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8 Features Every Log Home Should Have (Incredible Kitchen too)

By 05/09/2013March 16th, 202123 Comments

1. An abandoned swallows nest on the kitchen window sill.

2. Incredible limestone tile throughout and including the countertops

Such a great way of working with all the ORANGE wood, providing a break from it as well as creating a balance of warm and cool.

3. Pendant Lighting

They have a sexier pendant light fixture coming from LA for above the island, but we liked the look of the existing pendants for the rest of the kitchen (with new round bulbs).

Recessed lighting would just be too modern looking in a log home, not to mention many designers don’t believe in actually choosing to create swiss cheese for the ceiling.

4. A fabulous, custom, countrified island with a grayed wood top to relate to the trendy dining table from Restoration Hardware. 

Their question for me here was,”Should we repeat the distressed look of the bottom of the island on the perimeter cabinets when they get the door fronts made?” and I said yes, if we keep it the same colour (BM White Down) which is what I would recommend.

Also the open shelving in the corner is temporary while they get this kind of piece designed for the corner.

5. An antique cabinet painted a custom colour.

We talked a lot about this colour and if it should be changed, primarily because the homeowners moved into this house with (coincidentally) this exact blue/green all over the walls including the pink (look closely at the ceilings in the second image above) and were totally turned off by the 80’s shade.

I liked it as is and suggested a change once they chose an accent colour in the adjoining great room. After all, the old green on the rest of the walls was going away.

6. An Herb Garden in the window.

I’m not sure this vignette could get any better. I had no improvements to suggest here, haha.

7. The perfect, vintage fruit/vegetable vessel placed on the middle of the island.

8. The Perfect Wall Colour

The wife laughed and said “My husband likes to paint but he only likes to do it once”.

The colour we chose for most of the walls in this log home was BM AF-65 Fossil or SW 7042 or Cloverdale CA031.

And you know how we chose it? We propped up my large colour sample against some drywall that has been painted white from the steps on the way to the second floor and then stood on the first floor to see how well it related to the limestone tile. We would NEVER have been able to see that without being able to stand back and look at it from the first floor. I wish I would have snapped a picture at that point.

It was just pale enough to work with the orange (but not so pale that it looked too white, modern and washed out) and related perfectly with the fabulous, slightly pinky/yellow/grey limestone floors (and linen drapes on 4 windows in the great room) which were totally the piece de resistance in this on-going labour of love for my new clients.

A gorgeous couple who are, room by room, piece by piece, turning this log home into something to be photographed and seen in a magazine near you.

I was there to answer a myriad of questions from wood flooring colour in the master bedroom to coordinating tones in bathroom fixtures. Without answers, decisions were not being made with regards to moving forward with the restoration/renovation of this lovely log home overlooking Hayward Lake in Maple Ridge.

Consultations like these are so much fun for me because they are like a jigsaw puzzle as we walk through the house from room to room pulling everything together.

Also it’s not often that I meet a couple who BOTH have the same aesthetic. Both equally as committed to sourcing the correct and perfect item that will complete each stage of the process.

Which part is your favourite?

Related posts:

Before & After: An On-line Colour Consultation in Texas

How to Mix Yesterday with Today in your Renovation

When Should you Rip out Brand new Tile?

If you would like your house to fill you with happiness when you walk in the door, become a client on-line or in-person.

Download my eBook, How to Choose Paint Colours – It’s All in the Undertones to get my complete step-by-step system on how to get colour to do what you want.

To make sure the undertones in your home are right, get some large samples!

If you would like to learn how to choose colour with confidence, become a True Colour Expert. Fall dates now open for registration.

 

23 Comments

  • Tawna Allred says:

    Oh man! This is the home everyone has or wants around here (older people…the younger people want something with not so much wood). We have been remodeling a bad “western” replica….taking out the pink tile, stripping the coyote wallpaper (seriously), and ripping off cheap pine wainscoating. I love to modernize them with lots of white paint. This one is much better than most I see. It’s hard to make a home look good with all the orange wood. Great job!

  • Connie says:

    LOVE the limestone tile! It’s especially pretty with the dining chairs. Yes, that yellowy toned wood is a toughie to work with. We had that in our former house. What a pretty house this will be. Parts of it are ‘all done’ right now, at least what I see in these photos.

  • Donna Frasca says:

    Log cabins are my dream home! I can’t wait to give up my big house in suburbia to retire in a cozy cabin in the mountains of North Carolina. Ok, I have a way to go yet but a girl can dream : )

    • Paula Van Hoogen says:

      Hey Donna, when you’re ready to dream in 3D,
      come see us in Highlands, we have the prettiest land in western NC mountains and the most reasonable!!!
      I have a guest coach house on VRBO (“Nest For Two”) that you can stay in!!! Start the movie!

  • Beth C. says:

    The whole thing is my favorite part! But boy, it’s got my head spinning considering all I’ve learned from you about keeping fixed surface undertones harmonious. Never in my wildest dreams would I think you could mix the orange logs with those floors and counters. Yet, as you state, it provides nice relief from all the orange. I guess i would have opted to tone down the logs with some kind of wash if I were going to choose those floors. Shows you I still have a lot to learn! Lucky couple.

