Interior: Colourful cottage

On summer weekends, happy orange umbrellas flutter in the warm Lake Simcoe breeze and inviting bright blue lounge chairs beckon to anyone playing in the pool. Squeals of delight from children ripple across the patio. Through the wall-to-wall sliding glass doors that line the back of the cottage, friends and neighbours can be seen leaning on counters with cool drinks in hand or laughing against a backdrop of the sun-sparkled lake.

Once covered in taupe siding, the cottage was hardly a picture perfect purchase. Plus, there were a couple of ramshackle outbuildings on the property. “But for years we’d experienced lake life at our friends’ place, so we knew what we had here,” says the homeowner. “It was just a matter of taking a deep breath and imagining what it could be.”


Sit back and relax 1970s furniture that once belonged to the homeowner’s in-laws is now upholstered in durable Sunbrella fabric. “I can live with stains, but I can’t live with people who are afraid to relax,” says the homeowner. The blue-and-white room is accented with hits of coral. “Sun and water – that’s the whole idea,” she says.