As we’ve talked about turning your home into a log cabin with the use of faux log siding, we started by telling you all about steel siding that looks like wood and how it is so much more easy to keep looking nice than you’d get with real log cabin maintenance. Then we worked our way outside, detailing how you can make outdoor additions such as porches, decks, and walkways that all make your house look even more like a log cabin. Then, in a recent blog we told you all about some of the fixtures that will make your house feel more like a log home with the addition of antler chandeliers, wood walls, and a variety of fireplace options.
But now that the inside and the outside of your house looks more like a log cabin thanks to our fake log siding, how are you going to decorate? Sure, you’ll be keeping some of the decorations that you’ve always had, but we thought we’d show you of some of the most recent inspirations from interior design firms on types of decorating that fit the most in traditional log homes.
Furniture
Flip through pictures of log cabins and you’ll be struck by how much leather you see in the living room. Maybe it’s the idea of leather being pricier (to match the opulence of a standard log cabin), or perhaps it’s a call back to a cowboy aesthetic and how a cowboy might live. But there’s no doubt that many log homes go with leather as their typical seating choice.
Of course, there’s also a lot of wood. Tables, chairs, bookshelves, coffee tables, all made from natural-colored and roughly hewn wood in order to emphasize the fact that, yes, you are indeed in a log cabin. (And even if you aren’t in a log cabin, maybe you’re simply in one with fake log metal siding.)
Nice Big Rugs
Much like quilts, it’s hard to find a log cabin that doesn’t have a nice big rug, whether it’s under the kitchen table or rolled out under the living room furniture. Most log cabins have hardwood floors throughout (except in the bedrooms), so the rugs go a long way to softening the floors underfoot, preventing scrapes, and reducing the amount of noise reverberating throughout the home.
Quilts
It’s hard to find a log cabin without quilts. While every home could use a good quilt for those cold nights, log cabins almost seem to require a few that are there simply for decorative purposes. Some people choose to hang quilts on the wall or drape the over railings. No matter where you put them, make sure that you’re not just heading to J C Penney and buying one. Instead, go to church bazaars or craft shows to ensure you’re getting that one-of-a-kind piece that you’ll be proud to display.
Animal Skins
Now this certainly isn’t for everyone, but there are many options when it comes to animal skins, both real and fake. Dear, bears, antelope, cows, elk…all of these can occupy the same places as we discussed for the quilts above. Draping one over the railing is certainly the most popular.
Wildlife Paintings
Is it people who like log cabins who buy wildlife paintings, or people who love wildlife paintings who purchase log cabins (or, in your case, cover their home in metal log home siding)? Probably the latter. Wildlife photos and paintings, whether they’re of waterfowl, moose, deer, elk, bears, or simply mountains, are one way that people express their interest in a more Western style of living long before they are ever able to move to a cabin. These types of painting are one more way to remind someone that, once they’ve passed by the exterior of your cabin siding, that you’re committed to the Western lifestyle on the interior as well.
Antiques
Every so often you’re going to find an antique that’s just perfect for your interior. Maybe it’s an antique lamp that could have been used in gold mines. It could be a plate that would have looked at home in your great-grandma’s time. Perhaps it’s an old photo from some settlers in the area. Antiques can help to reinforce the idea of an older home and of a time long past, so use them as appropriate on mantels and side tables.
BONUS!
When you’re decorating your home that’s covered in our steel log siding, there’s one other thing you have to consider: are you going to overdo it? As you peruse pictures of log cabins, you’ll see two distinct ways that people decorate. The first is to decorate with some of the above features and then incorporate other less-obvious decorating elements that balance the room.
The other type of decorating is to use absolutely everything and never let anyone forget they’re in a log cabin! The lamps have bears on them! Snowshoes hang on the wall! Skis are everywhere! Every decoration has some sort of while animal on it! Nail that wood canoe to the wall! This second way might just be a little overboard, a little too much like a bed and breakfast, and little touristy even. We might suggest that you don’t overdo the Western decorating so much that you’re hitting your guests over the head with it at every moment.
Once you have your log siding that looks like wood on the outside of you home, decorating the inside can be great fun. It’s your home, so have fun!
