Red, White and New Personality for a Charming Lake Minnetonka Cottage

Light Touch Makeover

What you don't do is as important as what you do. Minneapolis designers Martha Dayton and Kelly Perry knew a light touch would give a Lake Minnetonka home more zip than a total do-over.

"The bones of this cottage were great. It just needed a face-lift," Dayton says. White paint gave the interiors a glow-up, then Perry took the clients' brief for casual, playful style and came up with a subtle red, white and blue scheme carried by transitional-style, entertaining-friendly furniture. Sometimes, that meant going semicustom, like the handwoven living room rug from Auda Sinda. For items bought at retail, like Room and Board armchairs, strong colors brought oomph. Then it was hands off and game on for the clients, who pack the house nearly every weekend with grandkids and friends.

Shared suppers at the cottage are the norm year-round. Seating for at least three couples was crucial—indoors and out.

Living and Dining Spaces

Two sets of folding doors access the back porch. The outdoor dining table and lounge furniture line up with the indoor living and dining areas for natural traffic flow. Washable velvet on the dining chairs means no worry about dirt or water tracked in from the lake. And while the designers chose a red, white and blue palette, they also wanted to steer away from a Fourth of July theme, so the color leans more heavily on blue and white, reserving red for accents. Pattern was a go, just no stars or skinny stripes.

Cottage Face-Lift

Existing oil-rubbed bronze lighting stayed because the finish coordinated with the kitchen hardware. "It already made sense, and together made the house feel cottagey," Martha Dayton says. Views inside the house should be as pretty as the one outside, according to Dayton. So the sofa's bare back got a lift from a console table and poufs, which double as extra dining room seating.

Kitchen Update

Clean paint and vintage-look pendants updated the kitchen, which was overall in good shape. A nice touch: The asymmetry of the cabinet doors. One set glass-fronted, the other not, they loosen up a sink wall that could have felt rigidly mirror-image.

Steel the Show

It doesn't get more cottage-style than beadboard walls, but the stainless-steel peninsula is a fresh touch—a nonporous, easy-clean surface ideal for heavy use or entertaining.

Preserving Waterfront Views

To avoid obstructing the lake view through the doors, low-profile porch furniture was key. The washable outdoor fabric is a forgiving gray, while a peppy rug and pillows bring the red, white and blue scheme outside.