An airy, modern vacation home that emphasizes family time
A plate of chocolate chip cookies sits on the marble countertop in the kitchen of interior designer Erin Anderson’s one-story lake house. April sunlight pours into the room, bouncing off the globes of glass pendant lights that dangle above the counter. It’s spring break, and Anderson’s three daughters—11-year-old Anna Grace and 7-year-old twins Lily and Claire—play and laugh in another room.
Anderson offers me a treat; it’s mid-morning, but never too early for chocolate. “I’m sorta known for these cookies in these parts,” she says with a laugh. “It’s a little extra salt. That’s the trick.”
That she could even make a batch of cookies in this kitchen is something of a triumph.
When she and her husband, Steven, bought the Sherrills Ford home in 2010, it was a foreclosure with a badly outdated kitchen. The cramped space was tough to move around in; dark teal cabinets made it feel even more claustrophobic. And the oven was barely functional.
“The appliances came over on the ark, I think,” she says. “The oven wouldn’t fit a full-sized cookie sheet.” The family lives in Wilkesboro, but wanted a relaxing place to spend summer weekends. The lake house had potential, but it needed work. “Every time we’d come down here,” Anderson says, “I’d dream about how I was going to redo it.”
After battling the kitchen for a few years, Anderson, who was a high school history teacher for eight years, set out on an ambitious remodel to bring the house into this century. Her bright, Southern-inspired touch led to a vacation home that actually feels like a vacation.
This story is from the Summer 2017 edition of Charlotte Home & Garden.
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This story is from the Summer 2017 edition of Charlotte Home & Garden.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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