See Inside Haylie Duff's Newly-Renovated Lake House in Texas (EXCLUSIVE)

Haylie Duff's lakefront vacation home is a country oasis with a bohemian twist!

PEOPLE chatted with the Sweet on You actress, 38, about her newly renovated "hippie getaway" that she shares with her fiancé of eight years, Matt Rosenberg, and their two daughters, Lulu Gray, 4, and Ryan Ava Erhard, 7.

Featuring two bedrooms and two bathrooms, Duff's cozy escape is located on Lake Travis, a popular vacation spot just 20 minutes from her home base in Austin, Texas. The mom of two tells PEOPLE that the home, which used to be a rustic hunting cabin, reflects a "collected and eclectic" style filled with all her "knick-knacks."

"This home has kind of become our little special jewel box," she says. "It's like my place where I go to feel inspired and sort of shut off the world, and to spend time with family and friends."

For Duff and Rosenberg, moving to Texas was always part of the plan. They imagined it would happen when their daughters were in high school, but the COVID-19 pandemic changed that.

"When the pandemic happened and nothing felt normal, we were like, let's take a chance and do something really different," Duff recalls. "Everything feels tossed up and jumbled up, and the unknown kind of seems exciting. And so we just did it."

The actress, who recently directed her second Lifetime movie, The House Across the Road, adds that it was surprisingly easy for her to make the shift from L.A. to Austin living, and that she actually finds it to be "so crowded" whenever she returns to the City of Angels. "When I need to get my big city fix, I fly out and do big city stuff and then I come home. It works pretty well actually."

Duff reveals she knew she wanted to renovate their Lake Travis getaway the second she saw it.

"I tend to walk into a space and see what it can be. And when we first walked in, I was in love with the house right away," she says, adding that it had "great bones" and a "beautiful open space." The actress had previously renovated a vacation home in Malibu, so she had a little practice when it came to remodeling.

As for her favorite room in the freshly outfitted space, the Material Girls alum often finds herself hanging out in the bar area, where she loves to host "really fun girls nights."

PHOTO: Krystal Eve Photography | @KrystalEvePhotography PHOTO: Krystal Eve Photography | @KrystalEvePhotography

"One of the areas that I was really excited to make over was the bar because it was very old and dated," she tells PEOPLE. "I put in this tile from Clay Imports, which is a local tile company here in Austin. It's these big green palm tiles that look almost like agave leaves. It's funky and different and I just love it."

She also enjoyed working with Austin-based designer Melanie Packer, who helped bring her unique vision for the home to life, such as with the Moroccan-inspired wooden door that was made into a light fixture in her sitting room. The "starburst" detailing on the fireplace is another one of her favorite accents.

"That starburst on the fireplace is definitely one of the special features in the house," she says. "Everybody that comes in, is like, 'Oh my God, look at this thing.'"

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When they're not enjoying time at their home cooking, playing cards or sitting around the fire pit, Duff says she and her family enjoy leaning into the country life, even with all the "snakes and tarantulas" that they sometimes stumble upon.

"My girls love to go on little nature adventure walks. They tend to have more of an adventurous mind when we're there," she tells PEOPLE. She adds that her fiancé loves to be outside too, whether that's out on the lake, building their barbecue pit area or whatever else satisfies the "hippie spirit" in him.

Reflecting on her move, the actress says she's "so happy" with her new home and her life in Texas, adding that the community and people are among her favorite parts of small town life.

"We love our neighborhood, we love our school and our friends here, and our kids are really happy here," she adds. "It feels like everything just fell into place the way that it was supposed to."

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