Blog - The Lilypad Cottage

September 22, 2017 By Kelly 14 Comments

Friday Feels – Hidden TV Cabinet Built-ins

Welcome to another Friday Feels where I share what I’m “feeling” this week. This post may contain affiliate links.

It’s eleventy billion degrees here (what’s up with that Michigan?) and I’m trying to feel fall this week, but the fact that I’m currently sweating on my front porch in a tank top writing this is making it hard. I couldn’t even bring myself to buy pumpkins this week, not that I’m complaining too much as I know the snow will fly soon. I was planning on sharing my fall window boxes with you all today, but with this summer weather my flowers look too pretty to rip them all out.

See? I couldn’t bring myself to switch them out yet.

Hopefully it cools down next week, and I can show you what I have up my sleeve.

Also, I wanted to thank you for your awesome response to last week’s Friday Feels podcast post. You guys, if you are looking for new podcasts to listen to, read the comment section on that post. SO many awesome suggestions, I started a list! See the post here.

Ok, so today I’m talking about our TV cabinet. I have gotten lots of emails and messages wondering where our TV is in our living room and, or how, we hid it. So, I thought I would show you all just how the awesome cabinet guys built this contraption.

I knew in this house I wanted the TV completely hidden, so I decided right off the bat when I was drawing the fireplace design and cabinets to make the lower section closed cabinetry. I wish I would have saved more of the drawings the Mr. and I made, it’s crazy how close to our drawings the house ended up being. The guys did a great job of bringing our vision to life.

I knew we could make the door open and slide back, but I wanted to figure out how to swivel the TV out far enough that you could see if from everywhere. The Mr. found this extra long mounting arm that did the trick. This is the one we used –VideoSecu ML531BE TV Wall Mount for most 22″-55″ LED LCD Plasma Flat Screen Monitor up to 88 lb VESA 400×400 with Full Motion Swivel Articulating 20 in Extension Arm, HDMI Cable & Bubble Level WP5

The guys built this extended square box in the back of the cabinet to mount it to and it fit perfectly. I’m making that sound a little too easy as there was definitely A LOT of measuring and numbers tossed around, but I sort of zoned out for that part, which I tend to do when math is involved. Thank goodness the Mr. is a self-proclaimed number nerd.

They couldn’t build shelves all the way across obviously, because the cabinet doors wouldn’t be able to slide back into the cabinet then. They built this little bookcase within a bookcase so that we had a spot to set our other electronics. This is a smart tv so we don’t have a cable box for it, but if we did, we could tuck it on these shelves too.

You can see it works perfect – it pivots out so I can even see the TV from the kitchen, which is awesome because I like to watch the news while I cook dinner.

Then it slides right back in and the doors pull out and close. I love that you would never know it’s there, plus it’s at a nice height for your eyes vs. having to look up if it were mounted above the fireplace.

I hope that helps explain it a bit further, I know a lot of people wanted specific dimensions so here goes:

TV – 40 inch, the height from the floor to the bottom of the TV is 3 ft

Cabinet dimensions – inside 43W x 52H x 18D

Door size – 20 x 50, the doors stick out 2 inches when they are slid back in the cabinet.

Feel free to comment below if you have any other questions!

Hope you all have a great weekend!

September 20, 2017 By Kelly 35 Comments

Butler’s Pantry

Hey guys, I know many of you are waiting on the kitchen reveal, and I was planning to get to it today, but time got away from me. So, I hope you will settle for a peek into the butler’s pantry. I have shared before that I hate clutter, and having extra stuff on my kitchen counters makes me especially crazy, so this pantry is the best!

It’s still a work in progress as I really want to add wallpaper or tile in here, I just haven’t decided what exactly I’m going to do yet. I also want to take a trip to the Container Store on the other side of the state to get some more organizing stuff, but I’m off to a decent start.

