If you haven't considered this yet, you surely will soon... so long as you're planning on building a new home, that is.

Which will it be for your master bath?...

• Just a shower, no tub


• Just a bathtub, no shower


• A tub & shower combo


• Separate shower and a tub

For years now, I've had my heart set on a completely custom shower inside the master bathroom. I call it "my YMCA shower".

I guess that puts me in the "just a shower, no tub" category.

What follows are some of the unique features that we plan to incorporate into our log home's master bathroom.

One way to use this is as an "idea list"... to help you weigh out the pro's and con's of various bathroom features in order to ultimately determine your own "wants" and "needs" list for your own master bathroom.

Yep, at Heart Pine Reserve, what once was old is new again...

It's been awhile since I've seen such a excellent example of recycling and preserving the past -- all the while creating a unique handmade product that's as practical as this!

Check out what the "specialists in antique heart pine wood" are up to these days...

"Our current selection of antique heart pine flooring is milled from the timbers of old whiskey-barrel warehouses of the nineteenth century Old Taylor Distillery in Kentucky."

Log cabins have certainly gone high tech. At least in terms of this interactive Blog found on the DIY Network anyway!

Their newest venture is called Blog Cabin. It's an interactive site that includes lots of opportunities for YOU to help design and build a log cabin in the Great Smoky Mountains

Here's the scoop... (It's lots of FUN!)

We've been to a few different log home shows now, and the consensus is this:

Log home shows are primarily for the homeowner who is just beginning the process of deciding whether or not to build or buy a log home.

That's not a bad thing... it's just to say that if you're farther along in the process (like us), you will find fewer things of interest to you.

Here's what I mean...

Up until recently (after we attended the Nashville Log Home & Timber Frame Show), I hadn't thought much about the type of garage doors I wanted for our new log home.

Rather than color or style, I think my biggest concern to date has been whether to have one "big" door to accommodate 2 cars, or 2 individual doors -- one door per vehicle. I had always thought that was more of a personal choice than a design issue, but I recently learned that 2 garage doors (plus a third, utility door) are in our future. It mostly has to do with support and beam issues, and with the home as we've designed it upstairs, we will be required to have 2 separate doors on the garage which are off the basement downstairs.

Enter into the picture: The Great Northern Door Company!

Is your home located on or near a creek?

Does your property include a small body of water?

Do you have to drive over water in order to get to your house?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, and you have a fondness for the log home lifestyle, then this wooden covered bridge may be right up your alley.