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Lynnette Walczak

We've gone through the entire process of designing and planning every single detail of our dream log home! We have the blueprints... and the land... and the contractor... and the goal for our log cabin home to be our retirement home. Before you build (or buy) a log home, I have a slew of helpful tips for you -- to plan, design, build, decorate, and maintain your very own rustic modern log home. When I'm not fine-tuning the log home of my dreams, you'll find me at the corner of Good News & Fun Times as publisher of The Fun Times Guide (32 fun & helpful websites). To date, I’ve written nearly 300 articles for current and future log home owners on this site! Many of them have over 50K shares.

Need some rug buying advice? A rug expert shares helpful rug tips to guide you in choosing the best rug for your needs. How to pick the right rug patterns, rug shapes, rug materials, and rug types.

We went to an Honest Abe log raising and learned the following random tidbits about how Honest Abe builds log homes.I found these things the most interesting.

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Considering a wood heating system for your home? Reasons why wood burning home heating can be a positive change for you as a homeowner, and for the environment.

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If money were no object, which posh amenities would be on your wish list? Here are the things that Jim & I have talked about including in our dream home...

Driftwood hearts are random pieces of tree branches that happen to form the shape of a heart. Add some string, and you have a creative piece of art or a gift for a loved one. Here are some driftwood hearts that you can make yourself, or buy them on Etsy!

Do you really have to remove snow from the roof of your log home? Do some roofs fare better with the snow than others? For example: metal roofs vs shingle roofs. Here's what you need to know about roof snow removal for your log home.

Log home financing doesn't come easy these days! photo by lumaxart on Flickr

I told myself that I wasn't going to be negative -- especially about any one company -- when it came to talking about all the hoops we've had to jump through in order to get our log home financed. But let me just say this: We've had a change of heart about a couple of banks recently. Some of the details are mentioned here.

There are a number of factors which can ultimately increase (or decrease) the costs associated with building your new home. Some things to keep in mind...

Check out photos of 10 of the most expensive homes for sale in the U.S. Two of them are log homes for sale with strikingly different characteristics and a 53,000-square-foot difference between them! One is in Colorado, and the other is in Wyoming. View photos and details here.

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Log home lending is different for some banks than taking out a mortgage for a tract house or other conventional housing structure. Knowing what avenues to take when seeking log home financing will make your goals of obtaining a mortgage for your log home an easier, happier journey.

One of the biggest hang-ups in the process of finding a bank to finance our log home was the 'draw schedule'. The draw schedule is that unique timeline that spells out exactly when the logs themselves will be paid for, when the next installment of payments will be doled out by the bank, etc. It became difficult to get the bank and the log home company to agree on when the actual money would exchange hands. Here's how it went for us.

A collection of facts about doors that will come in handy when choosing the placement of your interior and exterior doors, plus tips that should help when deciding which type of doors to buy.

After 6 years our leftover interior house paint is dried up and has to be thrown out. The guy at the paint store seemed to think, if stored properly, it could have been re-used after 6 years in storage. Here's how he recommends storing leftover paint.

We qualify for the loans, but there just aren't enough log homes that have been sold recently around here for the banks to use as 'comps' in order to determine a fair appraisal value for our proposed log home. They're coming in way lower than we can build this log home for. And the banks won't budge.

According to The National Kitchen and Bath Association and The Home Improvement Research Institute, here's what people spend for things when they're remodeling their kitchen...  ...

In my new log home, I plan to create fun (yet simple) displays on many different windowsills throughout the house -- as a form of art and casual home decor. Here's how to turn a windowsill into a work of art.

Are you in the process of building a log home?Or maybe you recently built or moved into a log cabin and would be interested in sharing some unique or interesting stories about your log home experiences......

There is so much variety in the products available to us today, that it is difficult to stay abreast of all the latest changes in bathroom and kitchen design, as well as the trends that are shaping the future of kitchens and baths. Here, I've summarized a number of kitchen and bath trends that I've noticed while reading through home magazines, newspapers, and online reports in recent months.