Making Your Dream Log Home a Reality

Log homes of today are so big that only a few people realize they originated from small log cabins first built by European settlers in the Americas way back mid-1600. They brought their expertise building log cabins from Europe as they cleared paths to build shelter and start a new life away from their birthplaces. Swedish and Germans have been particularly known as the first settlers to build log cabins in Delaware and Pennsylvania respectively, and we are fortunate enough that each state boasts of a single log cabin that still stands which were constructed earlier in the 17th century.

With so many ideas available today from architects and interior designers in building a home, one is easily convinced on choosing a contemporary house to have for a permanent home. However, there are still a lot of people fascinated over having log homes their permanent residence and they are not only limited for use as weekend getaway abode. They are increasingly being used as permanent residences, and annually a total of 26,000 log homes are built.

log cabinOwning a log home is not for everyone though. You may be fascinated with the rustic feel that it provides to you and your family, but are you ready for the responsibilities that it asks of you to make it last a long time. Generally, log homes can stand forever, as what we have seen from various log homes all over America which still stand. Yet, just like structures which may have been built with stone or cement standing the test of time because of continuous maintenance, log homes stand still only when the right and proper manner of protection and preservation are exercised.

As a matter of fact, some people may tell you that it is more expensive to maintain a log home. It is absolutely true. However, if it is really a dream for you to have a log home and you are willing do whatever it takes to make it a reality, then all you have to do is learn the basic procedures in building your dream home.

Typically, the beginning of building your dream log home involves:

a)      Contacting a log home manufacturer who will design a floor plan and offers to sell the logs and other parts of the log home as a package, and

b)      Hiring a building contractor to build the log home on site.

When choosing a manufacturer, rely on one with a trademark for it will assure you that you will get the best value for your money. You will not have a hard time locating one because they abound in the entire country, and most of them ship logs throughout the country. In saying this, it is vital then that you make business with a manufacturer possessing a good reputation in the log home industry. Log homes come in all shapes and sizes, so today you are presented with a variety of choices.

It helps a lot if you have made an earlier research on all possible log home manufacturers. Of course, they have different costs for their respective floor plans. It is best if you have already a realistic budget for your log home which addresses to your basic needs for your house. It is inevitable that manufacturers will recommend you certain add-ons, so if you are not fully aware of what you truly want you may end up paying for what is not a priority to your home. If your dream log home is available in the market, it helps to pay for a certified log home inspector.

Once you are already settled with the earlier phases of owning a log home as mentioned above, and the builders have already begun their task, you can now move on into evaluating the kind of theme that you would want for your future log home. Will it have a Southwestern, wilderness, Rustic, or Western ranch theme? Experts suggest that in decorating a log home, one must be certain as to the vibe he would want to experience in his log home for that is the only way that he will be focused later on the décor and furnishing of the entire house.

Accent your Kitchen with Organization and Style

Are you one of those homeowners who takes the time each day to think about what projects you can accomplish to make your home a better place to live? Well, this is exactly what my wife and I do all the time. We do enjoy DIY so we can do a lot of these projects on our own. We get a sense of accomplishment and save money at the same time. Since my wife spends most of her day in the kitchen cooking our favorite meals, this room obviously gets precedence over other rooms as far as upgrades are concerned.

Years ago, we explored the possibility of adding an island to our kitchen. Being a woodworker, I really wanted to tackle this project on my own. I was certain that I could figure it out along the way and the most important part of this project was that I could build it to satisfy our custom space requirements. We don’t have the most spacious kitchen but it is open to our family room which gives it a sense of space and you don’t feel confined when you are in the kitchen. My wife and I started looking into the various kitchen island designs possible for that area and we came up with a square island with overhang on two sides for two seats on each side. This was perfect for our family since we have two girls. We could eat dinner there every night with plenty of room for everyone.

kitchen island

I built the island in steps over several months and incorporated three drawers, one for our everyday utensils and the other two for our favorite knives and small handheld kitchen accessories like a lemon and lime reamer, wine pump, and small cutting boards. There was also a main cabinet into which we placed many of our often-utilized cookware. This was a positive benefit of the island in that we could move these items out of our traditional cabinetry into the island which is closer to where my wife was working regularly. This allowed us to free up some space in our existing cabinets and organize our go-to cookware in a central location in the cabinet of the island. My wife noticed how much more organized we became by adding the island.

By freeing up the space in our cabinets, we made it a point to incorporate some of the kitchen organization ideas we had been reading about. We bought an expandable wooden drawer organizer for the island drawer that held all of our knives, forks, and spoons. I thought I would have to build one but the various organizers that are available in the market are so numerous that we were able to find one that worked perfectly for us. At the same time, we decided to add a couple of lazy Susans to our cabinets that really helped us organize the contents in an organized fashion. What is so great about a rotating surface is that you have simple and easy access to everything on the surface with an easy spin. The lazy Susan worked really well for the many different spices and seasonings that we own and we don’t have to search for them anymore. One other organizer that we invested in was a tiered organizer. This is a unit that fits nicely right onto your cabinet shelf and you store items on various levels, one higher than the one in front of it. Once again, it just makes it easier to find what you need and you always know where to go for a certain item which is the essence of organization.

The island that I built really helped us concentrate on getting organized in our kitchen. We not only have a stylish, custom-built, piece of furniture now but we also have a place to organize our commonly-used cookware, utensils, and accessories. As a result, we also expanded that organizational mindset into the rest of our kitchen storage areas. If you are anything like us, once you create an organized kitchen environment, you’ll never go back to your disorganized days of yore.