If you’ve been following along since the beginning of the building process, you will remember this space was originally supposed to be about half the size, with the other side being a coat closet in the entry. We didn’t have a coat closet in our last house, so I didn’t think we would need that space and decided to just make it all the butler’s pantry. In my head it wasn’t quite this big! When they framed it out and I could actually do snow angels in here (before they got the roof on), I thought I may have goofed a bit, but I actually love having this large space to keep everything tucked away in.

I put all of my small appliances in here; microwave, toaster, mixer, all the big stuff that typically hogs up all the counterspace. The guys did a great job with all of these built-ins and shelves in here. I wanted a mix of pretty and practical useable space.

I chose to do a door with a window in it to let the light in from the window to the kitchen. You may remember this old door that I picked up and spent days stripping all the layers of paint off. I concentrated on keeping this back wall filled with prettier things, so that when the door is closed it still looks nice through the window.

The wall on the right is filled with more practical storage. It’s usually a bit more packed then this, but I have been avoiding the grocery store for a solid week and a half now…

On the left is the appliance zone. We scored a major deal on this floor model wine fridge and it was great to have the extra wine storage for all the summer entertaining we did.

It’s also convenient when I’m hiding in here from the kids…I have everything I need, wine, chocolate, popcorn – the necessities.

My kids hang out in here plenty too. I made sure to put all the kids snacks down low so they have no excuse to be “rock climbing” up the shelves. These plastic jars from HomeGoods have been awesome for keeping our snacks organized and fresh. Getting my kids to flush the toilet, let alone put a chip clip back on a bag is a minor miracle, but for some reason they are great about snapping these shut.

That old wood display case used to be in our master bedroom at our old house, but it made the perfect spice rack for in here. I just grabbed these little jars from amazon and labeled the bottom to keep everything neat.

Stay tuned for the kitchen and if you’ve seen any great wallpaper patterns that scream “pantry” let me know, I’m still on the hunt!

SOURCE LIST: (contains affiliate links)

Flooring – BuildDirect

Wall Color – Extra White Sherwin Williams

Shelving/door color – Light French Grey by Sherwin Williams

Jars – HomeGoods

Spice Jars – Charmed Cylindrical Clear Glass Spice canning Jar, Set of 24, 2.5 oz

Barn Door Hardware – U-MAX 6.6 FT Sliding Barn Wood Door Basic Sliding Track Hardware Kit (Basic “J”)

Batter Bowls – World Market

Smaller Mixing Bowl – World Market

Oil Bottles – World Market

Barn Light – Wayfair

Counter top – I can’t figure out the name of it anymore – sorry!

September 15, 2017 By Kelly 55 Comments

Friday Feels – Podcasts and Planners

Welcome to another Friday Feels where I share what I’m “feeling” this week. This post may contain affiliate links.

I had to laugh last week, because I got a comment on the blog wanting to know if our pup Charlie made the transition to the new house since you haven’t seen him on the blog much. If you watch my instagram stories, you will know why you haven’t seen him lately – because he is here, in his kennel.

Pouting.

And, he is not leaving until I bring his kids back from wherever that loud yellow thing takes them off to everyday.

It’s like he thinks I finally made good on my threat to sell the kids on eBay after one too many of their shennaginans. ;) Have you ever seen such a sad face?

Thankfully, he perks back up when they come home at the end of the day, and there is a 20 minute happy dance every afternoon. Not gonna lie, I do a happy dance too. The house is still a little too quiet for me. Which brings me to what I’m feeling this week and my new found love of Podcasts. I’m not a huge TV watcher, but I do love listening to something while I’m cleaning, doing laundry, shooting photos, editing and running errands. Some of my favorites to listen to lately:

Blogger/Home Decor –

Chris Loves Julia – One of my favorite blogs. I love their style, and they are so funny and real.

Young House Love Has A Podcast – This is a no brainer. Jon and Sherry are hilarious and full of great tips and info.

Spiritual/All around good to know stuff –

Jen Hatmaker – She interviews really different and inspiring women for this podcast, and the conversations are heartfelt and often hilarious.

Shauna Niequist – Full of interesting guests and great conversations.

