Vacation homes often hold treasured memories — late night bonfires, sunny days on the water and special meals with friends and family. But as the years pass, family dynamics change. A home that may have once worked for a family with small children may not be suitable in 20 years when those children are adults themselves. Bedrooms become too small, bathrooms are rundown and suddenly, the space no longer functions the way it used to.
That’s exactly what happened to one Chicago family after a couple decades of owning their lakefront vacation home near Lake Michigan. “They now have two grown children and were ready to build what we called ‘the legacy lake house’ — the home that would be there for their kids and their grandkids,” says Rachel Alcorn, owner and principal designer of Two Hands Interiors.
Tasked with expanding this family’s summer cottage into a modern living space that could accommodate friends and family for years to come, Two Hands Interiors and builder DeGroot Construction began the renovation process with the homeowners, keeping a nautical theme in mind. Think shades of blue, coastal decor and wood touches.
Enter the coastal-inspired great room.
We all know the saying: “You never know how many friends you have until you have a beach house.” Or in this case, a lake house. Alcorn ensured that the kitchen, dining and living room areas were fit for entertaining. It was important for the homeowners to host lots of guests without worrying too much about anything breaking or getting damaged.
“This family is all about entertaining friends and family. We want the kitchen to be super hard-working for big groups of people — lots of space at the island, lots of chairs at the table for playing games and eating meals,” says Alcorn. “We don’t want anything too precious.”
Take a seat at the island or unwind in the sunroom.
If the seats at the kitchen island are all taken, that’s not a problem. Just a few steps to the right is a stunning sunroom with even more seating. Because who doesn’t love a dining nook?
“You can see the dune in the background through the windows and that’s a very private spot in the house,” says Alcorn. “The family could sit in there and not need window treatments. They get a view of the changing seasons.”
Embrace the nautical life at the home bar.
Incorporating meaningful artwork was important to this family, especially pieces that contributed to the coastal feel of the space. Conveniently, the husband of this household’s parents were sport fishermen in Florida, and his mother actually caught the marlin pictured above the home bar in the 1970s.
“That hung in his parents’ home for a long time,” says Alcorn. “And now they were like, ‘We’ve got to hang the marlin somewhere, but where?’ We were like, ‘Let’s lean into it, you know?’ How cool is that?”
Head outside from either entrance.
Whether it’s the sand that’s tracked in or the wet water shoes and dripping bathing suits entering and exiting at all times, lakefront homes can get messy pretty quickly — which brings us to our next stop, the entryway and mudroom area. On the left is the front door entryway, walls adorned with Orissa Panel Schumacher wallpaper. The space has ample cabinets, or what Alcorn likes to call “overflow pantry.”
On the right is the downstairs entrance mudroom area, where the homeowners and guests can enter after spending time on the lake. “That’s meant to be an uber-functional mudroom. There’s a laundry room down there. It’s where they’re going to wash all the beach towels, and where all the stuff gets stored,” says Alcorn.
Bunk with friends in this outdoorsy bedroom.
How many college-aged boys can you sleep comfortably in one bedroom? That was the million-dollar question, according to Alcorn. With three beds and two sleeper sofas, turns out it’s up to 10. To go along with the bunk-style atmosphere, Alcorn went with a camp, woodsy theme for the space, decking the walls with flannel wallpaper.
“This room is at the front of the house, which faces woods more than it does the beach. We leaned into that green, kind of boy scout kitschy palette there,” says Alcorn.
Head upstairs and relax in the reading nook.
There’s no better way to bring the lake vibes indoors than with gold fish accents on the wall, yacht cabling along the staircase and a giant rope light fixture hanging from the ceiling. “It’s such a big staircase, and it’s such a feature in the home,” says Alcorn. “It looks fabulous.”
The best part? The homeowners can take it all in while relaxing comfortably in their reading nook.
Doze off to cool blues.
Sticking to the nautical theme, Alcorn used shades of blue in these two bedrooms, incorporating more family history into the home. “The cool thing about this bedroom (left) is that those flags used to fly on the wife’s dad’s sailboat,” says Alcorn. “They’re family heirloom flags that we had framed and installed in the room.”
With a bit more of a saturated shade of blue, Alcorn took on the second bedroom. “We liked the idea of shiplap in that room, because it’s one of the smaller bedrooms. And so sometimes when a space is smaller, we want to lean into making it cozy,” says Alcorn.
Laura Millar (she/her) is the assistant editor for Good Housekeeping, where she covers home design. Prior to joining Good Housekeeping in 2024, she wrote for NBC’s TODAY.com where she covered everything from entertainment news to product reviews to pop culture updates.
