Gull Lake Cottage Renovation

When we were first introduced to this cottage on Gull Lake we were taken aback at the setting. Perched overtop of Gull Lake with a great view of a lovely little island. We knew this was going to be an inspiring project.

The owners, relatively new to the cottage have spent the last couple years personalizing the cottage with updates to spaces outside, colours (you’ll notice white is this household’s colour) and their space upstairs. The thing they couldn’t figure out was the basement.

The basement, or what we now refer to as the lower level, had no access from inside. Our client’s guests needed to head outside at the end of the night and in the morning to get upstairs to the kitchen and living spaces. The lower level was literally disconnected from the rest of the house and its inspiring views over the lake.

The owners asked us to help them open the basement to the great views of the lake and help them update the bathroom, bedroom and family room. The lower level family room space was going to be used as a tv and games area and an entry/exit to the lake.

We knew from the get-go this would be a great collaboration between us and the owners and we started out by getting to know them and how they used the cottage. Once we understood that and recognized that they really wanted a spectacular bookcase to house their DVD collection and board games, we knew what the interior anchor was going to be - a great big bookcase spanning the whole width of the lower level.

Throughout the design, we wanted to be conscious that the focal point was going to be the views to outside. We would stick with simple materials and colours and let the outside be where our eyes were drawn. We opened up a window into a second exterior access point in the family room to allow more light and a connection to outside from the seating area. The two doors span a large portion of the main wall and really let us feel like we’re outside.

In the bathroom we framed the window down a little so when you walk in your view is framed on the beautiful pines outside it. This is one of my favourite windows and looks like a Canadian landscape painting Tim and I have had for years. Everything else in the bathroom is white. The detail is in the beautiful Daltile tile and the simple shower done with a Schulter shower kit along with Schluter in-floor heat. Budget was a consideration in this and the vanity is a simple white Ikea off the shelf vanity that fits into the design perfectly.

In the bedroom, we brought the white oak floor up the wall to provide a focal wall and the owners painted the existing beds and furniture white to fit in. The 2 beds mean that friends can occupy the room and when couples come to visit the beds can be pushed together as one.

The living room turned out beautifully. A new couch, chair, coffee table and a found games table by the owners that they stripped and treated add to the warmth. The bookcase and the views outside are the showstoppers here. We enlisted our cabinet manufacturer Lucvaa Kitchens to build a bookcase that spanned the whole wall and felt unobtrusive in the room. It also needed to frame a doorway so measurements needed to be exact. Again we brought the floor up the wall to provide some interest behind the shelves and the owner’s collection of pottery was highlighted by Richelieu 3W dimmable LED lights. The owners dressed the bookcase beautifully and we love how cottage games stand out so prominently.

The staircase was the real functional piece that we needed to introduce in this space, but again since the idea was to design simply, it was to be all about the detail. White oak slabs from Woodville Forest Products in Lindsay were framed in by drywall and the same lights in a square shape were added to highlight the stairwell. The railing we built upstairs blended into the upstairs space and had the added benefit of bringing the room closer to the fire and added to a cozy feel upstairs.

We really couldn’t be happier with the result of this renovation and the owners agree. Our meticulous planning ran into a few hiccups with having to deal with a steel-framed home, but in the end, we didn’t have to compromise on anything and the goal of a cozy lower floor focusing on the outdoors was accomplished within budget.