How do you preserve or integrate the feel, history and sentimental richness of your existing cabin and apply it to your new lake home design? How do you honor the memory while upgrading quality of life at the lake? For some, a grandparent built initial cabin years ago that became a family destination full of rich memories. Or a parent put up the original cabin and passed it down. Either way a legacy developed and became an intergral part of what it means to be at the lake. Here are a few design ideas that can transfer some of the original cabin warmth and history to you new lake home. 1. If original cabin had vaulted wood ceilings, dismantle and re-use in new powder room. 2. Re-use old doors and hardware incorporating them throughout new lake home. Or dedicate original doors and hardware in a specific room where you want to emphasize past historical theme. 3. Re-use original bathroom fixtures in guest bathroom. 4. Use original logs or timbers as interior accents in living room, dining room or kitchen. It will take patientcare from builder to ensure minimal undue damage occurs. 5. Save and re-use old fireplace hearth stones or mantel and rebuild incorporating them into new fireplace. Sometimes sentimental attachment is strong enough that the above suggestions just aren't sufficient. In those cases I recommend you disassemble original cabin entirely and reconstruct those materials inside new lake home as perhaps the kitchen. Even if you used only two original walls from the old cabin to form a room, you would preserve significant historicalwarmth from original cabin.About the Author: