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By DEB NICKLAY, Of The Globe Gazette

When the three-bedroom colonial home at 101 Lakeview Drive came up for sale, Jim and Cindy Zach couldn’t foresee just how perfectly it would suit them.

“We liked this location,” said Cindy. “And we liked the layout, the early American look” of the two-story home.

The home, however, has come to mean more since they purchased it in 1987.

Revamped and restyled, it is a study in rich accents.

The home was built well during 1963 — a kitchen of muted maple with copper fittings. raised panel doors and grooved oak flooring.

Light flows in through over-sized 12-pane windows almost five and a half feet wide, unusual for an era when roll-out windows and single panes were the norm.

“These were things we weren’t really looking for when we bought the house, but we enjoy them,” said Jim, a graphic designer for North Iowa Area Community College.

The Zachs have updated the home while allowing the home’s original beauty to shine.

“We’ve pretty much gone from room to room” with new wallpaper or paint, renewing floors and floor coverings along the way,” Cindy said.

The home has a traditional floor plan: a formal living room on the south and a family/dining room on the north, divided by a small kitchen and stairway to the second floor.

The family enclosed a screened-in porch just off the dining area and outfitted it with charming cottage accents. The second floor contains three bedrooms.

The couple refinished the kitchen cupboards, allowing the natural maple to add its glow to the area. Muted copper decorative pieces accent the cupboards’ copper fittings. An understated ceramic counter and floor further accentuate the room’s golden tones. Recessed and unobtrusive lighting, installed by Jim, also spotlights the wood.

The teal-colored family room stands in warm contrast to the more formal living room, allowing the natural brick to turn the room into a cozy gathering place. A simple dining table, with the best of the 1960s-era simple elegance, adds further appeal. Grooved oak flooring, refinished twice since the Zachs moved in, gleams with rich color. The dining area looks out on the family’s deck and patio area, another Zach addition to the home.

A 1960s-era Magnavox TV cabinet has been cleverly updated to hold the family’s television and other electronics. The mantle over the simple fireplace is actually a piece of fretted ornamentation that came from an antique shop in Rockford. The 5-foot piece, from an old Victorian home, was purchased for a previous Zach home. The couple found that when they moved to this home, the piece fitted perfectly over their fireplace.

“It was perfect,” Cindy said.

The formal living room provides a bright counterpoint to the cozier family room. Champagne-colored walls set off a number of family heirlooms, such as a clock that belonged to Jim’s grandfather and a piano that belonged to Cindy’s mother. Scandinavian accents reflect Cindy’s heritage. Nautical accents are also prominent, reflecting Jim’s love of model ships that are elaborately rigged and polished.

On the second floor, the couple had only to pull up carpet to find golden oak floors. The home’s basement has been extensively remodeled to become a multipurpose room for the family. After Jim eliminated a room’s-worth of dark paneling and signature 1960s golds and oranges, the bright walls encompass a computer/den area and a homey recreation room filled with examples of family passions — golf items, photos, copper and Cindy’s sewing.

Cindy admitted that there is one area — the traditional stairway to the second floor — that still carries the remnants of its original make-up: fleur-de-lis wallpaper.

“One of these days it’s going to go,” she said with a laugh.

But one gets the feeling that the Zachs will take their time, considering their styling options, making sure that their hallmark home remains true not only to its own wonderful profile, but to theirs as well.