Welcome to our summer lake home tour. This newly built entryway is a place I am particularly proud of since this was my first One Room Challenge project. I will include all of the blog links to this build and design at the bottom of this posts. This design was created by me, the build was a family affair, my guys even consulted with me on the textiles.  This project even included a Mother's Day surprise which blew me away.

         

Energy and Water Inspired Room Refresh

Sponsored Post

   Darlin's this post has been inspired by the colors of Nautica at Home Paint. They provided me with a fabulous print of a picture I took this summer and a +Menards gift certificate to cover paint, rollers, tape, and tarps. Here are the colors Prince Charming and I chose for our son's room at our lake home. Nautica makes it so easy their designers choose colors they picked from the picture to create a color palette for us. We considered them while making our final selections. 

Stone Washed was our final choice for the main walls in an eggshell finish. The remainder of our paint colors Vessel, Dinghy, and Caspian Green are in Semi-gloss style finish to reflect light. 

 This plain Jane is how the room looked before. Notice the Daybed Knobs!

 This corner and loft are so dark the picture of the 1959 Featherlite boat inspired me to step out of the darkness. Wait until you see the after picture of this space.

 The bed found at the local Restore. The handmade desk is all the way from Kansas City, Missouri. That is a long story.

This painting was sold to me by the woman who received from her family as a wedding gift for ten dollars. The Daybed needs some flower removal.
Now we have the reasons for changing some of these layers. It is time to show you how in less than two days Prince Charming and I painted this room with Stone Wash Nautica Eggshell Paint.

 I bought a couple items from +Menards that I think will surprise you. The two tan pillows in this picture along with a deck chair cushion on the back of the daybed were all at the South Haven, MI Store. Do you see the Caspian Green in this picture used twice? I sanded the flowered knobs, taped them with frog painters tape and peeled off the tape. If I knew it would be that easy I would have done it a long time ago. The second place in on the box in the corner of the picture bought at a Goodwill.

 To see the transformation this dresser made click on this link Here.

 Two of my favorite items in this room cost nothing. The cup came from a neighbor on who has lived on the lake for three generations. They used it to drink out of at the water pump. The plate my sister in law bought be at a garage sale as a surprise. The puppy looks just like my Cricket.

 The paint went on smoothly and the coverage was great. I will absolutely use this paint again. This room is now a place I am proud to have added the layers of our life into Nautica at Home Paint inspired room. The Lake sign on this wall was found for under $5.00 at +Menards too.

The light dancing from the Edison bulb which is centered in the bait basket has electrical cords wrapped in the heavy rope. We purchased this from a vendor at +Randolph Street Market Chicago 

Nautica Semi-Gloss Vessel, Dinghy, and Caspian Green created a reflective surface which certainly brightened the darkest space. This part of the room has quite a bit of energy inspired by the picture below.  The walls are the colors of the boat. The floor of the loft is inspired by the colors of nature in the picture. The old Fog Horn on the desk and the wool plaid blanket at the foot of the bed add more layers to the room. Prince Charming purchased them as a present for me on my birthday at +Randolph Street Market Chicago. 

Nautica At Home Paint truly inspired this room for our son's, from the maiden voyage of our 1959 boat in a lake filled with the energy of many people who have spent time at the lake over the years. The picture started and finished the room off perfectly. Nautica At Home Paint has amazing colors. I chose to make the stripes of the boat in the loft. The paint went on smoothly and the stripes came out crisp and clean with the use of Frog tape.

  You know what is even better a sponsored post? 

You having a chance to win $100.00 Menards Gift Card from Nautica At Home.

a Rafflecopter giveaway 

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~ Let Your Creative Spirit Dance  ~

Until Next Time Happy Creating,         
    Karen Marie

More Posts to Enjoy:

Please click on the title below to see the post.

There is No Place Like A Craft Room

DIY Furniture Girls Shades of White

Craft Lightning Valentine's Sands of Time

Nautical Personalized Cooler

   Today I am showing a step by step directions to personalize a cooler.  I am participating in the September Silhouette Challenge which is Outdoors and a bonus of Green. Let's see How I cover those tasks with my project. We have all been to a soccer game with the other parents trying to figure out which pile belongs to our family. This will help keep you more organized on the treat days, sporting events, or even label the bag groceries to bring home your frozen foods. I use the cooler bag for the grocery store and a day on the boat at the lake. 

 I bought this bag last summer on clearance from JoAnn's Crafts Store. I love the color for my lake house. While I was working on this project my oldest son (A) commented on the colors of the cooler. He said teal and green are the themes of the lake house. I said those are the colors because they remind me of the beach. He said he liked it. Which is quite a compliment coming from an Architect and Mechanical Engineer with an eye for design!

