Cool, Contemporary Lake House Decor

Nautical themes are popular for vacation homes on the beach or lakeside properties, but a modern look is recommended by far more top home interior designers and decor specialists around the world. Cool, contemporary lake house decor will give your second home a classy and elegant feel, providing more value for the home and impressing guests and visitors. A cool, contemporary look also feels clean and peaceful: the perfect choice for a second or vacation home or for your primary dwelling.

Color Choices for a Contemporary Look

The cool color palette involves many colors, although most have strong blue undertones and this is quite appropriate to create a visual tie with the lake and sky. The cool colors provide a clean, almost sterile feel for every room in the house, but they are still inviting and can create a tranquil environment throughout the lake house. Here are just a few cool choices for a contemporary lake house:

· Shades of blue with minimal red undertones are perfect, especially those with no red at all. Red adds too much passion to blue, drowning the tranquility quickly and effectively. Just about any shade of blue is a great choice for the lake home, but those mixed with gray are ideal.

· Purples that lean toward the blue end of the color spectrum are a popular choice for an elegant, contemporary look. Avoid those with strong red highlights, although there are always going to be faint red undertones since blue and red are the main components of purple. Pastel purples are perfect, since you can minimize the red and maximize the blue very easily.

· Gray is the most popular cool shade today for many hot home decor specialists and interior designers. There are shades of gray that range from almost pastel to deep battleship grays, each appropriate for use in various places throughout the lake home.

· Some shades of green are classified as cool, such as those with blue or gray highlights. Green can also be a warm color, so you have to be very careful to watch the undertones if you want to decorate the lake house with green.

· Black and white are perfect as accessory and accent shades with a cool color palette, since they are the best choices for any pattern, print, or design scheme and offer a bold modern color contrast.

Metals in the Lake House

Metals are cool and contemporary, so many designers and decor experts choose metals in different places throughout the lake house. From the legs of furniture to appliances and bathroom fixtures, there are many common ways to use metals. However, it can be a lot more fun to use metals in uncommon ways, such as modern coastal metal art, wall hangings, outdoor metal sculptures, dining room chairs or table, kitchen barstools, headboards, and so on.