My Airbnb Lakehouse Makeover: It is the Kid Bonus Room Reveal!
Hi friend, I’m so glad you are here! I’m Kristin, Mom to 3, Rice Krispie treat addict, and sharing something of MINE today. I live in Michigan, where lakehouses and cottages are everywhere. And two years ago, my family bought our own piece of lakeside heaven. For the first year we didn’t touch the interior, to simply enjoy the lake. But it is time for our little Lakehouse to get a makeover!
And this is an especially fun week here at Postbox Designs: because it is Reveal Week of one of our rooms! One of my good friends is an Interior Designer as well and we were just discussing the other week how we both really don’t like watching HGTV. We both LOVE our jobs, but since we work on room makeovers every single day, when we finally crash at night…we don’t really want to think about more work! But, I’ll admit I will definitely tune in for the last 5 minutes of a show: because it is Reveal Time!
For the last four weeks I’ve been sharing the progress of our Airbnb Lakehouse. And I’m doing it as part of the six week One Room Challenge. But since we wanted to get the property ready for the summer season, I tackled not one…but 5 Different Rooms! While most of the work is being performed on the main floor of our Lakehouse (removing walls and ceilings), I did makeover two upstairs rooms. And these rooms just needed some paint and decor. So I’m going to share a Sneak Peek of our Kid’s Bonus Room Reveal today!
But before I share the reveal, in case you missed it, here are the first four weeks of progress over at our Lakehouse Makeover. For the first three weeks I’m sharing the FREE Room Design + Shopping List for each space:
Week #1: FREE Living Room, Dining Room & Breakfast Room Designs
Week #2: FREE Kid Bonus Room Design + Shopping List
Week #3: FREE Coastal Kid Bedroom Design + Shopping List
Coastal Kid Bonus Room Design
In case you missed it, I revealed the Room Design for our Kid’s Bonus Room in Week #2. In our small Lakehouse, there is a room at the top of the stairs. It isn’t huge but definitely big enough for a Kid Hang Out space for board games, rainy day movie nights, and will also function as a “fourth bedroom” when the Lakehouse is full of guests, with a pull-out sofa. There are two bedrooms off of this space, so we decided it would mostly be used for our three kids (and their friends) to hang out when they aren’t swimming or tubing.
Here was the original Room Design for our Kid’s Bonus Room:
The Existing Bonus Room
Here is the space we started with:
Coastal Kid Bonus Room Makeover: The Reveal
And here it is now! This navy slipcovered sofa is also a queen sized pull-out sofa, so it can sleep an additional two guests. But when not being used as a bed, it works for movie watching and extra seating for a kid Hang Out space. This inexpensive coffee table works for board games, and I used some extra baskets for kid’s toy storage. Since this Bonus Room is mostly for our three kids, I wanted to use bright colors such as these pops of coral striped pillows and fun patterns like these polka dot pillows.
Since this is a Lakehouse, most of our kid’s time is spent swimming in the lake or tubing behind the speed boat. But just about every afternoon they come in for a break from the sun. They load back up on snacks, read a book, or watch a movie. And in the evenings, we do a lot of game nights after the sunsets.
The only real “project” I did was paint the walls to a light gray (Benjamin Moore “Balboa Mist”). And I filled the empty wall with inexpensive Target frames. Inside are all digital download prints from Etsy-all costing less than $5. I found cheeky, coastal prints of things like swimsuits, paddle board, and oars to speak into our waterfront location.
On the opposite wall (not shown) is a flatscreen TV. When we have friends over, the grown up tends to hang out downstairs and the kids race upstairs (and shut the door!) to hang out in this upstairs Bonus Room.
Bonus Room Design: With a More Grown Up Twist
Honestly, our Lakehouse is a very casual place…on purpose. I chose slipcovers and durable furniture so I wouldn’t be racing around after the kids with towels, scolding them for sitting on furniture with wet swimsuits. Nope, it isn’t that kind of place. Mostly because I want to relax too! So I’ll be honest, most of the time this coffee table is going to be covered with Legos or snacks, BUT just for a fun, I had to style it up a bit for the photo shoot!
Because our Lakehouse is small (less than 1,200 SF) I am always looking for extra storage! So I purposefully chose this coffee table with the extra shelf on the bottom. I filled it with inexpensive canvas bins from Home Goods. This is where I throw my kid’s toys, such as books and Legos into these for quick, easy storage.
So if I wanted our Lakehouse too look a little fancier and polished (which I haven’t had the urge to yet in two years!), I would style it up something like this:
Grab the Free Design of Our Kid’s Bonus Room
So there you go, here the reveal of the first of 5 Rooms in our Lakehouse! Because this room is for kids, I wanted everything to be fun, inexpensive, and NOTHING is precious in here. And you can grab the FREE Room Design + Shopping List if you love anything you see in here. It is hanging out in my FREE RESOURCE LIBRARY! Inside are dozens of free Room Designs-you will get an email link and password to access it all 24/7!
Six weeks isn’t a long time to makeover five rooms, but all of the major construction work is done. But it is the last 10% (that isn’t exciting AT ALL) that takes up so much more time than you think. Sanding, caulking, and filling in nail holes is boring but needed before the final fun can begin…moving all of the furniture in! So I’m grabbing my Diet Vanilla Coke and Pandora (and my favorite college sweatpants that I use as my paint clothes)…and I’m getting to work!
Be sure to check out the progress on the hundreds of other One Room Challenge Makeovers that are currently going on all over the country!
And as one last reminder, you can get all of the Free Room Designs from our Lakehouse Makeover hanging out in my Free Resource Library.
(If you are already a member you can log-in with your password right HERE)
I’ll see you back here, same time, same place! As as always, if you have questions about what you have seen, or want to work with me on YOUR project, I would love to chat! You can email me at kristin@postboxdesigns.com and I can answer any questions you have!
Cheers,
Kristin
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