Decorating Your Cozy Log Cabin Vacation Get-A-Way

Log cabins can be wonderfully cozy get-a-ways for families and friends, when they are well furnished and decorated. However, paying to decorate and furnish a log cabin after already forking out a ton of cash to build the vacation get-a-way can be an extremely taxing task on the pocket book and the nerves. Become your own personal decorator and take on the task of making your log cabin a cozy place to vacation! It is extremely important, in order to make the project an affordable and pleasurable experience, to learn how to be a thrifty shopper, creative decorator, and above all: have fun!

How to be a thrifty shopper
A thrifty shopper is very mindful of budget, price and design, but is willing to go to different places to find the right items. Being a thrifty shopper is simple but takes an element of self control. If you love shopping but don't have enough self control to stick to your budget, being a thrifty shopper just goes right out the window. Set a budget and stick to it! Be very mindful of prices when you are looking for furniture and decorations. Make sure that you check and compare the prices of an item in more than one location before buying, and if you can, haggle over the price. Many furniture stores will give you a better deal on the price of furniture if they know that you've been to the competition and the competing store has given you a better price. Go to garage and yard sales. Check out estate sales during the last hours of the sales, when the prices have been reduced because the people are anxious to get rid of everything in the house. Go to second hand stores, Salvation Army stores, and antique shops. If there is a local flea market or swap-meet in town, don't hesitate to go shopping there! Another great way to find discounted furniture is to go to a liquidation or auction of a hotel that's been closed down. If you go to well-known department stores to do some shopping, look for damaged or discounted merchandise. The key to being thrifty is being mindful while shopping; to be mindful while shopping one must explore all avenues before making the decision to spend.

How to be a creative decorator
A creative decorator can make all of the furniture and decorations fit together well in a room, with out all of the items having been bought from the same place. Decoration should always match the furniture in color and theme. It's an excellent idea to start from the bottom up: starting with the carpet and/or rugs, then choose the furniture, then the lamps and tables, and then finally, the pictures and wall decorations. For example, when my Mother was decorating the living room of our vacation cabin in Alabama, she bought a beautifully colored rug to put over the hardwood floors, then found solid colored sofas that matched one of the many colors in the rug, then found tables that matched the floors, pictures that matched her wanted theme of an old farm house, and finally, rusty old farm equipment to mount on the walls above the paintings. None of the items in the living room are from the same place, but they all fit together in both color and theme! Don't be afraid to mix and match and try something new. Be sure to think about what colors and themes make you feel relaxed and comfortable. A creative decorator also knows how to utilize space. When decorating a cabin, it is important that there is enough room for lodgers to sleep, but also room to socialize and relax. A cozy cabin has a perfect balance between sleeping quarters and living quarters. Stay away from bunk beds; they are usually uncomfortable and ugly. Try putting two twin beds in a room, or one queen sized bed, depending on the size of the room. If you are extremely pressed for space, put a single bed in a room with a fold-out couch or futon. Fold-out couches (aka: sofa sleepers) and futons are great because they don't only supply a place to sit and socialize, they give that extra guest a place to sleep. Be sure to leave plenty of walking or roaming room between sofas, beds and tables to avoid painful accidents or a stuffy atmosphere. For example, you might consider putting end tables next to sofas instead of a coffee table in the center of the living room, this makes the space feel more open and accessible.

How to have fun
This can be the easiest or most difficult part of decorating your log cabin, depending on your mood. If you are stressed or worried about finding the right items, shopping around, or tying everything together, chances are you won't have fun. Take a deep breath, the cabin is already there and the hard part is over . . . this is a time to put your final touch and personality in to your vacation get-a-way, making it cozy. Ask advice from your friends and family if you're not sure about color or themes; there's sure to be someone you know who has strong opinions about decorating and has been in your shoes before. Relax, say a prayer, meditate, and get out there in to the shopping world with a positive attitude. Just think: you are about to inexpensively transform that log cabin in to a cozy vacation get-a-way. . .that's how you will have fun!