Mystery/Real Life Stories –

Serial – I may be the last person on earth to listen to this, but it was so addicting! There are 2 seasons that each tell a true story with each episode being a different chapter, so be sure to start with Season 1 Episode 1.

This American Life – This is a weekly public radio show, and I love listening to all the interesting stories about our society and culture.

Do you have a favorite podcast recommendation for me? Leave me a comment below so I can add them to my list!

In other news, my new camera and I are starting to get along, and I was able to catch this shot of our family room this week. I feel like you can finally see some of the woodworking details in this photo. I’ll keep working on it :)

Oh and lastly, I got a few comments and emails about these cute planners you spied in my laundry room post earlier this week.

They are from Rifle Paper Co and they are my favorite planners, the orange is a 2017 pattern and the black is the new 2018 one, but they come in several pretty patterns.

If you are old school like me and like to make lists and see your whole week ahead, they are perfect. Find yours here.

Have a great weekend!

September 13, 2017 By Kelly 32 Comments

Wallpapered Laundry Room

Today, I’m sharing a small (but mighty) room in our house – the laundry room. In hindsight, I should have installed a wine fridge in here because I basically live in here :) Between the lake and the pool this summer, there is always a mountain of towels to wash, and in fact, I realize looking back at these photos, my washing machine has a full load of towels in it that I didn’t mean to catch on camera…I’m just trying to give you an authentic laundry vibe…

This room also doubles as my command center. Clutter drives me nuts, especially on my kitchen countertops. So, I need somewhere to go with all the millions of papers that come home from school plus mail etc. More on that later.

First, let’s talk design in here. I knew I wanted counters that went over my washer and dryer in this house because I love having a folding/sorting surface in the laundry room. Also, it really cuts down on rogue socks behind the dryer. We went with this simple soapstone looking laminate counter in here due to me being as the Mr. states it, “a zillion dollars over budget” everywhere else. The guys did a great job of making all the built-ins.

We went with the same white walls in here that are in most of our house, so I went with a soft grey color on the cabinets and the shelves.

I had originally planned on adding a tile backsplash later down the road, until by happy accident I had extra wallpaper leftover from our little powder room (it’s just down the hall from here, and I haven’t shared it on the blog yet). I had the extra installed just on this back wall which actually most people think is tile from far away. It adds just enough texture and fun in this room.

The flooring in here is the same slate flooring from BuildDirect that we used in our entryway just in a large brick pattern. I love the blue/grey color and it continues down throughout our mudroom (I will blog more on this room soon too).

We put a pocket door in here so that I can close it off easily and hide the mess.

Another must have in this room was a sink with a pull down sprayer faucet – a.k.a. our dog Charlie’s bathtub. If there is a dead fish, or any sort of nasty something washed up on the beach, you can guarantee Charlie is going to roll in it, so he pretty much gets a dunk in the tub almost daily.

Ok back to the clutter. I have finally developed a method that works for us. My kids take any papers out of their folders and stick them on that basket on the counter. I also stick any mail in there too. Basically, any paper of any kind gets jammed in this basket appropriately labeled “Miscellaneous Stuff.”

Then I go through it every day or two and either file it away in these hanging baskets on the wall or recycle it. I put separate striped folders in it to keep it looking neat, but also to have different file options. I have one for receipts, tax stuff etc. It keeps everything all in one spot, off my counters and my sanity in tact.

Oh, and I also have a pretty nice lake view out this little window, which makes laundry not so bad. I’m telling you that wine fridge is not such a far fetched idea ;)

SOURCE LIST – (contains affiliate links)

Wallpaper – Serena and Lily

Cabinet color – Light French Grey by Sherwin Williams

Wall color – Extra White by Sherwin Williams

Mudroom wall color – Boothbay Gray by Benjamin Moore

Faucet – Signature Hardware

Flooring – BuildDirect Janeiro Slate Tile in Montauk Blue

Baskets – Target from a few years ago

Wire Organizer – HomeGoods, but here is a similar one

Light – Wayfair see all our light choices here

September 8, 2017 By Kelly 11 Comments

Friday Feels – Maple Sweet Potato Kale Salad

Welcome back to another edition of Friday Feels, my new series where I share what I’m “feeling” lately. This week I’m feeling cold! Michigan has definitely made the switch to fall and I have broken out all the sweaters and boots. I’m settling into the routine of being home without the kiddos and one thing I’m loving is actually eating a real lunch. Typically I end up eating peanut butter and jelly crusts, a few carrot sticks, and whatever leftovers my kids don’t finish up from their lunch. But now I have time to eat like a real grown up.

