If your Lake Nantahala property is a summer residence or a vacation home, you probably don’t want to invest too much effort into renovating the landscape. Nevertheless, a flourishing yard and garden can improve your curb appeal, make your real estate feel homier, and provide a welcome burst of beauty each time you visit the lake house. If you want to create a beautiful lakeside landscape without the stress of constant upkeep, try one of these 4 Lake Nantahala landscaping ideas.

• Choose your plants wisely. It’s tempting to plant your favorite flowers regardless of upkeep, but some plants just aren’t worth the effort. If you don’t have time to tend your Lake Nantahala garden, limit your landscaping to a few brightly colored, hard to kill plants. Coneflowers thrive in sunlight or shade, daylilies anchor well on hillsides, and succulents grow strong in unconventional containers like wheelbarrows or bird baths.
• Work with your environment. Lake Nantahala overflows with lush mountain views, sunlight glinting off waterfalls and streams, and idyllic panoramas of the Nantahala National Forest. Make the most of the landscape beyond your backyard by clearing trees that block your view, matching lake house gardens to the natural beauty of the Reflection community, and creating places to enjoy the splendor already around you.
• Focus on outdoor entertaining. When you live in such a beautiful corner of North Carolina, most of your summer entertaining takes place outdoors. Instead of spending time creating an elaborate landscape, create a place to enjoy the beauty of Lake Nantahala. Build a firepit in the backyard, clear a place overlooking the lake for a permanent outdoor dining area, or hang a hammock on the back porch where your guests can enjoy the beauty of the night sky.
• When in doubt, hardscape. Hardscaping creates instant elegance without a lot of upkeep. To beautify your landscape without worrying about watering and weeding, add a birdbath, lawn ornaments, or a vine-covered arbor to your landscape. Hardscapes are sturdy enough to withstand any weather and don’t go dormant during winter months, meaning your lake house hardscapes will look just as beautiful during Christmas vacation as they do for your summer trips to the lake.

For more tips on life at Lake Nantahala, call our Reflection Lake Nantahala real estate offices.

Summer at the lake means rest and relaxation. Our Lake Nantahala real estate has full access to beautiful mountain forests, waterfront shores, and North Carolina summer entertainment. To make the most of your vacation this year, stock up on these 5 must-haves for a summer lake house.

1. Grill. Nothing beats an impromptu cookout with friends, family, and Reflection Lake Nantahala neighbors. Bring along a mini-grill for a week by the water or invest in a high-class smoker for a summer of unbeatable lakeside living.
2. Cooler. Whether your family loves summer parties, days relaxing on the Lake Nantahala shore, or afternoons on the open water, a cooler always comes in handy. Stock your lake house deck with refreshing beverages and refrigerated snacks before starting your next summer adventure.
3. Hammock. Some days, nothing sounds better than a little peaceful solitude. Hang a hammock in your yard, on your back porch, or on a moveable stand in your home. There’s nothing better than a hammock for a relaxing morning of reading, an afternoon catnap, or an evening enjoying a sky full of stars.
4. A lake bag. Make a dip in the lake simple and refreshing by stocking your beach tote ahead of time. Pack sunscreen, beach towels, sunglasses, lake shore reading, and plenty of bottled water for days at the lake.
5. Friends and family. We all love a moment to ourselves now and then, but summertime at the lake isn’t half as fun without someone to share it with. Share your North Carolina lakeside mountain getaway with your siblings and their children, your oldest friends, or someone new. As long as you’re with someone you love, a summer of fun is guaranteed!

Hydrangea flowers add instant Southern charm to flowerbeds, table arrangements, and bouquets. A summer favorite in North Carolina, hydrangeas tend to confound new gardeners. Hydrangea bushes require a delicate balance of sun and shade, which can be difficult to find in the wooded mountains of Lake Nantahala. Nevertheless, when these beauties finally burst into bloom, they make any extra effort well worth it.

Hydrangea Varieties

Agriculturists have developed a variety of hydrangeas that are more shade-tolerant than their predecessors. These new hydrangea plants also require less frequent pruning to produce full, lush flowerbeds in front of your home.

• Mophead hydrangeas flourish with morning sun and afternoon shade and wilt under too much shade. Choose blue, white, pink, or lavender colored flowers for your Lake Nantahala lake house.
• Annabelle, or “wild hydrangea,” require a fair amount of shade to flourish in our hot North Carolina summers. Their large, pristine white blooms add classic Southern elegance to cabins with traditional architectural features.
• Lacecaps have loose, flattened flowers interspersed with the bright green foliage of the hydrangea bush. Some varieties of lacecap hydrangeas have smaller, dark-colored flowers surrounded by a ring of large white blooms. Gardeners can apply the same gardening techniques to lacecap and mophead hydrangeas.

Basic Hydrangea Care

Choose the appropriate hydrangea for our North Carolina hardiness zone and the amount of sun vs. shade on your property. For best results, give your hydrangeas plenty of room to expand. Water your plant thoroughly for several years as it establishes, but never let water stand around the roots. Prune your hydrangea based on the flower care instructions for your particular variety. Newer varieties of hydrangea bushes may bloom multiple times during the growing season.

