How to Decorate Your Cabin (part 1)
Posted on December 14, 2017 at 12:00 AM by Wendy Muench
You don’t have to live in a cabin or cottage to achieve that effect.Whether it is a home in the country, a vacation home, or a city apartment, the happy, rustic easy care style can be yours to enjoy. Keep it simple. A cabin is a place to relax and have fun, not to constantly fuss over.
Step 1: Identify the use of the space.
Do you use it every day, only on weekends, or only in the summer or winter? Where is your cabin located? Is it in the woods with insect issues, the beach with sand being tracked in, or the mountains with water dripping off wet snow suits? Do you have dust and dirt from a gravel road? Or do you just have a child’s bedroom that needs a little sprucing up with a cabin theme? If this is your everyday residence, you will need a corner for paying bills. You get the picture. Make a list of each area.
Step 2: Who else uses the space?
By all means don’t skip this step. If your spouse has a moose head the size of Wisconsin to hang in your cabin, it surely will affect the décor.If you are fixing up your child’s room with your version of cowboys and horses and they are into super heroes, you are fighting an uphill battle. (I know this from experience.) Be sure to take into account the color likes and dislikes of the other family members involved. Some people are very sensitive to certain colors and will not be comfortable if the “hate” orange or blue, etc. If there are lots of cats, dogs, kids or hunting parties here, you will not want to deck it out with the best china. By the way, a sturdy china hutch with a solid closed base works well for this. Do you entertain often, big time once a year with lots of overnight guests, or is this a private getaway for one or two? Will this space be used as a rental? If so, consider indestructible furnishings and outdoor or easy to clean fabrics. If you write these things down, you can refer back to them later.
Step 3: What items do you absolutely have to use?
Grandma’s favorite quilt? The TV? Existing furniture or family heirlooms? These may dictate the colors and/or style you will need to consider.
Step 4: Choose a style.
What best works with your taste, your family or cabin sharer’s taste and your budget? Choose a North woods theme, Classic farmhouse, Mission, Nautical, Western or Retro tourist style or eclectic. Then have fun.