It has been speculated by top designers that the reason for the renewed interested in log cabin living and log cabin décor is that modern times do not ‘work’. We are struggling as a society, as two working parent families, as consumers.
Whatever your cabin decor taste – early American, cowboy or rustic – you can easily enjoy this decorating style by understanding the log cabin home owner in earlier times.
During rough economic times many of us are turning to memories or stories we’ve heard of simpler days and long for their return. Back then, log cabin homes and timber frame houses were the norm. The safety and warmth, the true feeling of home, is the very heart and comfort we long for in these modern and uncertain times.
- The simplicity of natural materials surrounding us.
- The warmth of wood on the walls as well as in the fireplace.
- Sitting by the fire you could glance around and up. See walls of wood and beams and rafters – like the branches of a tree – supporting the roof above.
- Living room cabin furniture is overstuffed and extra cozy.
- Accent pieces are from natural fabrics and materials.
- The very lighting has the look of being hand-forged.
Log cabin décor is welcoming, comforting, honest, and without airs or arrogance. It elicits a sense of safety, security, and simplicity. These sensations in the rooms around us can be easily achieved even by those not fortunate enough to own log cabin homes in the middle of the woods.
In past times, everything that made log cabin decor was hand made, forged, or fashioned. Smaller pieces were borrowed from nature (think birch bark picture frames), woven from wild grasses, or decorated with accents from the fields and forest.
- Cabin curtains, table runners and bedding – all hand made.
- Light fixtures of copper, hammered steel, or iron, were topped with shades of birch bark, glass or mica.
- Twigs and branches were used for patterned work, framing for windows, stair railings and furniture.
- Accent colors were always from nature or muted to blend into the environment.
- Chunky cabin furniture fits right into this atmosphere – this reproduction of rustic cabin décor – looks right at home with log walls.
- Bed frames, rocking chairs, and tables made of hand-peeled, waxed branches.
Some might call this ‘lodge’ style, like the old hunting camps of the past. Others consider it to be cowboy or western themed decorating. It all adds up to rustic cabin decor.
It barely matters if the logs are round or flat, milled or hand-hewn. It matters less if the home is timber-framed Adirondack or a small home in the city owned by country living enthusiasts. Any room can be made to look like the log cabin homes of earlier times.
Log cabins sheltered and protected pioneers and facilitated close knit families. A capable man could build a log cabin with his own two hands and his wife could make that house a home with minimal expense. Life was simple, comfortable, loving – a harsh contrast to today’s economic forecast.