Reader request - log homes
Fri, 17 Jun 2011You may recall this post from last month, where I blogged the home of Jack (a co-worker of mine) and his wife Shannon. In that post I mentionned that they were selling that house because they had just purchased a log home. !!!! Well, log homes are not the easiest to work with in terms of decorating and keeping them from being dark and dreary, as Shannon expressed in an email to me:
I am writing to request pics of...you guessed it...log interiors. My only issue with the logs in our new place is that I NEED light, airy interiors and log homes can be dark, dark, dark. That's sometimes a function of lighting but also of having so much wood. We are planning to refinish and lighten the floors before we move in in August. Plus, I'll be brightening all of the drywalled surfaces. There's lots of darkish greens and blues. The kitchen is maple, but with a dark blue-green stain...I'll eventually repaint that a creamy white, etc. I'm also going to update the lighting and add lots more lights. The master bedroom is actually a loft overlooking the living room and its 3 large west-facing windows (plus there are more windows in the back of the bedroom). I'm planning to paint the floor of the loft a glossy white and this will be the first place where I'll try my big experiment: white-washing or bleaching the interior log walls. I plan to convert the place from "rustic Montana" to "Scandinavian bright". Anyhow, if ever you have time, anything you find on log interiors would be helpful.
Here is a little peek at Jack and Shannon's new home:
It turns out my stash of photos did not include many log home interiors. So I gathered up those and included some that feature wood panelling or whatever wood surfaces I could find that might help give Shannon (ok, and Jack - LOL) some options.
Aftonbladet
(LOVE this but i think they overdid it on the gloss - in fact this would look WAY better matte)
Le Journal de la Maison
Hus & Hem
Hus & Hem
Hus & Hem
Anna Kern
Hus & Hem
Sköna hem
Maison Hand
Jon Jensen
Louise Rastall
Deko - Plaza
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| Sania & Susanna | Hus & Hem |
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| Vårt Nya Hem | Vårt Nya Hem |
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| George Seper | GP |
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| Hus & Hem | Marie Claire Italy |
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| Deko - Plaza | Mlinaric, Henry & Zervudachi |
Last month I also blogged my sister's cottage makeover where she started with a dark and dreary spaces and a whole bunch of white paint did wonders to brighten it up. Here's a quick before and after:
Reader Comments (15)
I really like the spaces where white has been brought in. I feel like it updates and gives new life to the whole log cabin feel of things.
Thanks Kim! These are great! We will keep you up to date on our progress with the LOG CHICIFICATION OPERATION! -SR
p.s. Jen's place looks AMAZING. What a before and after!
I like this wooden atmosphere !
I love the Le Journal de la Maison with the natural log tones. I think Jack and Shannon's place is already lovely, and has wonderful potential. I'd love to see what they do with it.
Great ideas I am starting to feel (just a little) that all the white, w-h-i-t-e, WHITE that I see so much in interior design is just a little bit tiring? Am I the only person who is feeling that way? I love bright, clean space but white can be awfully hard to live with. I had white floors before and would not choose them again because it was too much work to keep them looking good.
I just moved from an all painted white house to an all redwood house. At first I wanted to paint, but now I find the wood much more peaceful. So I recommend waiting before painting. I would like the walls to be lighter, but the grain of the wood is gorgeous and I don't feel it would be right to paint. I'm very interested to see how this DIY bleaching turns out and how hard it is to do.
Achoo! Rows and rows of dust collectors! Though the white looks bright and airy, the natural wood will not show dust as quickly and won't need to be repainted....
I LOVE all of these! White is my favorite, also adore the more rustic wood style. Wood walls in a home create such wonderful texture. Plus give it that feeling of connectedness to nature. The faux paneling of the seventies gave this look a bad rap. To me there is nothing better than white paneled walls when living by the sea. Thanks for the post!
OMG! Fabulous selection, my favorites are pictures number 5,6 and 7, but I'd be happy to be in any of these gorgeous rooms right now.
Have a blessed weekend
Kisses
Well, unless you go scandy and paint everything white - which in my mind negates 80% of the 'log cabin' feel - it's obvious the way to go is reflective surfaces. High polish on the floors (or maybe that's where the cream gloss paint should go, and leave the walls with just a good polish?); mirrored, glass, enamelled, or metallic furniture and objects; dozens of small lights tucked into ceiling recesses and bouncing light off every beam and into every dark nook. More crystalline or translucent lighting fixtures. I like the greeny-blues, they don't look dark to me, and if the floor goes white, they would be very striking.
Of the pics, I like the white room with the black wall best - drama! Which also explains why Jon Jensen lounge just pushes my buttons - it's also a good example of a dark space with the proper lighting to bring well past any complaints.
Me, I would go white in the furnishings and floor (if you have to, the floor). Otherwise, aren't you diminishing the point of a log cabin, in terms of resale? White might not be the thing when you go to sell and then, white logs, eek.
(I've lived in the same house for 25 years, but I'm always thinking resale, am I sick?)
What about installing some well-placed skylights to bring in more light?
ps I love your new house and would love to see "after" pics, please?
it's amazing how many different vibes you can get from a log house depending on how it's decorated.
- agata.
I really like the feel of your house now, you would never touch those floors surely! - they look gorgeous. Light furniture and a lighter kitchen would really help brighten this space.
Came back to look at this stuff again for inspiration... I definitely think leaving the wood floors and wood logs as wood. I would consider white, or bright color for the window trims, the slats on the stair banister and the kitchen cabinets. And white modern furniture (although I went with leather). Modern light fixtures also will update this space quite a bit.
This house is going to look fabulous once it gets a makeover. The curtain things, and all the dried flower stuff is really making it look very granny. And the style of the furniture - paint THAT wood, not the walls. IMHO!
My husband and I are in the process of closing on a weekend home. Being more city chic type of girl, when he showed me a cabin I was like... OH NO.. At first it was hard to get past the idea of dead animals and southwestern decor. I came home and did some research and came across a home in Elle Decor of all places coined rustic chic and fell in love. For some painting a cabin is like inviting the devil over for dinner, you just dont so that... but we are. As for resale, I know it will limit the buyers who will want it, but hey. This will be our retreat and it needs to reflect us. I thought I would share my pinterest board here: http://pinterest.com/christine_photo/cabin-chic. We close this week and I plan to do a detailed before, during and after :)
Our non-profit has purchased a two-story log lodge in Texas which we are converting into counseling offices for children. Can anyone direct me on how to lighten-up the dark rooms? Can we bleach the oil-based stained logs to lighten them up? Or would white-washing work? A regular paint job would only show the imperfections of the rough wood and would look too country.
Thank you!