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10 Lake House Decorating Ideas for Your Waterfront Escape

By

Ashley Knierim

Ashley Knierim

Ashley Knierim is a home decor expert and product reviewer of home products for The Spruce. Her design education began at a young age. She has over 10 years of writing and editing experience, formerly holding editorial positions at Time and AOL.

Learn more about The Spruce's Editorial Process

Updated on 08/10/21

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When you think "lake life," you probably think of long, relaxing days by the water, kayaking with the family, and steamy summer BBQs. A beautiful view goes a long way, but the actual decor in your lake house will help create a serene and tranquil getaway. After all, a lake house should be a place where you make endless memories, a welcoming retreat that allows you to relax and rejuvenate while spending precious time with your family.

Whether you're into nautical or kitschy design or you want something a little more modern, we've rounded up some great ideas for your lake house decor.

Plot on the bank of a river or lake: what the future owner of a plot near the water needs to know

A house and a plot near a lake or river is a dream of many. However, a natural reservoir is not only an ecosystem that dictates its own rules of life, but also an object of increased attention from the public, regulatory agencies and citizens who want to relax on the shore. What should the buyer of such real estate be prepared for (besides the price per hundred square meters is three times higher than usual)?

Svensk Fastighetsförmedling Norrköping

Shore shore strife
We have noticed that in ancient villages it is usually cozy, easy to breathe and live freely: they have a special microclimate. And the point, most likely, is that at a time when rivers were the main transport arteries, settlements appeared on territories convenient for people, namely, on high sunny shores.

In Soviet times, the authorities did not favor summer residents, driving them like partisans into swamps. In our age, rivers, lakes and reservoirs have become points of attraction for developers of cottage villages. Today, first of all, not those territories that are better, more convenient and more beautiful are being developed, but those where there is an opportunity to get land.

Sommarnöjen

Check which side the shore is on
The choice between the western and eastern shores of the reservoir is mostly a matter of taste (some people like the sunrise over the water, others like the sunset). But the lowering of the relief to the south or north - these are, as they say, two big differences.

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Low coast - bad
Low, periodically flooded coast, overgrown with reeds, is not the easiest option for development. By the way, keep in mind for the future: it is almost useless to fight with reeds. Walkways with a passage to clean water (as in the photo) are the best solution.

If you are looking for a site near a body of water at the height of summer, when the soil is already dry and not squelching under your feet, you may underestimate the scale of the problem. The characteristic thickets of reeds and shrubs speak of swampiness and seasonal flooding of the coastal zone. Pay attention to trees: if birches, aspens, pines and spruces are affected by lichens, have thin, crooked trunks, elongated branches and underdeveloped crowns, you have a flooded area with a high level of groundwater.

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But a high one is no better.
Another variant of a problem area, and it is not uncommon in our area, is a high eroded bank. One where buildings every year get closer to the edge or have already reached the “finish line”, sliding down to the water. Basically, this is, of course, a problem of river banks, although lake banks with a significant elevation difference are not immune from this scourge: they can also have stream beds and ravines, reminiscent of themselves during periods of spring snowmelt and prolonged rains.

Advice: When looking at a site with a significant difference in elevation, carefully evaluate all the folds in the relief. There are ways to "treat" various kinds of problem areas, but this is a reason for a separate article. And you cannot cope with the problem alone - you need to cooperate with other owners of houses by the lake and management companies.

JSCB MALYSHEVA

Legal issues and restrictions
In 2007, that is, ten years ago, the Water Code of the Russian Federation came into force, which seriously limited the opportunities for owners of plots near water bodies. The closer to the water the estate is located, the more restrictions are imposed on owners and users. So, according to Art. 65 of the mentioned code, the width of the water protection zone near the sea is 500 m. Near rivers or streams, it depends on the length. So, near a stream less than 10 km long, the water protection zone is 50 m, and near a full-flowing river with a length of 50 km or more - 200 m. Near a lake with a water area of ​​0.5 sq. km, the width of the water protection zone is 50 m (for small water bodies and lakes located inside swamps, lawmakers made an exception - but we are not interested in areas in the swamp).

