Lake House Living^TM

Your vacation home is a refuge from the work-a-day world - a place to put up your feet and relax. Regardless of your sense of style you can take the following suggestions and incorporate them to make your getaway distinctively you.

1. Try to avoid making the space congested with too much stuff. This might mean resisting the urge to use everything you ever purchased at a tag sale.
2. Use comfortable seating inside and out. Think: 'lounging around'. Use slip covers and pillows and even futons. My friend's son has a hammock in the bedroom! Shop wisely for your deck furniture. It must endure a lot of abuse by the elements. The trusty Adirondack Chair though classic, isn't terribly comfortable.
3. Full carpeting is a no-no because sandy, wet and muddy feet will be stomping through all day. Rugs are OK because they can be shaken or replaced.
4. What's your home's setting? Observe the flora and fauna, then try to incorporate these things into your home. Maybe your home is in bear or moose country. Alright, so ad some touches to reflect this. Wildlife sculptures, and paintings are good place to start. Let your taste and imagination be your guide. Here's a neat idea that's a real conversation starter: buy a 55-gallon fish tank and stock it with fish and other specimens from the lake.
5. Use lots of warm colors and wood furniture. Wrought iron along with exposed wood ads to a rustic feel. Remember some wood, like cedar, give a penetrating aroma that lasts for years.
6. For wall decoration take pictures of you and your family while vacationing at the lake house and sprinkle them around the cabin.
7. Also, it's nice to have framed pictures of the lake during each of the four seasons. Framing colorful leaves and pine cones you may find during autumn walks. Use an arts and crafts approach to maintain a whimsical décor and allow your kids and grand kids to take part.
8. For fun, give your house a name and make a sign at the entrance of the drive-way and perhaps over the front door. Pathways to and from the water are places to place messages painted on stones.
9. If you must have a television, try not to make it the focal point of the living area.
10. When it's rainy and cold, play games in front of the fireplace. Furniture should include a cabinet or shelves for game storage.
11. Here are some other ideas on what to incorporate into your lake home décor:
• Nautical themes, water fowl, fish and fishing, duck decoys.
• Candles with natural, not perfume, scents.
• Drift wood.
• Signs crafted from found wood or stones with painted wording.
12. Keep a Guest Log. Our friends have a photo album they've converted into a book where guests are encouraged (actually required) to write about their stay. We always thumb through and get some great laughs

Decorating your home is a very personal thing and can remain work in progress forever. Just remember to have fun doing it.