This Maple Sweet Potato Kale Salad has been my go to this week with the fall air outside. It’s so easy to meal prep this and eat it every day for lunch. It has cinnamon roasted sweet potatoes, crunchy green apples, pecans, golden raisins and kale. All topped off with a bit of goat cheese and a maple mustard vinaigrette.

5.0 from 1 reviews

Save Print

Maple Sweet Potato Kale Salad

Author: Kelly Rinzema

Recipe type: Salad

Prep time: 10 mins

Cook time: 30 mins

Total time: 40 mins

Ingredients

1-2 Sweet Potatoes
cinnamon
olive oil
1 granny smith apple, chopped
¼ C pecans
¼ golden raisins
1-2 C baby kale, chopped
Goat Cheese crumbles
DRESSING
¼ C olive oil
2 tsp stone ground mustard
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp maple syrup
salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Peel and chop sweet potatoes and toss in a drizzle of olive oil, cinnamon, salt and pepper.
Roast at 400 degrees for 30 minutes. Set aside to cool.
Mix all salad dressing ingredients together in a mason jar, shake well.
Mix chopped kale, apples, sweet potatoes, pecans, raisins and goat cheese in a bowl.
Toss with salad dressing.

I recommend eating while reading a book in a cozy sweater for maximum enjoyment of your grown up lunch break!

September 6, 2017 By Kelly 68 Comments

Lake House Exterior – Street Side

I hope you all had a fantastic long holiday weekend! Labor day is always sad around here as it is typically the day everyone pulls their docks and boats out for the year. It definitely gets quiet on the lake once summer is over. We had a pretty lazy Labor Day watching movies with the kids. We introduced them to The Never Ending Story and my daughter said “When was this movie made??”

I replied “the 80’s”

She said “Well that explains why the music is so bad…”

Bahahaha!

As a child of the 80’s I can say truer words were never spoken…

Then I threatened to perm her bangs ;)

With the colder temps, I’m starting to think about fall decorating, but I barely have my house put together let alone adding in fall decor, so I don’t think I’m going to make it happen this year. One space I do hope to at least make a little fall-ish is the front porch. This made me realize I never shared the completed street side of the house with you all. The sun peeked out for a little bit this morning after the rain, and I snapped a few shots so pardon the puddles.

I love having these benches on the front porch. It’s the perfect spot to hang out with my coffee while my kids ride their bikes. All these pillows are just leftovers from the last house. I never quite found the right pillows for out here this summer, so the search continues.

I also was late to the game to buy planters for the front, by the time I got around to it back to school supplies were in stores! Thankfully I borrowed these old ones from my mom’s garage and plopped some clearance hydrangeas in them. I’ll probably transplant them somewhere now that summer is over.

The guys did such an amazing job building the pergola over the garage and I love the character it adds to this side of the house.

You know I had to have flower boxes again (check out my flower box tips here) although having just 2 boxes versus the 7 I had at the last house has been less time consuming thankfully. I went with a mix of double impatiens, regular impatiens, and creeping jenny as the front of the house is mostly shady. They are starting to dwindle a bit with the cooler temps, but they were really pretty.

I shared the lakeside of our home before, but I’ll share again in case you are new here. I’m really happy with how the dark siding turned out with the white trim, and I’m so glad we took the chance to go with a darker color.

