“There’s No Place Like the Cabin”

The Cabin Bedroom

The cabin bedroom can best be described as a sanctuary. With a closed door, the pause button is pressed on outside responsibilities and other time-consuming activities, and the play button is released on rest. It sees us off in the early mornings of our daily routines and warmly welcomes us back in the evenings to help us start again tomorrow. The walls of this room house our many dreams, thoughts, passions, and struggles. If they could talk, the stories we currently tell might carry a different theme with an added chapter. We expect a lot from our bedrooms in general, but they can only perform to the same degree of intention that is put in them. Welcome to your cabin bedroom. Let’s discuss how to turn it into the space of your dreams.

The Walls

When we truly think about the role of walls in our rooms and our overall homes, we can begin to appreciate how they set the tone of a space upon our entrance. Log cabins are rich in style and very warm in color. The beauty of whitewashing is that the richness of the home is not lost. The logs’ texture, curvatures and dimensions are only highlighted in this process, while providing surfaces for natural light to bounce off of and create a brighter room. At the end of the day, you want to unwind in a space that because of how the light is so wonderfully being absorbed, find it hard to leave in the morning. For those who are not so keen on this idea, the encouragement is to just try it in one cabin bedroom. You may fall in love with it and decide to carry it throughout the rest of the home. But if you don’t when it’s finished, you now have a designated guest room.

The Accents

No, not the language differences. But the pieces that are going to nonverbally say “Welcome Home” when you arrive to your cabin bedroom. If you haven’t already noticed, light has become a very important part of this design series. And this cabin bedroom installment is no different. Lamps functionally dress up any nightstand. Choose those that compliment the design throughout your home. Rustic: lamps with a dark metal base. Modern: a unique base shape. Traditional: an almost vase-like base with brass details. Hang a similar light fixture over the bed to add even more light and depth to the space. If you have a fireplace, you can easily mirror the one in the great room by placing similar photos and plants atop its mantle. A TV would fit perfectly above, but a beautifully painted canvas could be more inspiring. Add a basket in front of it to store pillows and all your favorite blankets for those cold nights in. Place a chair or two off to the side and adjacent to a window to take advantage of the daylight when reading.

The Bed

In the same way you apparently can’t leave home without your American Express, you can’t have a cabin bedroom without a bed. And the best way to dress it? Layers. There’s something about layering that is warm, cozy, and inviting, all the things necessary for a good night’s sleep (and binging Netflix). Bedding with muted tones attracts a calming environment. Using curtains in the same color family as the bedding establishes a design theme in the room and allows you to introduce a bolder area rug that brings in a pop of color. Velvet-like throws and pillows that are soft to the touch are great texture pieces as well. Be smart about the headboard and footboard chosen for the bed. You don’t want them to be so elaborate that they overpower the rest of the cabin bedroom, but just like the fireplace, they are a great way to anchor the space. Wood bedframes that naturally match the cabin are common. However, embracing a relaxing atmosphere may lean more on the side of upholstered headboards and frames with clean lines.With all that is going on in our individual and collective worlds, the cabin bedroom remains our escape from reality and our place to be recharged when it comes time to enter reality once again. May these words inspire the dreams you already have for a cabin bedroom you’ll be proud to wake up in.

About the Author

Julia holds a BA degree in Communication Studies and is passionate about using words well to tell the stories that matter most in our world. When she’s not working on new ideas for Conestoga Log Cabins, you can find her decorating, baking, or looking at vintage typewriters while antique shopping – all done with a cup of coffee not too far away.