Over the previous months we’ve been detailing the ways that you can make the inside of your home look more like a log cabin after you have steel log siding installed on the outside. When we started this series, it seemed easy; after all, how many different kinds of rooms does a home have?
As it turns out, once you start listing all of them, it turns out that a house is quite diverse! So far we’ve tackled the great room, the dining room, the basement, bathrooms, and the master bedroom. Still a few more to go, and today we’re going to discuss what you can do to make your spare bedroom looks its best. After all, once your guests pull up out front and admire your faux log siding, you want a comfortable and appropriately-decorated guest room awaiting them.
But First…
How is a guest bedroom different from the master bedroom? Well, a master bedroom can certainly be beautifully decorated in order to sell the idea of it being part of a log cabin, but it’s also more utilitarian. You have to use it every day, and the little extras that can fit in a guest bedroom might only get in your way in a master bedroom. In other words, the guest bedroom is often more “staged” in order to welcome guests, while the rough-hewn oak dresser in your bedroom is so covered in stuff to help you get ready for the day that you might not even be able to see the wood!
It Still Starts Off With The Furniture
Spare bedrooms are smaller than master bedrooms of course, so you have to make compromises. The bed is the center of any bedroom, and you’ll most likely have a log bed in the spare bedroom. Hopefully you’ll be able to fit a queen bed in there, but since log beds tend to take up more room than many frames, you might have to make do with a full-size mattress. The log nightstands might have to be smaller as well, especially if you want one on both sides of the bed.
When it comes to space, dressers are where you can really go smaller. Unless your guest is staying for a very long time, they won’t need any more space than can fit in a suitcase. Go ahead and get a smaller wooden dresser, or forgo it entirely and simply build a suitcase rack out of logs.
Sell the Room With Textiles
With the bed taking up the most space in the room, that also means that it’s the biggest “canvas” that you have to work with. While you might not always use a cabin-themed comforter in your own bedroom, the spare bedroom is the place where people most often go ultra cabin-y. Cabins, cowboys, moose, elk, and deer are the most common themes, and it’s hard to find one that doesn’t have pine trees on it somewhere!
What’s under the comforter? Sheets! And what’s on those sheets and the accompanying pillowcases? More elk and bear? You guessed it!
Drapes are another textile to use in order to really sell the idea of the inside looking like a log cabin now that the outside is covered in log home siding. If you’ve already gone all out with the “cabin theme,” you might overwhelm someone with more moose on the curtains, so maybe just a nice dark tan. Just be sure that they’re nice and thick curtains to block out the light, because a traveling guest might want to sleep in after they get to your house.
The Lighting
Lighting is important in any room, and bedroom lighting needs to be different from kitchen lighting. Make sure that there’s adequate lighting in the spare bedroom, both from the side and from above. The side tables can have cabin-themed lamps, and the ceiling fan might be rustic as well. Giving a guest a choice of lighting is always a kind gesture.
A bedroom should be a comfortable place where guests can go to get away; maybe your life is just too chaotic for their taste, or perhaps they simply don’t want to get in your way! You’ve already impressed them with your faux log siding on the outside, and we hope we’ve given you some good ideas for impressing them with what’s on the inside.
