Designers Marshall Watson and Kate Reid transformed this cozy cottage into a northern European-inspired escape.
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Just 15 years old, a vacation house on Lake Michigan gains a nostalgic patina after Marshall Watson and Kate Reid fill it with sunny color, beadboard paneling, wooden jigsaw puzzles, and memories in the making.
The exterior of the house, formerly blue, was repainted in custom shades of coach-house green and white. “It looks more Michigan,” Watson says.
In the living room, a pair of club chairs in a Cowtan & Tout floral linen faces a custom sofa in a Holland & Sherry fabric, and two vintage chairs are covered in a Kravet plaid. Rug, Beauvais.
An antique louvered shutter is displayed above an 1860s French white-oak dresser from Laurin Copen Antiques, which stores the clients’ collection of hand-carved wooden jigsaw puzzles.
Bird prints from the owners’ collection hang above a painted bench in a Kravet fabric.
Watson and Reid cozied up the dining room walls with Meadow Sweet, an updated Morris & Co. wallpaper from Style Library. Breezy, unlined curtains are in a Chelsea Textiles check. Braided rug, Beauvais. The limed-oak table is from Hamptons Antique Galleries. Custom pendant, Jamb.
Dining chairs from English Country Home have upholstery and tie-on seat cushions in Mistletoe, a hand-embroidered fabric from Chelsea Textiles. Adding color and shimmer to corner shelves are green-and-white plates from local shops and 19th-century handblown glassware from Côté Jardin Antiques.
A crisp cottage feeling prevails in the master bedroom. The faux bamboo king bed was created from antique twin beds found at English Country Home.
Roller shades in a Ralph Lauren fabric have a scalloped flange, lending old-world charm; curtains are in a Cowtan & Tout embroidered linen.
In a bunk room, gingham sheets and striped comforters by Serena & Lily add to the shipshape vibe. The nickel pendant by the Urban Electric Co. is painted in Old Glory by Benjamin Moore. In one of the room’s baths hangs a round mirror from Wayfair.
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This story was originally published in the March 2018 issue of House Beautiful.
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