SOURCE LIST:

Siding – Vinyl shake siding by Mastic in the color Natural Slate

Front Door – Thermatru

Windows – NorthStar

September 1, 2017 By Kelly 12 Comments

Friday Feels – Back to School

If you read my latest blog post, then you know today is the first edition of a new series on the blog called “Friday Feels.” Basically, it will be a weekly fun post all about “what I’m feeling lately.” It’s just an excuse to share a bunch of fun random things with you all, be it clothing, fave products, recipes or books. So here we go, a peek inside my mind this week. This post contains affiliate links.

This week is all about back to school; a little something for my kiddos and a few things for this mama too! :)

Kid’s clothing… Guys, shopping with my picky 9 year old daughter was all consuming this year, but I’m happy to say she approves of this new line. She wants comfy and cute, but mostly comfy and these pieces totally fit the bill. My friend Karina is actually one of the owners of Soul Sisters and Misters, and they have the cutest selection of clothing. You can find them on Facebook (where you can shop their albums), and Instagram. They are also organizing a really fun event called The Gathering on September 9 here in West Michigan – if you are local, be sure to check it out! It’s going to be the perfect girls night out with shopping, food and fun. There will be all kinds of amazing vendors, unique boutiques and vintage finds. Be sure to check out their Facebook for the location and details.

See how cute their stuff is? The models are adorable as well (after promises of ice cream).

And also, I want my son’s hair! Why do little boys always have the best hair and eyelashes??

I would also like my daughter’s energy…

While we are on the subject of clothes, have you seen the new clothing lines at Target? I buy a lot of kids clothes at Target (my daughter is obsessed with the Cat and Jack line), but not so much clothes for myself. I’m loving the “A New Day” collection though. They have super cute what I call “mom tops” which basically means I can throw it on with a pair of jeans and a necklace and look put together if I have to go into school for something. Versus my usual sitting in the drop off line in my yoga pants ensemble ;) I just ordered this cute bell sleeve top in white.

And this Ruffle Top in black.

I’ll keep you posted when I get them!

Another product that has been saving my life this week is a new concealer I just bought. We have to be out the door at 6:55 in the morning to make the bus, and I haven’t quite adjusted from my summer night owl lifestyle yet. This Shape Tape Contour Concealer from Tarte covers even my Darth Vader circles and stays put all day. It is definitely worth the hype.

Phew! We made it through the first week of school and I for one am ready for the long weekend – hope you all have a great weekend too!

August 30, 2017 By Kelly 34 Comments

Rustic Beam Breakfast Nook

Hey! Sorry for the loooong unplanned blogging break. My camera broke. Like totally fizzled, wouldn’t even turn on, broke. I took it as a sign to take a few weeks off and hang with my kids the last bit of summer. My kids started school yesterday and I somehow survived bringing my youngest baby boy to kindergarten. I was totally “that mom” sobbing in her car and I have already explained to him how mommy is going to need to be his college roommate, because I can’t live without him. I’m sure he will get on board with that plan eventually…maybe if I promise to do his laundry?

To make myself feel better I took a solo Target trip, which I have to admit was kind of amazing. I found these cute pillows on clearance and when do cute/cheap throw pillows not make everything better? It’s not time that heals all wounds, pillows people, pillows are healing.

Also helping are caramel m&m’s…the family size.

I finally bought myself a new camera (the guy at the camera store may have laughed at my 9 year old camera and told me it wasn’t worth trying to fix…) and I’m still getting used to all the bells and whistles.

I thought I would share our little rustic beam breakfast nook today, since that is where the cute pillows ended up. It was a little odd to have the house all to myself for a photo shoot for once. The good news for you is no kids all day means more blog posts to read, but more on that in a minute.

We have been loving this space and we eat here every night when it’s not nice enough to eat outside. It’s so cozy and perfect for our family of four. If you remember we saved these old beams from the house we tore down and I love the character they add to my white kitchen.

I found this table on gilt.com I was having the hardest time finding an oval table that was small. This window is 7 ft wide and I wanted our kids to be able to slide around easily so I went with a 5 ft table. I tucked our old Ikea wicker chairs around it for now, but the white cushions aren’t the most practical in here, so I’m keeping my eye out for something different.