Coastal protection zones are established within the boundaries of water protection zones. Their dimensions usually range from 30 to 50 m (depending on the steepness of the slope), but can vary from zero (in settlements) to 200 m (for fishery lakes and reservoirs). Closer than this distance to build a house will not work.

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1. Mandatory hard-surface parking
In coastal areas, traffic is allowed only on roads, and parking is only allowed in specially equipped hard-surfaced areas. This means that a parking area should be equipped on the site in the coastal zone. If the car is on the lawn, this is a violation punishable by a fine.

2. You can't get a goat
Laughter with laughter, but you can run into a fine. The law imposes significant restrictions on the agricultural use of the site (biological and chemical fertilizers, livestock grazing). Although it is unlikely that anyone buys a plot near the lake for animal husbandry - there are other, more suitable land plots on the market for this.

Svensk Fastighetsförmedling

3. Sewer issues
The need for thorough cleaning of sewage. There are no direct prohibitions on the discharge of clarified wastewater from local sewage systems into water bodies. But the compliance of treatment facilities with current standards is at the mercy of representatives of Rospotrebnadzor and environmental structures. The “pass-through” option is a boxed solution in the form of a local treatment plant with forced aeration and subsequent soil filtration.

Black_Wall

4. Buildings near the water - piled
The least traumatic option for the landscape is the placement of temporary and lightweight buildings - sheds, bathhouses, gazebos, piers - on foundations made of screw piles.

The Water Code does not contain direct prohibitions on the construction of fences or even houses - neither in water protection zones, nor in coastal protective strips. But any intervention in the landscape in water protection zones is regulated by a variety of by-laws, which often contradict each other. In any case, permissions from local authorities are needed, which, in turn, require expert opinions and approvals from representatives of various departments.

The list of coordinating and supervisory authorities in each case depends on the type and characteristics of the building, the modes of use of the water body. In the standard versions, we mean the territorial departments of federal structures: the environmental department, the Federal Agency for Fishery, basin water departments, the Ministry of Emergency Situations represented by the State Inspectorate for Small Vessels. Due to white spots in the water register and environmental legislation, personnel reshuffling and constant reforms in the listed departments, the rules of the game “on the ground” can seriously differ. At the same time, when building at your own peril and risk, it is highly likely that the court will recognize the building as unauthorized and sentence it to demolition.

Alexander Lipatov

5. The beach is not your personal
You can't officially get a land plot with your own coast in Russia for rent or ownership - the ban has been in effect for ten years already. Therefore, the most popular option for modern homeowners is a man-made reservoir on a spacious plot.

If we are talking about a "real" lake or river, then the rule is as follows. In accordance with Art. 6 of the Water Code, a twenty-meter zone from the water's edge (coastline), called the coastline, is an area that should be accessible to everyone. However, this rule has come into effect since 2007, when the banks were divided, privatized and mostly built up. Therefore, today, plots with private beaches on the secondary market are sometimes offered for sale not just at high, but at “collection” prices.

But privately owned shore does not mean that it can be fenced off. Real estate objects, which include coastal strips, have a public easement obliging the owners to ensure the passage and the possibility of finding citizens on the banks of water bodies.

Georgiy Shablovsky

In this situation, there is already a conflict: after all, if the coastline is a picturesque beach with golden sand, then there will be more than enough people who want to relax. At the same time, the owner of the site is forced to clean up the garbage left by vacationers, but does not have the right to prevent a citizen with a tent and a barbecue to relax, fish, sunbathe, swim, sing songs, and also, in accordance with the law, moor to the shore on boats and without them.

In practice, it often looks like this. Members of the public complain to the environmental prosecutor's office, initiate inspections. Owners who impede the free rest of fellow citizens are issued fines and orders to demolish fences. But the fines are relatively small, so the fences reappear. And in this case it is possible to understand the interests of both parties.

That is, when purchasing a plot with access to the shore, you need to remember that it will always be in the area of ​​special attention. And any person who believes that the shadow of your fence interferes with his rest on a wild beach can become the initiator of a conflict - both domestic and judicial.

Georgy Shablovsky

To summarize. Your own berth? Bath on the beach? If this is not a reserved lake in the wilderness, but a reservoir where residents of the nearest metropolis like to relax, forget it. The first line in a cottage settlement is also not always a comfortable option. After all, next to your fence, on a piece of beach cultivated by you, all the neighbors and their guests will crowd.

