From big and awkward to cosy cottage retreat
Lake house’s high-ceilinged, odd-shaped living room was a challenge for designer
When is a cottage not a cottage? When it spreads itself over 8,000 square feet and has a living room that measures 28 feet by 26 feet, says Toronto-based designer Jessica Waks.
She’s referring to the beachfront property on Lake Simcoe that her family owns, and which she recently decorated.
“It’s really a home that happens to be on a lake. It was built in the ’80s, so it has that huge sense of scale. ‘Go big or go home’ is was what the builders seemed to be thinking” Waks explains.
When the property was purchased in 2011, its principal room had what Waks refers to as “an identity crisis.”
Cedar panels covered the walls and ceiling and the room was furnished, according to Waks, in “Mediterranean meets plaid. There were huge wood tables and the furniture was all pushed into the middle of the room. It was kind of hodgepodge.”
Waks decided to turn to the placement of the house on a sandy beach for design inspiration. “I wanted to use the colours of the sand and the water and the sky,” she says.
“I wanted something nautical, just not ablaze with anchors and blueand-white stripes everywhere. But I did want to reference the location.”
The massive size of the living room was not the only challenge. There was the shape of the room — octagonal — and the fact that the turreted ceiling rose up over 14 metres.
“Everything was so enormous — the drapery panels took an immense amount of fabric. There was a lot of scaffolding involved in this project,” Waks says with a laugh.
Waks began by painting walls white, which she says instantly gave the space a fresh and summery look.
The cedar planks on the ceiling were left untouched.
“It has such great height and such good bones. I think it helps warm the space.”
The next step was to come up with a room layout “that didn’t just fill the space, but made it the heart of the home.”
Waks wanted seating for lots of friends and family, but didn’t want furniture to obscure the magnificent view of the lake.
The plan centred on creating different seating zones that were connected through colour and style.
To create a sense of “gravity” in the oddly shaped room, Waks placed a slipper sofa at one end, flanked by two spool chairs in a white and blue Ikat print.
Rather than risk repetition by using a coffee table — as she did in the middle of the room — she opted for a pair of white resin stools with a coral-inspired motif.
Of them, she says, “I didn’t want anything too literal. They kind of remind you of something you’d find in the sea, but they’re not in your face.”
Down-filled, deep-seated sofas sit at right angles to the slipper sofa, and are framed at each end of a graphic rug by benches done in a subtle stripe.
The furniture grouping that runs down the middle of the room was kept deliberately low.
“It’s all either seat height or table height, so the views aren’t interrupted,” Waks says.
Maintaining a clear vista while carving out places for people to gather remained at the heart of Waks’ design.
“As a designer, I like to create feelings and vignettes,” she says.
“There’s been a lot of hanging out here — this has been the summer of watching baseball games. That’s great, but I also want two people to be able to sit and chat comfortably, and for you to think that this room can still give you a moment to yourself — even when it’s filled with people.”