Tellico Village Lake House
Dining Room
The story begins with an outdated lake house and a carpeted dining room, and luckily, it ends with a brand new space complete with the perfect table, chairs, buffet, artwork, and more. Now, this family has a stunning space to gather when their family comes to visit their new home.
We’ve been sharing a series of behind-the-scenes peeks at a total-home makeover we completed earlier this year for new clients who had recently relocated to Tellico Village from California. Their story is an increasingly common one: Family moves to Tennessee for its more affordable cost of living. In this case, our clients were able to apply their newfound buying power to a 21-year-old home right on the shores of Tellico Lake.
The down side was that the house was dated, aesthetically speaking. No home is perfect, but Rowan Hall Interiors was able to come to the rescue with a little bit of vision and updating. As we so often do, we were able to help make a great home look a whole lot better, stripping away years from the appearance and updating it in a way that added value to the property.
Out with old, in with the new!
One of the first things we did was get rid of the old carpet. No one wants carpet in a dining room these days; that’s just begging for trouble. We replaced it with an engineered hardwood floor that we used in other rooms of the house as well. Because it’s engineered, it’s a lot more durable and will hold up well in humidity — an important consideration since this house is right on the water. And it has a wider plank, as opposed to the outdated narrow hardwoods that the previous owners had used in many of the rooms.
Another focal point was the color palette. Reds are coming back this year but the previous raspberry shade on the walls had too much blue in it and was definitely a product of the late ‘90s and early 2000s. We covered the old color with a matte finish of Unusual Gray (#7059) from Sherwin Williams. We actually took that shade up to the second tier of the tray ceiling in an effort to minimize the effect of some wonky molding, which also seemed a little dated.
The Unusual Gray has a slight blue tint to it, giving it an ethereal feel. It’s a really nice color that can change a lot, depending on the light; it can also read as blue or even a little green.
Next, we replaced the light fixture with a new chandelier and went back to the basics by removing the old ceiling medallion. Those medallions tend to really date a room. We also ditched the old, heavy draperies and installed custom draperies, hanging them on a simple, black, wrought-iron rod that was similar to the chandelier material.
We carried that theme through by framing the wall art in black, which ties everything together nicely. Speaking of which, the artworks were prints that we hand-selected. We gave the owners 10 pieces to choose from, and they picked out an image they really liked, something that spoke to them directly.
As for furnishings, we went on the hunt for the perfect lake house dining table. We found a rustic piece to use as a buffet for storage, and we featured a table with a gray wash and a more classic look. Our team selected six beautiful chairs, including two custom head chairs. Those head chairs can be an interesting way to add a little vavoom to any dining room. For those who work from home, they make a great place to sit — at a workstation or to do any kind of writing — that’s more comfortable than regular side chairs.
Finally, we layered the space with a hand-knotted rug, and we accented the room with a gorgeous pottery bowl as a table centerpiece as well as a family-heirloom clock that we put in a place of prominence.