If your object of interest is a private housing estate near a lake, river or reservoir, consider purchasing a site with a south-facing slope, but not near the water, but preferably outside the water protection zone.

There can be no single recipe for potential owners. The general rule: the higher the urban development value of the territory, the more popular the surrounding beaches and fishing spots, the more leads for conflicts and the chances of running into checks. Moreover, most often, neighbors become the initiators of litigation demanding the demolition of illegal buildings. Therefore, before deciding to buy a plot near the water, it makes sense to take a closer look at them.

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49 more photos of lake houses in the Houzz photo gallery

House with history on Lake Como, 75 m²

Interior

In a small house on Lake Como, architects Petr Grigorash and Daria Blazhenkova created a textured interior with traces of history.

Graduated from the Moscow Architectural Institute in 2004, now working as a duet and designing residential interiors. Recently, they are fond of decorating small spaces.

This Lake Como house is centuries old: its lower floor is made of stone, dating back to the Middle Ages, while the second floor was built of brick in the early 2000s and doubled the area to 75 m². Before the customers of Petr Grigorash and Daria Blazhenkova bought the house, it was used as an office. Of the historical details, only stone walls and picturesque wooden beams have been preserved. The architects, of course, wanted to leave such a texture in plain sight. “But it turned out that the wall near the stairs adjoins the hill and in the heat condensation forms on it. We started repairs in the summer and saw that a stream was literally flowing through it,” says Petr.

Second floor. The cover for the pouffe is made of Indian bedspreads; a former butcher's table is used as a writing desk; against the wall are antique canisters for vinegar. Moroccan carpets on the floor; next to the bed is a fragment of an old hedge and an antique cobbler's work table.

Second floor. The cover for the pouffe is made of Indian bedspreads; a former butcher's table is used as a writing desk; against the wall are antique canisters for vinegar. Moroccan carpets on the floor; next to the bed is a fragment of an old hedge and an antique cobbler's work table.

However, he and Daria managed to find a specialist who proposed a unique heat-insulating material made of microscopic ceramic balls. “Two millimeters of this coating replaces several centimeters of standard insulation, it looks like thick white paint, so we didn’t apply anything on top,” Grigorash explains.

Kitchen. The fronts of the cabinets are made from old scaffolding; the role of a kitchen apron is performed by a painted sheet of tin; The shelf for dishes is made of steel.

Peter and Daria were faced with the task of making an unusual interior with minimal financial investment, and they assembled it from unexpected finds. For example, at the head of the bed there is a fragment of an old fence, which was found on the site, they also picked up a tin sheet, varnished it and turned it into a kitchen apron. But the old chest, which can be seen in the living room, was given to them by the neighbors. The rest of the furniture “with history” was bought in the nearest antique shops. So, the former butcher's table acts as a desk, so its entire surface is cut with a knife, a shoemaker's workbench serves as a bedside table, the hinged doors to the living room were once gates, and the window in the kitchen is decorated with old lace from the tablecloth.

Kitchen. The table and chairs are vintage; a wire lamp made by the authors of the project and decorated with a plaster bandage. On the stone wall on the right is a heat-insulating coating, Manti Ceramic.

View from the living room to the kitchen. Soviet armchair and antique wooden gates.

There is also a Soviet armchair, cleaned of varnish, brought by Peter, which, by texture, fits perfectly into the situation. For the stairs and facades of the kitchen, boards from old scaffolding were used. By the way, the staircase deserves special attention: one of its fragments is made of a bent sheet of metal. Thus, the architects carved out a place for the shower, which is located below: the metal part does not need a frame, and this added a few centimeters to the shower cabin.

Fragment of the living room on the first floor. Sofa, IKEA; vintage chest.

The decoration also turned out to be original: the textured wall in the bathroom remained after the ceramic tiles were knocked off it, and in the living room the walls were prepared for painting, but after applying the plaster they changed their minds - it’s much more picturesque. Color appears only in the bedroom, but here, too, Peter and Daria tried to create the impression that these are historical layers of different shades.

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