Log Homes

How To Find Fun Christmas Decorations For Your Log Home

With the holiday season upon us, it's time to start thinking about some of the fun ways we can deck out our log homes with fun and unique Christmas decorations -- like these rustic Christmas bedspreads.

Many manufacturers make holiday decorations that would be perfect for a log home setting. Have fun exploring!

Log homes, by virtue of their rustic nature, make the perfect type of home to decorate for a holiday such as Christmas.

You can take advantage of that when choosing ornaments for the tree by selecting rustic-looking Christmas decorations like these Christmas ornaments that would look great in a log home. You might notice some similar patterns, like:

• Green garland
• Red, white, or yellow Christmas lights
• Holly
• Wreaths
• Deep red ribbons and bows
• Candles

How To Choose Kitchen Cabinets For Your Log Home

When it comes to log home kitchens, one of the biggest decisions you'll make is the cabinets. Which kitchen cabinets to buy? What style? How many?

Of course, kitchen cabinets are an important part of any home. But with log homes, your decision may be based on the theme of your log home itself.

• A set of dark-stained pine cabinets may fit the rustic log cabin theme much better than a set of white Victorian-era design cabinets.
   
• Wood cabinets may look better in a log home than metal or melamine veneer cabinets.

And the cabinet decisions don't stop there. When remodeling or building a log home kitchen, you also have to decide on if you want stock cabinets, semi-custom, or custom cabinets.

• Stock cabinets usually costs less than anything that includes the word "custom."
   
• Custom cabinets will be worth the expense if you simply don't like anything already on the dealers' or warehouses' shelves
   
• When you go custom, the options are boundless. Don't scrimp on the cabinet designs that will give you more space, but don't forget to stay within budget! 

One-Room Log Cabins Are Cozy, Cheap, And Environmentally Friendly

Have you ever thought of building a one-room log cabin?

If that sounds a bit small for your taste, think of it this way: a one-room log cabin can get you close to Mother Nature.

Some Of The Great Things About Living In A One-Room Cabin:

• Efficiency 
• Reduction of your environmental impact 
• Ease of maintenance
• Inexpensive construction costs
• Minimalist lifestyle
• Residence in the woods or other scenic surroundings
• Housing can be built on a very small plot of land

You see? Building a one-room log home has many potentially wonderful, cost-cutting, personally rewarding, and fun benefits! 

But how do you build a one-room log cabin? It really is quite simple and inexpensive. In fact, you can build your own log cabin with a simple set of plans involving a 10'x12' footprint and a dirt floor. A log cabin like that allows you get to close to nature (and it's perfect for camping, too).

Current Log Home Trends & Up-To-Date News About Building Log Homes

With so many changes, updates, and new innovations available to those who are building or living in log homes these days, it's important (and fun!) to know what the current log home trends are.

The Log Home Industry Expert stays on top of all the latest news and information regarding log homes, like:

• Why would anyone build a log home right now?
• Best land buying tips for future log home owners
• Real life log home stories

It's a great resource for learning what is hot and new in log home designs and building trends. It's like an inside track on the things that  make log home living so great!

The Log Home Industry Expert is maintained by Jim Young, who is the president of PrecisionCraft Log and Timber Homes, a leading company in the log home industry.

Copper Sinks: Beautiful Home Accents That Can Kill Germs!

Copper sinks are beautiful, practical, and ancient. Their metallic roots date back thousands of years.

In terms of home fixtures, copper sinks make a fantastic accent to the bathroom, kitchen, or washroom of any type of home -- including log homes.

Copper is perfect for a wet setting because water will not cause copper to corrode or rust (as is the case with certain other metals commonly found in and around wet areas of a home).

Did you know?...

• A copper sink can even reduce the number of germs in your home?
• Copper sinks can even kill MRSA -- the dreaded superbug!

However, like many of the fine things in life that we put into our homes, copper sinks do require a little bit of maintenance so that they continue looking good for years to come.

Perhaps the most important rule in caring for your copper sink is to not destroy the natural patina.-- the color that the copper sink takes on over time. Acid or abrasive washing can easily destroy that beautiful and desirable color. If any damage is done to the patina (resulting in a bright spot), simply let the copper re-tone on its own over time. 

When Should You Finish The Wood For Your Log Home?... Before Or After It's Built?

Some people prefer to stain the logs (or finish or the wood) before the log home is actually constructed. Others prefer to wait until after the entire building process has been done.

Why wait? Why not? 

Is there a good reason to not finish the wood of a log home before all the pieces go together?

In general, it is faster, easier, and even less expensive to stain your log home before all the pieces are assembled.

Why? Because staining is far easier when you're working with easy-to-handle pieces on the ground.

Once your log home is finished, that 4x12 accent beam flying from just below your 12-foot ceiling is quite a bit harder to get to (even with a ladder!) than if it was simply a piece of lumber sitting safely on the ground.

Advantages to waiting until after your log home is constructed include:

• You're giving the wood time to dry out and settle.
• You're reducing the chance of  "streaking" that some stains take on when the wood is finished before construction (and before the wood had a chance to eliminate its moisture content).

At any rate, staining or finishing the wood in your new log home will make logs look better, repel stains better, and withhold their color better.

Revealed: Log Homes Survive Fires Better Than Stick Frame Homes

Log homes are beautiful, rustic, and warm places to call home.

However, by nature of the fact they are constructed almost entirely out of wood, you may be wondering, are log homes fire hazards, too? Are they even more of a fire hazard than a traditional stick frame home?

Believe it or not, log homes are said to be even safer than a more-conventional stick frame home when it comes to withstanding natural disasters like tornadoes and hurricanes... and yes, even fires!

Continue reading: Are Log Homes Fire Hazards?

Green Log Awards Recognize Green Products For Log Homes

And the award goes to... green buildings, green home products, and green builders!

The Green Log Awards go to companies which produce building products that do not harm or negatively impact Mother Nature.

The Green Log Awards are certainly a wonderful incentive for -- and great way to recognize -- companies which help people live safely and comfortably without destroying the Earth.

It may surprise you to learn just how destructive some aspects of building can be; chemicals and overuse of natural resources (lumber, for example) are 2 of the most harmful elements of home construction. In fact, the construction project itself can cause damage when stormwater and debris escape the construction site and invade virgin territory and endangered or sensitive environments.

Green Log products are definitely the way to go if you want to live comfortably in a log home and do your little bit toward preserving our one-and-only Planet Earth.

How To Build A Cheap Log Home

Did you know that you can actually build a log home without having to spend a lot of money?

One man built a log home for under $11,000! Yes, you read that correctly -- he built a log home for his family for under $11,000.

Of course, he had to take his time with the project, and it took quite a bit of work. His story is amazing, and it just may inspire you to try building a log home of your own the same way he did.

Building a log home is a wonderful project, but just be sure that before you build you plan carefully! You don't want to make any mistakes while building your log home!

Measure twice and cut once, and along the way be sure that you did not forget to include something in your log home that you will definitely want to have later on -- like a bedroom that is big enough for the king-size bed you might want to buy down the road or that second bathroom you just don't think you will be able to live without!

Is It Really This Easy To Build A Log Cabin?

It may or may not be this simple, but there is a website that has broken down the process of building a log cabin vacation home to just 11 steps!

I don't know if you will find building a log cabin quite that easy, but it is true that many people build log cabins themselves all the time.

An important step in building a log cabin comes in knowing:

• what you can afford
• where you want to build

Once you decide on those 2 points, you can break out your logs, hammer, nails, doors, and windows, and start pounding away!