We tiled this whole back wall to add more texture and really make this area feel like an extension of the kitchen. There was originally supposed to be wall sconces on either side of the beams, but when we tried to open the glass cabinet doors they hit the fixtures. It was such a bummer.

We planted lots of hydrangea bushes around the house and I’m loving having all the fresh flowers to cut and use around the house.

While I’ve got you here, I wanted to talk about the state of the blog going forward. I’m hoping to get on a regular schedule now that my kids are at school all day. The plan is to post a home decor/project related post every Wednesday.

I’m also hoping to start a new series on the blog on Fridays called “Friday Feels” which will basically be what I’m “feeling” at the moment (I know I’m so clever with my alliteration). Consider it the miscellaneous page of the blog. I used to blog more about recipes, life, and products I was loving and I miss it. Planning/building the house became all consuming, and I really struggled to get even one post a week done this past year. I’m really excited to share recipes I love, and new products I’ve tried and even just whatever weird thrift find I’ve picked up again with you all. (Sidenote I found out that my vintage green table is ACTUALLY an indian wedding table like the guy said! Seriously google indian wedding table and you will find an exact pic of my table in various colors, crazy!)

Anyways, I hope you all will enjoy following along with my Friday ramblings too, but I still have plenty of new house stuff to share. Thanks for sticking with me through this last sporadic year of posting. Now excuse me while I go eat the rest of the m&m’s before my kids get off the bus ;)

SOURCE LIST: (contains affiliate links)

Ticking pillows – Pottery Barn

Diamond pillows – Target

Floral pillow – I made it out of an Anthropologie napkin

Wicker chairs – Ikea

Blanket – H&M (from last year)

Subway tile – Lowe’s

Flooring – Build Direct (you can find my post about it here)

Paint Color – Extra White by Sherwin Williams

Copper pitcher – Flea market

Table – Gilt.com they don’t have it anymore

August 2, 2017 By Kelly 61 Comments

Green Console Table

My mom and I hit up the Allegan Antique Market last Sunday and we came out winners for sure. I finally found the perfect table for underneath my Melissa Lyons Boat Print. If you follow me on instagram then you may remember me polling you all on what color table to put underneath it.

I wanted something fun with a pop of color, but I was nervous about having a strong color so close to our blue kitchen island. Most of you wanted our old red buffet from the last house (this painting used to hang above it in our dining area), but we tried it in here and the dimensions sadly weren’t quite right.

I saw this green console table out of the corner of my eye at the flea market and made a beeline for it! The top was covered in stuff, but it was totally calling my name. I even did the whole “I’ll stand here with my hand on it, you go ask him how much it is” thing because I was worried someone else would try to snag it out from under me. Mind you there was no one else in the booth, but it was just one of those things where I knew it was coming home with me. I snagged it for $100.

I asked the guy if he knew what it was made out of or what it was, because the detailing on it was so cool. He told me it was an ancient Indian wedding table…and then proceeded to laugh hysterically. He also offered to hold on to my “thermometer” for me while I shopped, which after much confusion, I realized he meant the old oar I was holding…so, I’m just going to go out on a limb and say he may not be a reliable source of information. He was a character though, and I will definitely visit his booth again next month. I talked to a guy at a different booth who had tables similar to this that he had made out of old scaffolding so that could be the case here too.

Whatever it is or made out of, it goes perfect in this space. It really complements the colors in the painting. You can find more of Melissa’s gorgeous art here. I have another piece of her’s in my bedroom that I can’t wait to share with you soon!

The baskets under the table are a temporary fix. I really wanted some sort of stools under here that we could pull out for extra seating and I found some cute ones (I did a bunch of instastories on them), but they didn’t really work with the legs of the table. I was tempted to keep them because I just wanted it to feel finished over here, but I’m trying to be really intentional about only buying new pieces that are perfect and I absolutely love. Now I’m thinking larger baskets or more of an ottoman idea, but these baskets and pillows are doing the job for now.

