decorating advice needed

[lmgervais]

Ok, so a while back I posted that I had found a house at the local flea market (pictures in my gallery). Several people suggested turning it into a hunting cabin or someething like that. Well, I'm not into hunting, but have decided to go with the lodge/cabin theme - furniture made from tree branches wherever possible, rag rugs, quilts, etc.

The house is home-made siding on the outside, but I can't for the life of me figure out what to put on the walls on the inside, so if anyone has any suggestions I would appreciate them. Floors will probably be wide plank wood floors. There will be no bathroom as it does not suit the time period (1900-1915, small village) of my houses that I am trying to achieve, but there is still the main room d/s, the kitchen, the u/s hall and two bedrooms (I think).

Please help...

[Sherry]

Beadboard, maybe? Or just plank walls, but beadboard is what I always think of with cabins that aren't log. Some pretty 'native' rugs hanging on the walls, and of course a mounted moosehead on one wall, and his rump mounted on the other side of the wall!

[KathieB]

I'd probably wallpaper the bedrooms, use tile/paint combo in the kitchen, and try some wood paneling in the great room, maybe put stone on the fireplace?

Edit: Ahhh, Sherry and I were thinking alike. Yes, beadboard would be nice.

[Little House fan]

A nice plaster wall look would be nice and certainly fit the period (rustic or smooth).

[chesterfieldzoo]

I agree on the beadboard or planking on the walls. Don't forget rustic or round beams on the ceilings.

[lmgervais]

ok, so some type of beadboard it will be.

Now, should I use skinny stick, popsicle sticks or tongue depressors? Was going to use popsickle stick-sized boards for the floors. And, should the walls be painted (white?), stained, or just sealed? Weathered look, I assume, for the floors just not quite sure how to do it except by sanding.

[Corwin]

Ii would use skinnie sticks for the walls, maybe age them by staining two differ shades. Didn't some on have a really worn floor maybe Grazila?

[justmesue]

I would go half way up the wall, with the same boards as on the floor standing up and down and stuccoing the top half.(you could use textured wallpaper for this effect too) I'd make a small ledge around the bottom boards to put lodgy/cottagy things on. It will be fabulous no matter what you decide and I can't wait to see progress pics of how you proceed with the decorating-you've gotten tons of workable ideas to choose from here. Have fun!

[lmgervais]

Already knew way back that I did not like the fireplace/chimney, just wasn't sure what I would do with it - it had been painted by hand. So, I broke down and removed the side walls and second floor to get better access to the rooms on the first floor and get the fireplace/chimney out.

I finally settled on a stone look for the fireplace, so I spent part of the morning adding paperclay to the front face. And, for added interest, I decided to experiment and textured the 'stones' slightly by using a piece of coarse sandpaper. I think it will look fine.

Thanks everyone for your ideas. We never had a cottage or lodge, so I didn't really know what look to go for as the walls are not logs on the outside.

Will post pics when I actually start re-construction after all the demolition I have done. :thumb:

[Sherry]

We used to go to see friends in Colorado every summer, as they built what grew to be a quarter million dollar log 'cabin' or lodge on the bank of the Rio Grande river. They built it all themselves, other than the second floor roof beams, and it is a spectacular house. Not fancy, other than huge windows facing the river, just a really large log cabin with miles of covered porches. But it is filled with rocks they have collected, bird nests, tree stumps they use for tables on the porches, seashells from Hawaii, bones from Alaska, little jars of river rock kept in water so the gorgeous colors show, chunks of agate and amethyst they found in the old mines on the mountain, and cast iron cookware they bought to use while they built the house and were living in a tent. It's absolutely one of the most charming, individual homes I have ever seen.