Add a touch of old fashioned beauty to your home by planting hydrangeas at your mountain lake house. For more lake house ideas, contact Reflection Lake Nantahala.

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You’ve signed the papers for your beautiful Lake Nantahala property, you’ve found a skilled architect to design your cabin, and you’re making use of our preferred financing partnership with Nantahala Bank & Trust Company. What’s next? Creating your cabin dream home is an exciting prospect, but as with anything, approaching your lake house design without a clear plan often makes the process stressful. Before your architect draws up the blueprints, plan your lakeside mountain life.

A Home (Away from Home)

How you intend to use your lakeside mountain cabin goes a long way to determining how it’s built. Will the Reflection community be your permanent home or a vacation getaway for you and your family? Do you want a small, quaint mountain retreat to escape from the world or a sprawling, tasteful lake house where you can entertain your grandchildren? Would you like the option of renting your cabin during the off-season, or would you prefer to keep your new home private? These questions will help you determine the size, layout, and structural details of your new Lake Nantahala cabin.

The Community above Lake Nantahala

Reflection Lake Nantahala is a comfortable, secure gated community overlooking the placid, shimmering waters of Lake Nantahala. We offer a variety of amenities for our residents, including parks, campsites, golf cart parking, and fire pits. As you design your home, consider which amenities have been provided for you and which amenities you’d like to enjoy privately. Our online Virtual Cabin Tour and Customize Your Cabin features let you tailor your vision of your Nantahala lake house quickly and effortlessly. Once you determine your dream aesthetic, you can call up your architect with a clear view of the lakeside mountain cabin you’ve always wanted.

If you want more information about purchasing Lake Nantahala property, call Reflection Lake Nantahala.

photo from FreeDigitalPhotos

The spring season is well underway, but the weather at Lake Nantahala hasn’t gotten the memo. Our days may be warm enough to enjoy fresh, classic dishes at Lake’s End Diner, but boating weather still feels far away. Make use of your spring fever by spring-cleaning your lake house.

Organizing Your Lake House

Whether you live in the Reflection community year-round or your family uses your lakeside cabin seasonally, clutter has a way of building up. If Lake Nantahala is your permanent address, start in the most heavily trafficked areas like bedrooms and kitchens. If you only enjoy mountain lake life a few weeks out of the year, your worst clutter has probably accumulated in the living room or garage. Make separate piles of items to organize and items to throw away. Resort your toss pile to determine if any of your trash is a hidden treasure for a Nantahala charity center.

Cleaning Your Lakeside Cabin

Living in the mountains gives you stunning views and endless outdoor activities. The downside? Dirt, leaves, and sand seem to migrate into every corner of your home. As you deep clean your cabin this spring, don’t forget these essentials:

• Wash all your linens, including decorative pillows, seasonal comforters, and curtains
• Vacuum and shampoo carpets and rugs
• Clean upholstered furniture
• Move furniture to vacuum dust that’s collected in corners
• Scrub baseboards and rafters
• Clean areas in cabinets and under sinks
• Wash window screens
• Clean air vents and replace HVAC filters
• Replace batteries in smoke and carbon monoxide detectors
• Disinfect as you clean

Preparing Your Stuff for Spring

It’s finally time to dust off the lounge chair: days of relaxing by the lake are almost upon us. Unpack boating and fishing equipment, summer lounge gear, and water toys for the kids. If you don’t have your summer storage system down, spring-cleaning an excellent time to hang hooks for rafts and find a convenient corner for dock chairs. Most of your lakeside equipment should have been cleaned in the fall to prevent mildew and rot, but take a moment to hose off rafts and oil squeaky hinges on lawn chairs. When the warm weather hits, your family will be ready to hit the lake.

photo from FreeDigitalPhotos

With a stunning backdrop of vivid green, crystal blue, and warm, earthy brown, homes in the North Carolina mountains have a classic Southern vitality. Cabins and lake houses on Lake Nantahala infuse the natural beauty of mountain living with personal style to create elegant, rustic aesthetics. But with so many styles to choose from, customizing your cabin can be harder than hiking the Smokey Mountains. Here are 3 classic cabin decorating aesthetics we can’t help but love.

Country Style Cabins

From Farmstead décor to the classic touches of French Countryside, country inspired cabins capture the natural charm of the forest and fields. Handmade rocking chairs, floral prints, and family heirlooms all add to the timeless elegance of this lakeside cabin style.

Waterfront Living

If you’d rather relax on the dock than explore nature trails, make your mountain life warm and breezy with fresh blues, deep greens, and crisp white tones. Accent your kitchen with carved driftwood furniture and add an aquatic flare to your porch by incorporating sails and anchors into your décor.

Fresh and Modern

Marry the warm hues of the Nantahala National Forest with the crisp, clean aesthetic of modern decorating. Decorate with soft, neutral hues like cream, beige, and gray. Choose simple, smooth furniture in natural woods and brushed metals. Offset eye-catching geometric patterns with smooth wooden frames for a pop of visual interest.

Whether your Lake Nantahala cabin is home or a home-away-from-home, make it your own by mixing and matching your favorite decorating trends from each classic look. Add the final touch to any cabin style with early blooming flowers for the kitchen table and a warm fire in the hearth.