Lakeside Effect

Restful living starts outdoors in this charming lodge on the water. Step inside to see nature’s serenity inspire a redo of cozy interiors that show how nostalgic architectural bones can live on forever.

- Krissa Rossbund,

It started with a missing bathtub. The clients of designer Amy Studebaker adored their getaway cottage that hugged the lake of their farm in Missouri, but the primary suite lacked a tub where they could soak and relive a day of leisurely water activity in more water.

The assignment seemed simple enough: Rework the room's layout to include the plumbing addition.

Task accomplished.

But when the homeowners got a taste of Studebaker's creative direction, the question of how she might navigate a complete overhaul of the home sparked their curiosity and the assignment grew. Her approach to the functional and decorative facelift was not to ignore the home's nostalgic lodge origins but to lighten its palette and unveil an updated, fresh ambience.

"There are more properties on the farm, and those are where other family members stay," Studebaker says. "This couple occasionally hosts a guest or two, but they wanted this to be their own primary haven of respite." A warm version of a cool palette was informed by the natural blues and greens that charmed outdoors. Blue as the starring color would have worked just fine. It's classic, familiar, and welcomed into interiors with open arms. But Studebaker saw the lodge differently. Instead of leaning on the lake and sky for the palette's springboard, she turned to what's reflected in the glasslike stillness of the lake a mass of trees and focused the color scheme on shades of green.