This season we’re bringing Northern Michigan lakeside living indoors to create rooms inspired by the lakes we never want to leave, nautical lifestyles, and lakeside living. Consider this design approach an extension of your relaxing day out on the water, or a “stay-cation” right in your living room. Here are three interior design ideas that bring lakeside living to your home & cottage.

Cali’s, Downtown Traverse City

1.  Define your palette: Choose your color pallete based off natural elements like the color of sand, water, stone, driftwood, or beach grass. From the beginning of your design, limit yourself to no more than three colors. These colors will help you to decide on furniture, wall paint, rugs and curtains. A limited palette will allow you to make easier selections when searching for the perfect accents like throws, candles, and pillows. These colors will set the tone for your room, so don’t go too dark or else you’ll loose the airy sublime feeling of being on the beach or out on the water. Save the darker colors for accent pieces.

2. Showcase your favorite elements: It’s easy to want to incorporate a little bit of too many ideas into one room. Instead focus on one or two of your favorite things about lakeside living. For some, their passion for water is simply nautical, but for others it may be fishing or a relaxing day on a Northern MIchigan beach. If you decide to go nautical, you might consider purchasing a beautiful wooden boat model from the Americana Gallery, an anchor pillow from The Nest–both located in Traverse City–or a Michigan made nautical pillow from ShopMyNorth retailer, The Cort House.

Americana Gallery, Downtown Traverse City

3. Add a touch of Michigan: We all find treasures by the water. In fact many of us have entire collections stashed away made up of shells, stones, beach glass, driftwood, and lures. Integrate your collections into your design. Consider adding sand, beach glass or stones to the bottom of tall clear glass candle holders to adorn your mantel, dining room, or coffee table. Small bits of driftwood, can be attached to frame mirrors, petoskey stones can be polished and neatly arranged in a wooden bowl, and shell or lure collections can be neatly organized into a shadow box to mimic a natural history museum collection. Integrating your treasures into your interior design will add a touch that is distinctly yours.

Cali’s, Roost Candle Holders