Innholdsfortegnelse for January/February 2024 i Log and Timber Home Living

Author and psychologist Richard Carlson popularized the phrase, “Don’t sweat the small stuff,” but in our experience, paying attention to detail – even the things that may seem inconsequential – yields big results. Take bathrooms, for example. As the primary bath tends to get the lion’s share of attention, secondary bathrooms and powder rooms are often downsized to shave space and save money. It’s a smart strategy, as they typically aren’t used frequently. But, savvy designers know that there are a host of small tweaks you can make to layout and finishing choices to prevent a tiny bath from feeling cramped. Writer Karen Marley shares 10 interior designer faves on page 44. It’s not just design that can be impacted by small choices. Your construction schedule can feel the squeeze due…

You’ve purchased land. You’ve got your floor plans and engineered construction docs in hand. Your builder is on board. The time has finally come — you’re ready to build that log or timber frame home you’ve been planning for months, years … maybe most of your life. With so much invested, both financially and emotionally, of course you want it to go off without a hitch. The fact is that almost every construction project experiences a delay at some point in the process. The sooner you accept that fact, the less stressful it will be. That said, there are some things you can do to mitigate or even prevent common interruptions to the construction schedule. These are five of the most frequent causes of delay that I’ve seen in my…

At first glance, you may think this Ohio farmhouse’s design scheme borrows from rustic style, with cozy chairs wrapped in Schumacher’s “Caribou Embroidery” and no shortage of nailhead trim. But take a deeper look, and you’ll see clues that will eventually lead you straight to the garage, where Paul and Phyllis Craver’s collection of vintage Porsches live — and their design inspiration takes root. With swatches from the car company’s iconic black, red and gold palette, the interiors of the home pop against the impressive oak frame. Steer your own space toward a similar look with these fun finds. To shop these looks and more, scan the QR code!…

It was a pretty summer day in 2018 when Keith Burgess decided to spend it boating with his daughter and her family on Cheat Lake in West Virginia. Little did he know, it was an outing that would change his life, because just down the road, Janet Drain also had agreed to join her daughter for a day on the boat. As is local tradition, after some time out on the open water, boats from across the lake pulled into “Party Cove,” an area where the vibe perfectly matches the name. “I wasn’t into boat hopping. So, I’m just sitting there, and here comes Keith floating up,” says Janet. “We started talking, and he told me he is a plumber. I shared that my last name was Drain, and the…

When you think of a log or timber home, you probably picture a lot of right angles, from the trusses overhead to the notched corners on the exterior. Big, long timbers do lend themselves to these sharp shapes, whether stacked horizontally or interlocked perpendicularly. But the beauty of log and timber (and importantly, hybrid) construction is, if you think creatively, almost anything is possible. “As soon as you take the log and you turn it vertically and you start using log columns for a structure, the design possibilities are endless,” says Murray Arnott, a log home design specialist who has a long history creating round post-and-beam structures. “I think the key is that it opens up myriad opportunities, including curved walls, circles, turrets, all of these kinds of aesthetic or…

Since electricity became a mainstay in American residences nearly 100 years ago, lighting has been a key part of interior design. And as fixtures evolved, so did our expectations, strategies and tastes, resulting in today’s principles to help homeowners achieve the best lighting schemes possible. For example, the principle of “layering” artificial lighting, with ambient, task and accent fixtures, is just as important as natural light is for a home’s look and its inhabitants’ health. Ambient brings a baseline of functionality to your spaces and helps you move through your home comfortably. Task lighting makes kitchens, offices and bathrooms safer and more efficient, while accent lighting brings the drama, showcasing the features that make your unique log, timber or hybrid wood home so special. While some things haven’t changed through…

THERE’S A LOT TO LOVE about a cozy log cabin or tiny timber frame, but the bathroom is one place where you might start to really feel the pinch of a smaller footprint, and “cozy” can easily turn into “cramped.” Before you start searching for ways to add space, see if you can’t find it within your current design. If you look closely, you just might discover the storage and square footage you desire are hidden all around you. We’ll show you how a little creativity can transform a basic bathroom into a blissful sanctuary. Optimized Space. Bathrooms, despite their petite footprint, are one of the hardest-working rooms in a home. The tighter the space, the more every inch matters. Dwellify, an online home remodeling service, recommends using floating fixtures…

When the air gets a chill and most of the plants in your garden have given all they’ve got for the year (apart from winter-hearty shrubs and cold-temp lovers like poinsettias), you may be tempted to lock your garden shed up tight and say farewell to your landscaping tasks until spring. However, putting in a little extra effort into prepping the soil now can pay off big once you’re ready to start planting again. It may even lead to a more robust growing season well into the next summer and fall. Here are some strategies to consider: Cut plants, but leave the roots: Unless the plants you’re removing have a concern, like suspected disease, it’s best to cut the stems and leaves but leave the roots in the soil. That’s because…

There are few things you can do for $1 these days — especially not activities that involve meticulously restored, one-of-a-kind artwork that you can touch and … ride? But at the Buffalo Heritage Carousel in New York, a single dollar gains you admission to see where history meets innovation. Housed in a circus-tent shaped Douglas fir timber frame powered by Tesla solar panels, the 1924 Spillman Engineering Corporation carousel showcases the region’s long legacy with renewable energy. (Buffalo earned the moniker “City of Light” in the early 1900s thanks to hydroelectric power from nearby Niagara Falls.) It’s also a nod to the area’s manufacturing history; from around 1880 to 1925, thousands of carousels were manufactured in North Tonawanda, a mere 15 miles from Buffalo. But the return of this particular…

If walls could talk, this cabin, tucked onto 20 acres of the picturesque Shenandoah Valley, would have an encyclopedia of tales to tell. You see, the cabin’s history goes back — way back. Before Virginia gained its statehood, before the signing of the Declaration of Independence, before Jefferson constructed Monticello, there was this house, built around 1760 by a farmer in the hills of southern Virginia. In this humble one-room cabin with a loft, the farmer and his wife raised nine children. In its next iteration, the cabin was converted to a barn, and for more than 100 years, it sheltered cattle. Then, it was left derelict for decades, before it was rediscovered in the 1990s by a couple who saw possibilities where most saw nothing but dilapidation. They moved…