who owns a vacation home with husband
Ken on the 10th hole of the Harbor Club golf course at Lake
Oconee, said they used minimal window treatments to keep
the house open and emphasize the view.
The desire for openness even extends to decisions about
placing stair rails so they don’t obstruct the view. Dennis
Chamberlain, owner of Stair South, based in Eatonton, Ga.,
said his company situates iron rails horizontally (allowed by
local building codes), instead of vertically, both inside and
outside the home.
“If you’re sitting on your porch and looking onto the lake ...
you can look horizontally and see more,” he said. Builders, interior
designers and homeowners shared other ways to decorate
vacation homes with the scenery in mind:
Using nautical decor
You don’t want to get seasick at your lake home. If you
want to give a nod to the water setting and participate in the
nautical trend in homes and fashion, Mooney-Macchia advises
against creating a “lake room.” Instead, keep it simple.
She accessorizes with nautical items, such as old oars or
glass fishing floats and buoys covered with netting. Or a throw
pillow could have a nautical or water motif.
Making space for guests
Requests for bunk-bed rooms are rising, especially as
grandparents seek to accommodate multiple grandchildren
during weekends and summers. “One of the neat things we’ve
done is bunk rooms,” Jones said. “You know you’re going to be
loading the house with people. Instead of a bedroom with a
queen or king bed, put bunks.” He adds that the main thing to
consider is ceiling height — at least 9 feet is optimal.
Stair South recently was installing bunk beds out of solid
ash in Bert and Trudy Hene’s home at Harbor Club. The downstairs
room will have seven beds. The couple first owned a
three-bedroom, 2 bath villa, or condo, at Lake Oconee, but
lifestyle
F E A T U R E S
last year they moved into a five-bedroom, 4 { bath home
there. “We have three children and we outgrew the condo. We
have five grandchildren now,” said Trudy Hene. “We just knew
that we wanted something bigger, that if all the kids came,
and grandkids, we would have enough room for everybody.”
The Morrisons’ home, built in 1996, underwent a two-year
renovation project, using DreamBuilt, a custom homebuilder
and general contractor at Lake Oconee. With guests in mind,
they also reworked the third level of the home, turning it into
two master bedrooms, said Ken Morrison. The changes also
included making the basement friendlier for entertaining,
including a wine cellar and theater room.
Going big
While much of the time is spent outdoors, homeowners are
placing a greater emphasis on creating large spaces for themselves
and their guests to eat indoors.
Chamberlain is seeing an increase in requests for massive
tables that seat 12 to 16 people. The Henes have a custom 12foot
table at their lake home. “We had it made to look like a
picnic table, but it’s real heavy wood,” Trudy Hene said.
Working in wood
Whether the interior design style is modern, traditional or
transitional, vacation homeowners often use wood elements
indoors to reflect their love for the outdoor surroundings.
Incorporating cedar beams or placing tongue-and-groove
boards on the walls and ceilings in keeping rooms, living
rooms and master bedrooms are two popular ways homeowners
add natural elements. In lake homes, though, the
MONDAY, JULY 30, 2012
vacation homes
should be all about what’s outside
Bert and Trudy Hene’s Lake Oconee home is featured in Atlanta,
Georgia.
Stair South is placing stair rails in a horizontal format to emphasize
the views at Lake Oconee.
The sitting room of Ken and Carol Morrison’s Lake
Oconee home.
Ken and Carol Morrison’s
Lake Oconee home is featured in
Atlanta, Georgia. — MCT photos
The living room of Ken and Carol Morrison’s Lake Oconee home. The sitting room of Ken and Carol Morrison’s Lake Oconee home.
Stair South recently was installing bunk beds out of solid ash in Bert
and Trudy Hene’s home at Harbor Club.
When you’re paying for the view, a vacation home doesn’t need to have fussy decor or over-the-top interiors that
distract from the lake setting. Here, a view from Bert and Trudy Hene’s Lake Oconee home.
The deck view of Ken and Carol Morrison’s Lake Oconee home.
wood is painted with a whitewashed look.
“It’s not going to be overwhelming. It’s not going to feel
like a rustic log cabin,” Mooney-Macchia said.
Another option, which can be more affordable, is using
bead board, which adds wainscoting as a detail in rooms of
the house.
Matching the scenery
Neutrals keep the attention on the view, and grays are the
new neutral, Mooney-Macchia said. She brings in bold splashes
of orange and blue through pillows and other accessories.
Homeowners find that water-inspired hues can add to a
home’s soothing setting.
“I think the best thing that you could say about it is when
we have guests that come, they just totally, totally relax,” said
Carol Morrison, who used a blue color palette in her guest
bedroom. “Everybody we’ve had that’s ever come to spend the
night there, they’ve all thought that this is the most peaceful,
relaxing stay that they’ve had.” — MCT
Whether the interior design style is modern, traditional
or transitional, vacation homeowners often use wood
elements indoors to reflect their love for the outdoor
surroundings. Incorporating cedar beams or placing
tongue and groove boards on the walls and ceilings in
keeping rooms, living rooms and master bedrooms are
two popular ways homeowners add natural elements.
In lake homes, though, the wood is painted with whitewashed
look.