I’m so happy to finally have this painting feel more grounded. I still need to work on styling the table a bit more too, but I couldn’t wait to share my fun find with you all!

July 28, 2017 By Kelly 37 Comments

Lakeshore Fix – Sandy Beach In A Day

Hope you are all enjoying our last few weeks of summer. The Mr. and I are soaking up all the time we can with my kids, especially since my youngest heads to kindergarten in the fall (yes, I will be the hysterically sobbing mom in the parking lot in full on ugly cry mode). But, I promise once they are in school full time, you will have tons of great posts coming your way.

Today I wanted to share something that has made a huge difference in our lakeshore. If you are local in Michigan and live on a lake that has a mucky or weedy bottom, this post is for you! Remember when I first showed you all the pic of our “new house” and everyone thought we were crazy? No, well here is a reminder of the before pic to jog your memory –

Even we had to second guess what we had gotten ourselves into!

But after just a little paint and elbow grease (kidding, it turned out to be a total teardown and rebuild)…

Tada – this is how it looks now! Pretty crazy that this is the same lot…minus 7 enormous rotting/falling down trees.

Ignore our wacky dowel and string fence along the boardwalk, we are trying to keep the geese (and the ahem, souvenirs they like to leave behind) off the new grass that’s trying to grow. But check out that crystal clear sandy bottom.

When we bought the place, the name Lily Pad Cottage had never been so appropriate as seen in that before pic! I think lily pads are actually so pretty, but maybe not in the water-top carpet format we had. Not to mention the gross, mucky bottom underneath that made enjoying the water pretty much impossible. No one had used the shoreline for many years on this property (you can see in the before pics that there was actually a chain link fence right up to the water) so the lily pads and weeds had pretty much taken over.

We called TT&C Beaches to solve our problem – they specialize in installing these amazing artificial sandy bottoms, and it’s the coolest process to watch! They kindly offered me a discount in exchange for me sharing my experience with you all, but all thoughts and opinions are my own. The company is run by the 3 Trierweiler brothers and the entire process was invented and patented by their father. I’ll explain a bit more, first you need to get a permit from the DEQ. The law in Michigan allows you to do half of your shoreline to essentially create a swimming area without causing damage to the natural lake habitat.

You can see the perfect rectangle of nice sandy bottom we now have. It’s amazing how quick the process is, their tagline is “Beach in a Day” and it’s so true.

They come with a special truck and hoses that pull water from the lake and mix it with sand. My son was enthralled with the truck and watching the sand go up the belt. The beauty of the way they do this is it doesn’t hurt your landscaping at all (although we didn’t actually have landscaping at this point), because there is no heavy equipment to get down to the lake, just some lightweight hoses.

We had the beach put in this spring before we moved in and it was the best decision. You can see in these photos that the truck mixes the sand and water pumped from the lake and shoots the mixture back out through a hose into the lake. They first stake down a thick mat right over top of any muck or weeds and then cover it with several inches of the sand mixture.

They use a heavier sand so it stays put even with boats, etc. going in and out. My dad actually had them do his beach 1o years ago and it’s still in perfect shape.

This is several months later and it’s perfectly sandy and feels great on your feet. It has made it so much easier for us to get in and out on the boat.

If you have any questions you can check out TT&C Beach’s site here and contact them for more information. This page on their site explains the whole process much better than I ever could. I can’t recommend it enough! In fact our neighbor’s just applied for a permit as well so that will take out another huge chunk of lily pads to the right of our dock there. The shoreline will still be a work in progress for a year or two as we work on our boardwalk and also get rid of more of the lily pads (we got a special permit to remove more of them).

I also quick snapped a few pics of the back of our house now that the grass is coming in a bit. I haven’t done much back here besides a few tubs of flowers and all the old outdoor furniture from our last house. Next spring/summer I will definitely be styling and decorating this area more. We also have plans to add an outdoor firepit/fireplace, but we couldn’t decide where we wanted it (I’m thinking down by the lake) so we decided to hold off for now.

One more before shot –

and after!

Pretty crazy to look back on these before and afters and see how far we have come!