  • What a timely post Maria! I am in the beginning stages of restoring my parents’ “dream” log home after a devastating flood practically destroyed it. There is not a spec of drywall in the home. All of the lovely maple floors were ruined and had to be removed. My Dad passed away 12 years ago so I’m trying to take this opportunity to restore in a way my Mom would fall in love with it again and give it a renewed feeling. This post definitely has my wheels spinning on just how to do it. I’ll post some before and after pics in the next few months!

    • Sharon says:

      I would also love to see those pictures Andrea. My father-in-law built a log place and we loved it but it needs some work!

  • Arlene says:

    We have a log cabin with beautiful pine on the interior. We have one small gyproc wall in main living area I can paint. Yes, I guess the log walks are orange undertone. We are considering putting Handscraped Oak – Pergola laminate flooring down. I am not sure of the undertone maybe yellow or orange. Maria can you or a reader suggest a color to paint the wall. I need new roman shades and would like somehow to pick a color for pillows, vase, etc, it is an uncluttered space because we have a lot of family and friends holidaying. I have couch, coffee table and table for accents plus will need a picture for one wall. Please help

  • Eric says:

    I am currently working with an architect to build a rustic/log/wood home in northern Wisconsin. The ONE thing I’ve told the architect and builder is NO orange logs! I don’t know where this ever started, and I don’t understand why people think logs should be orange??? Look at any classic adirondack cabin or old east coast cabin and the logs are either dark brown or greyed to some degree.

    I’m trying to find a balance between open/clean spaces and dark/warm wood and I’m glad I hired an architect, but it’s my mission to get people to stop staining their logs orange! It’s not a good look.

    • mairi says:

      I don’t think anyone ever stains the logs orange-that is the colour that wood turns after years of natural yellowing. My 110 year old floors are identical in colour and no stain was ever used. Having said that I totally agree with adding a grayed light stain to bare softwood to lighten things up but would avoid dark brown with the exception of a bit of dark wood in the furniture choices. Good luck on your new log home and I hope you send Maria some photos to share with us!

  • SandyCGC says:

    This is absolutely gorgeous, Maria, and I’m ready to come up and stay for a week or so. How very, very inviting. As Beth says, the whole thing is my favorite, but especially the antique chest. My little “antique” secretary in “antique blue” pales in comparison and sits in my guest room but a piece like this in my old white French country kitchen to be someday (no real room for it) would be my dream. This post goes in my inspiration files for sure.

  • Sharon says:

    My favorite in these photos is the dining set. Why? I love the unexpected style of the chairs, which for most of us relate to a more formal traditional look but here they fit like a glove with the table style and island! To my eye and astestic they “soften” the overall colors and hard textures of the gorgeous limestone and log walls. That said as a favorite, the hard textures I mentioned are an equally favorite of this space.

    Sure hope this couple will allow you to photograph the finished rooms for us – looks like each will be a tremendous design lesson to share, the #1 being hire a professional whose work you trust to get the help you/I need!!!

  • Donna Kelleran says:

    I love it all! I have hope. We moved into a pine cabin on San Juan Island and are dealing with the orange walls and brown/black exterior cedar siding. We are dealing with the exterior now that the weather is good. I cannot wait to settle on a date for my exterior consult. Interior in the fall.

  • Franki says:

    My husband and I built our lakeside log home piece by piece over 29 years. We put a honey glow preservative over all of it inside…think of candle light. The outside is cape cod gray … I’m torn what to use for kitchen countertops – the next project!!! Luv’d your photos!! franki

  • Wyn says:

    I like orange woods, especially when the colour is similar to black tea or dark amber — rich and clear. Here, I would have done something with cream cabinets and furniture, and blue fabrics and accents, probably in the range between faded denim to cobalt. Maybe also some yellow-orange elements for a warm midtone colour, if it needed any extra.

  • BillP says:

    Maybe I don’t get it. The flooring looks like a pink undertone and the logs orange. I’m not wild about the flooring choice.

  • Paula Van Hoogen says:

    Hi Maria! I’m working with a couple on a renovation of, not a log house, but tons of pine wood ceilings, walls,etc. The color (from your deck) that we landed on is Marscapone. Really sets the orange/yellow wood off beautifully! If you do go back to this house, could you shoot that picture of the color board?
    This kind of home IS a dream home for many, but yes, it is not easy to get the color right. You’ve nailed it….again!!!

  • Paula Van Hoogen says:

    Oopps, it’s “Mascarpone”.

  • Cynthia says:

    How fun!!

  • Nic says:

    I simply love countrystyle kitchen islands.

  • Puredouceur says:

    Happy New Year Maria!
    Are the kitchen cabinets painted with Benjamin Moore’s Fossil (AF-65)?

    I wonder since this is the color that was used for most walls but the only one I notice is close to the kitchen door and it’s green…

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