Transforming Our Shed into a Charming Dock House…Summer Celebrations

Flags, fireworks, and banners of red, white, and blue were draped throughout our Country for the most glorious celebration of them all…America’s 250th Anniversary of Freedom!

This memorable and special weekend in Americal was spent with our family in the most convenient and charming little cottage…our latest renovation project, we’ve named, “The Dock House.” It’s down by the lake and has lots of “camp-style” charm, mingled with vintage treasures, and a porch that invites everyone to, “Come sit!”

For some time, I’ve been wanting to create a little dock house near the lake. I wanted a place that was easily accessible from the lake stairs, where we could gather for picnics and dinners, sit out on the porch, or grab a soda from the refrigerator without ever having to come up to the house.

Richard has always been wonderful, making whatever I dream about, come true. (the first time being when he asked me to marry him <3) I’m the dreamer and envision things…he’s the engineer and technician that makes the dreams happen! (:

All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them.

~ Walt Disney

Our old shed down by the lake was in the perfect location and just the right size to be revamped into the dock house I was envisioning. However, the shed was filled with a jumble of fishing poles and tackle boxes, snorkel masks and fins, swimming floats, and life jackets…and would need lots of work to become the dock house I had “in my mind’s eye!”

Before we could begin the transformation, our 32-year-old shed needed some TLC. We moved everything out of the storage shed and Richard called a construction company for the repair work. After the repairs were done, Richard had them add 4 new windows to our shed…build a new porch…add a roof over the porch and had them cover the roof with corrugated metal. (I’ve always wanted to sit on a porch with a metal roof and listen to the raindrops drumming on the rooftop.)

After all that was finished, Richard had the crew install a new door on the side of the shed, closest to the lake.

After the new door was put in, Richard asked the crew to install a wall, to divide our large shed into 2 separate rooms! The smaller room would be where we would store all our life jackets and lake paraphernalia, and the larger room would become my dock house!

After all the construction was completed, Richard and our daughter painted the dock house and stained the porch and doors.

Then the fun began and it was finally time to begin work on the interior of our dock house!

The first thing Richard did was to paint the floor, walls, and ceiling of the dock house with Kilz…then he covered the white KILZ with “Rockwood Green” paint. Next, I ordered a “fandelier” (an overhead light with an enclosed fan) that had metal deer and fir trees, fitting for our camp-y theme.

We put down an indoor/outdoor rug and brought in a cabinet we had stored away.

I cleaned and polished our 32-year-old camp chairs with furniture oil and ordered new, red, canvas seats to slip on their wooden frames.

ALL READY FOR...

Porch rocking,
Horseshoe throwing,
Soda sipping,
Melon seed spitting,
Supper cookin',
Ice cream churning,
Firework gazing,
Family gathering,
Wonderful Time!

~  Trenda

WELCOME TO OUR COTTAGE DOCK HOUSE! It’s the quaintest little place filled with vintage and cherished things…tartan dishes and thermoses, picnic baskets, and camp blankets.

Decor: Deep green walls with accents of red. The fish pictures on the wall look like they were made for our dock house with matting that matches the paint color of our walls and a rustic rope trim around the wooden frames. I found the pictures in a thrift store, years ago…I was just waiting for the perfect place to hang them!

I love this majestic artwork – a large crewel embroidery work stitched by my great-aunt. I can’t imagine the time and effort it must have taken her to make such a grand and treasured piece. Though the frame is a little battered and worn, it looks pretty good for being over a hundred years old! The faded threads of the tapestry, seem “made” for our little dock house, with a scene of a cabin and a rowboat on the water.

Ready for our Red-White and Blue celebration, this cabinet makes a wonderful storing and serving bar and takes up a minimal amount of space!

Tablescape details:

• Assorted packaged chips are ready to be filled for “Walk About Tacos.”
• A “special edition” American mini moon pies are piled in a wooden tray.
• Blue plastic cutlery, rolled in red bandannas and wrapped with star-spangled gift wire (click here for instructions) are stacked in a basket.
• A metal rowboat with divided compartments makes a perfect receptacle for a dock house and holds red, white, and blue plates, cups, napkins, and straws.

For appetizers, I mixed up a large batch of Texas Caviar and had 2 large crock pots; one filled with spicy taco meat for our Walk-About-Tacos, and the other filled with delicious Mexican street corn. Taco toppings (grated cheese, tomatoes, lettuce, sour cream, and jalapeños were all in a large, sectioned, glass bowl on a wooden stand.

Dinner Menu:

Hamburgers, hot dogs, potato salad, baked beans, and “Red, White, & Blue parfaits.”

This desk fits right into the corner of the dock house and is another cherished keepsake. My father made it for my mother many years ago. <3 The tabletop is a wonderful service area and bamboo lap trays, vintage picnic hampers, and board games are stored underneath.

To you it may just be a shed but to me it is a sanctuary”

~ Anonymous

Near the rafters, on the opposite side of the dock house, Richard mounted this beautifully painted canoe, we found in a thrift shop…and our new, red refrigerator has plenty of room for watermelons, sodas, water, ice, and popsicles!

A wall filled with a collection of remembered and loved gifts reflects the decor of a fish camp. This wooden clock was a gift Richard bought for me 48 years ago to hang in our first home! I can still remember how thrilled I was when I unwrapped it!

The rowboat shelf is a thoughtful gift from a friend and makes a sweet nook for some of my treasured, antique, little books.

A miniature fishing creel, made by Boyds’s Bears, is a dear gift from our son.

A wooden Dr. Pepper case makes a rustic shadow box and is filled with tiny treasures from childhood.

OUTSIDE: A simple, DIY outdoor wash station is located right outside the dock house porch and makes a convenient place to “wash hands” before dinner!

Sideview of the Dock House:

Some of the best memories are made in flip-flops

~ Kellie Elmore

It will be celebrated with pomp and parade, bonfires and illuminations from one end of this continent to the other.”

~ John Adams

From my cottage to yours ~ Trenda

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