Log Cabin

Can you picture this darling log cabin on your property?
http://www.thehouseplanshop.com/1811/plan-detail/025l-0015.php

This darling log cabin conjures up visions of times gone by, when our forefathers first settled this land. It would be right at home in any state in the Union! You could put this home of a few acres out in the woods, the mountains or the flat-lands and it would feel right at home in any setting you choose. It would also be possible to take this home completely “off grid” by adding solar or windmills and a well for your own water supply.

At just under 1100 square feet, this house with it’s open floor plan, feels much larger. The design of the home makes it very livable for a young couple just starting out because it is designed where adding on later is possible or an older couple who is content with a smaller sized home and want everything on one floor with no stairs to climb.

The porch across the entire front of the house begs for some old time rocking chairs and the family to come outside and enjoy the beauty of nature that surrounds their home.   The open floor plan allows for easily adding a fireplace to the exterior wall or an old fashioned pot-bellied Ben Franklin stove as an alternate heat source for cold winter evenings. The grilling porch, located off the back door of the kitchen will allow for great outdoor cooking even when it rains!  It would be easy to add on additional bedrooms as a family expands. Because of the roof line, and the design, knock out the walkin closet at the end of the hallway between the two bedrooms, extend the hall and add on additional bedrooms and a bathroom there at the side. This could easily be expanded into a four bedroom home.

I particularly like the way the washer and dryer are situated in the middle of the home, near the bedrooms so that transporting dirty laundry is quick and easy to do. The plans call for this home to be built with a crawl space underneath, but it would be simple to add a storm shelter underneath or a full basement if desired. It would be easy to add this feature I think with access by way of the grilling porch.  If you wanted a full basement, I think that could also be done with access through the closet there at the front door entryway, but check with the people at thehouseplanshop.com to be sure on this.

This is a darling cabin and my imagination is running wild with ways on how to decorate it in old rustic type, primitive Americana furnishings!

First of all, all the floors in the cabin would be made out of reclaimed old wood, sanded and stained to a lustrous warm glow. I am picturing a dining room table made out of salvaged barn wood and made into a farmhouse table and mismatched chairs like in the olden days.  In the kitchen, I would use milk paint on all the cabinets, allowing the wood grain to show through. There would be an old fashioned pot rack hung like they did in the olden days. In the bathroom, instead of a modern vanity cabinet, I can see using an old dresser as the base, with an old china washbasin as the sink. Rather than have a tub, I would install a walk-in shower, for when I get old and can’t get over a tub edge any more!  In the bedrooms, high off the floor old fashioned beds, covered with homemade comforters and quilts. There would be lamps on dressers rather than overhead light fixtures.

In the living room there would be a large overstuffed couch and chairs, that beg you to come set a spell; the kind you sink into and never want to get out of! End tables and table lamps would be mismatched, to add character, the feeling of acquiring them as I could afford them at different times in my life. I would find an old area rug, perhaps a braided one, a bear rug or even a Navajo Indian rug to put down in the living room in front of the couch. And yes, I would be the one that adds the pot-bellied Ben Franklin stove there on the outside wall, between the living room and dining area!

Now that I have bought and decorated this little log cabin in my dreams, where do I want to locate it at?  I would definitely want some land and wide open spaces, maybe 10-15 acres, a place where I can have a vegetable garden, a chicken coop, a small barn with a couple of animals to raise for milk and food.  Anyone have some suggestions?

Log Cabin Design

I went to visit the houseplans shop website tonite because I wanted to highlight a vacation house/cabin for all of you to enjoy.

I came across this one and it reminded me so much of a cabin that I stayed in in Tennessee that I just had to feature it.

The cabin I stayed in was at the top of one of their mountains, just down the road apiece from the Dolly Parsons "Dollywood", in Pigeon Forge.

This is Vacation House plan # 010H-0006 with 1333 sq ft of living space and even though it is 2 bedrooms and 2 baths there is a lot of room that can be utilized efficiently for more house guests if you desire.

High up in the mountain, the back porch with the hot tub and all kinds of old fashioned rocking chairs out there to look out over the tree tops and valleys below. I would take my cup of coffee out there in the early hours of the morning, as the sun was just beginning to come up. I would sit and watch the sun's rays peeking through the mist as it lifted off the valley below us.

The cabin we were in, had 2 full sleeper sofas so we were able to sleep 8 people very comfortably. In this plan, you could actually use the upstairs studio for addional sleeping accomodations by putting in a sleeper sofa or even several single chairs that convert to sleeping units.

Since this is a vacation home, either located in the mountains or by the sea shore, keep your furnishings simple and easy to care for. Slipcover your sofas or upolster them in denim, duck, or sailcloth so that people will feel comfortable curling up with barefeet on the furniture!  Also slipcovers can be removed quickly and easily and thrown into the washer! Choose a basic color for your slipcovers, maybe light denim blue, white or beige. Use the other colors from your palette choice for throw pillows, afghan throws and comfy velour blankets to cuddle up in on cool nights, and other accessories.

If this is to be a waterfront home, you might want to consider using the colors of the sand, sky and sunsets to decorate with. Go with off white or wheat/creams along with several shade of blue, the azure and pinks of sunsets.Keep your window coverings simple or as non existant as possible. Consider bamboo roll up shades for privacy areas and soft opaqe panels to soften if you wish a more suble effect. On the great room, perhaps you might not want any window coverings at all if the area behind you is secluded, otherwise go with just the bamboo shades or wood slated vertical binds.














If you are up in the mountains, maybe you would want to go with bolder colors, deeper shades of blues or greens, or even work in some vibrant rose or reds shades.