Behind the Scenes Creating The Lake Placid Lodge
We are thrilled to share our mountain escape with all of you! The Lake Placid Lodge is a place for connection, rest, and relaxation. A cozy two bedroom condo located at the base of the Creekside Gondola in Whistler, British Columbia, the lodge has beautiful mountain views, ski in and out, and a shared hot tub and sauna. It’s truly a modern adventurer's dream.
We partnered with the talented team at Stay Here to bring this property to life. Today, we are excited to share a behind the scenes look at how the design came together and share a few of our favourite brands that we can’t wait for you to experience at the lodge yourself.
Without further ado: let’s dive into the renovations!
Let’s start in the kitchen. The kitchen before was very cramped with a teeny fridge, dated cabinetry, cheap builder basic countertops and dated appliances.
We replaced all of the lower cabinet bases with IKEA bases that we outfitted with stunning tailor made ivory oak slab fronts from Kitch. Retrofitting IKEA cabinets was a way for us to achieve a really high end look at a lower price point than custom millwork.
You’ll notice quite a few different themes carried out at the lodge, one of those being a checkerboard pattern. Channelling inspiration from the 70s, we tiled the entire backsplash, countertop and waterfall edge creating this bold checkerboard pattern using dolomite and tusk tile from Fireclay Tile.
We went with a modern 30” stove (previously we were only able to fit a 24” stove here- but by switching from the builder grade cabinets to IKEA we gained more cupboard and counter space overall.) These putty toned small appliances from Haden perfectly match our dolomite tiles and our retro fridge.
We love to cook and we’ve made sure the lodge is fully stocked with everything you need to impress your friends with your dinner party skills. We’ve got a SMEG coffee maker, an Our Place Always Pan, and we were sure to include a dishwasher so you can have a stress free stay.
We took down the upper cabinetry in favour of beautiful open shelving also from Kitch. We went with their floating shelves in Casa Blanca. In terms of dishware we found this green set from IKEA that was the perfect tone and we peppered in some of our favourite homewares from Sterling Harper Home.
We found a beautiful brown & cream checker print wool Turkish Tulu rug from a small vintage shop in Montreal called Maison Singulier that adds that extra layer of comfort underfoot for morning coffee.
In the dining room and throughout the main floor we replaced the cheap dark vinyl with a beautiful blonde oak luxury vinyl, brightening the entire space over all. All the walls got a fresh coat of Chantilly Lace from Benjamin Moore and the mirrored closet was replaced with these clean modern slab style door that we painted out in Sherwin Williams’ At Ease Soldier.
During a site visit trip to the condo our designers Autumn and Jilly found this set of matching vintage benches at a local antique shop in Vancouver.
We love the old wood and natural imperfections, bringing in that warm cozy element to the space. To ground this room we went with this absolutely stunning Rocco black concrete dining table from Moe’s Home, also based out of Vancouver. We love the beautiful shape with the chubby legs and rounded top. The focal point of this vignette has definitely got to be this oversized Hula Hoop Rattan Pendant light from Hudson Valley. It gives off the coziest glow for shared meals at the table. We used the space behind the table to display this hand woven wall tapestry from the artist Candice Luter.
In the living room we painted out the brick fireplace and added the white MALSA sofa from Article. We really liked the natural pine wood on the fireplace and were happy to see that wood tone repeated on the bottom of the Article sofa. One thing we particularity loved about this sofa is that the slipcover is removable making it easy to clean as needed between guest visits. We love the comfort of the feather mix cushions.
The white fur shag rug was another vintage find we got from Attic Treasures in Vancouver. It’s the perfect texture to add warmth to this room. This chubby leg coffee table was made in Quebec at a place called Found Shop, pulling in more of that light oak colour from our floors and repeating the cylinder legs from the dining table. We styled the sofa with signature round boucle pillows and outfitted our bench seat with the same material.
Whenever we can, we love to support local brands and shops. One of the big brand values at the Lodge is connection and being present. We incorporated this Phone Home from local ceramicist Rachel Saunders to promote unplugging and connecting in real life.
Another local shop we love is 122 West which is walking distance from the lodge. This shop offers a carefully curated unique selection of home decor, furniture, art and gifts. We love this oversized photograph print titled Slalom in a beautiful black painted oak frame, that playfully repeats our wiggle pattern seen throughout the space.
In addition to a communal outdoor hot tub, the lodge also features a private little patio great for a drink with views of the mountains.
In the powder room we repeated our check pattern from the kitchen on the floor in a 6x6 size in dolomite and tusk. We went with this beautiful handmade eucalyptus tile from Fireclay on the walls and refaced our IKEA vanity in an ivory oak slab from Kitch.
Heading upstairs, we added lush green carpet that feels super cozy underfoot. Moving into the primary washroom we went crazy with tile, tiling the entire room — including the tub! We went with eucalyptus from Fireclay tile. We love the slight variations in the tone of the green. We contrasted the greens with black plumbing fixtures throughout. The vanity was previously wood that we painted to match all of our doors. Our accessory splurge in this space was our green check bathmat from BAINA, which was a MUST have for this room.
We elevated all of the doors in the property by switching to slab style that we painted out in Sherwin Williams’ At Ease Soldier. An easy way to make doors feel high end is to outfit them with high quality hardware. In this case, we went with tumbled bronze finished levers from Emtek.
As a way to save budget and create a major impact upstairs, we used carpet tiles to create a checkerboard formation on the entire upper floor. This was a creative way to stretch our budget in a way that provided the most visual interest. For our primary bed frame we repeated the honey oak wood tone from our kitchen cabinets downstairs with this stunning Kouva Oak wood storage bed from Article.
We love that this frame includes a ledge on top that can be used for little styling moments and the functional open concept shelving with discreet cord cut outs.
The shelves on either side are the perfect size to fit these brass based lights from Hudson Valley. We combined the headboard with the Basi Oak King frame from Article as well for a sleek minimal aesthetic.
Throughout the entire unit we went with linen blend roman shades from Select Blinds. On our master bed we went with this ultra cozy sleep bundle from Flax Home in the colour cloud. All of the mattresses are made in Canada by the brand Hamuq.
In the secondary bedroom we wanted to create a space that could be leveraged in two different ways. This room can function like what we referred to as a “conversation pit” with the beds along each wall. It feels very communal, cozy and conversational which is super fun for friends or a bigger family.
This room can also be re-arranged so that the bed frames become a king-sized bed for when we have couples visiting. Guests can just specify how they’d like the room set and the property managers will take care of the rest! A fun layer in this space is the squiggle pillows from local artist Annie Axtell. And of course, the room wouldn’t be complete without our favourite super soft sheets from Annie Selke.
Ready to experience the lodge for yourself?
PRESS:
“Checkerboard Charm” — Fireclay Tile
“Tiled Countertops Have Never Looked Cooler Than All Over This U-Shaped Kitchen” — Domino Magazine
Architectural Digest Pro Feature
Project: The Lake Placid Lodge by @you.should.stay.here @lakeplacidwhistler
Interior Design: @autumnhacheydesign x @twenty.two.twelve for Stay Here
Photography: Michelle Johnson @mjay.photography for Stay Here +
Gillian Stevens @gillianstevens for Stay Here x The Lake Placid Lodge