Plain Pots Turned To Pretty Planters

I am working on sprucing up my lake front this year after the dreaded Ash Bore took hold of our two Ash trees and now week have a naked waterfront. Not to embarrass the neighbors I decided to add some color to our seawall. Jeanette from +Snazzy Little Things - Vintage DIY & Decor Blog has been running a 30-day challenge. Terracotta Pots is the challenge for this month. Since the lake weather can be pretty harsh I opted for Terracotta AKA (Plastic Pots). 

Plastic pots do not look as lovely, but the will hold up better in our environment. Drop and Plop flowers from +The Home Depot 

I did purchase one more item or actually two decorative trellises for height from +Lowe's Home Improvement 

I found the rest of my supplies in my stash. 

FolkArt Patio Paint 3 colors

Paint brush 

Paper towel 

Plastic cup for water

Frozen Dinner tray (paint pallet)

Joy It Is 2015

   These three letters have a lot of work to do this year. I am using Joy as my word for the year. What does that mean? The easiest way to explain is this years word was determination. When I picked that word I thought it would encourage me to get things done, take care of myself, build the blog, and have some fun. I had no idea how much I needed that word. 

Dragonfly Pad

Dragonfly Pad

I just started this post with the thought of a year in review to stay on trend. I kept starting it over, deleting,  rewriting, and changing the title, but this was what my heart wanted to share with you today.

 This is the first picture I posted and how my blog became Dragonfly & Lily Pads.

The Dragonfly
Once, in a little pond, in the muddy water under the lily pads,
there lived a little water beetle in a community of water
beetles.  They lived a simple and comfortable life in the pond
with few disturbances and interruptions.

Once in a while, sadness would come to the community when one of
their fellow beetles would climb the stem of a lily pad and
would never be seen again.  They knew when this happened; their
friend was dead, gone forever.

Then, one day, one little water beetle felt an irresistible urge
to climb up that stem.  However, he was determined that he would
not leave forever.  He would come back and tell his friends what
he had found at the top.

When he reached the top and climbed out of the water onto the
surface of the lily pad, he was so tired, and the sun felt so
warm, that he decided he must take a nap.  As he slept, his body
changed and when he woke up, he had turned into a beautiful
blue-tailed dragonfly with broad wings and a slender body
designed for flying.

So, fly he did!  And, as he soared he saw the beauty of a whole
new world and a far superior way of life to what he had never
known existed.

Then he remembered his beetle friends and how they were thinking
by now he was dead.  He wanted to go back to tell them, and
explain to them that he was now more alive than he had ever been
before.  His life had been fulfilled rather than ended.

But, his new body would not go down into the water.  He could
not get back to tell his friends the good news.  Then he
understood that their time would come, when they, too, would
know what he now knew.  So, he raised his wings and flew off
into his joyous new life!


~Author Unknown~

When we found our lake home in 2011. I sat in front of the house on the broken pier and felt at peace. There in front of me, on a warm late spring day danced dragonflies, and next to me, as you can see in the picture above, those lily pads.  
So our lake home, where we go to find peace, sometimes quiet, other times busy loud fun with family, and friends is our place. 

Cricket is Fishing while I work on planting flowers my chair is waiting for me to take a break!

 The house was named Dragonfly simply because, it is a symbol of loved ones who came before us, loved ones who are here with us, and helped us get to this point. Some day I will watch with glee, our loved ones who follow us in this home, of love, peace, joy, happiness, filled with memories made, happening ,and to come. 

Cricket and I taking a moment to enjoy my favorite place on the broken pier.
The pier was removed the next day to be replaced by a new seawall.



Yes you are correct if you are thinking that is part of the pier. The top picture is my son and husband taking apart the part of the pier that was not underwater. The bottom picture is the section of the pier that was below water for years. Did you know that wood underwater is preserved? So of course being the Creative person that I am, we certainly could not dump the good wood.
I have several different ideas of how I want to use the materials. This is going to be a project for the Spring. As of know I am thinking of a Secret Garden behind the house, but for know I am taking suggestions.
Please add your ideas in the comments.
When the project is decided I will let you in on the decision, plus you will be able to follow
along on the progress of the recycled pier project on the blog.

Happy New Year to each one of you who take the time to include me in your day by reading my posts.
Thank you to all the new people I have made connections with during this 2 1/2 Months of this new blog world.
 I plan on building friendships, networks, while continuing to learn, how to share my passion for all things creative with others.
I wish you all a Healthy, Happy, Prosperous 2014!