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Decorating Your Log Home For Very Little $$ Ways That Might Surprise You!

Published on | Log Homes | Coleman Kelleghan
So you have the log-home of your dreams and you realize you have some empty spaces that need to be filled; and filling those spaces can take time—sometimes even years--since furnishings and other decorative pieces can be very expensive. If you truly plan on decorating your log-home without spending much money, there are three things that will need to be in place; and here they are:
  1. You’ll need to think outside the box—in other words, you have to embrace the idea that buying expensive items at full retail prices is not the only way to shop for your log home!
  2. You’ll need to humble yourself just a bit if you are a ‘name-brand’ kind of person whose spending is limited only to the top name brands with predictably exorbitant prices.
  3. You’ll need to be willing to get in touch with your ‘creative side’ and attempt to transform some pieces as they become available—sometimes a new coat of paint will be all it takes!

These three necessities of ‘buying cheaply’ will become very apparent as we discuss how you absolutely can furnish and decorate your ‘cabin-sweet-cabin’ for so little money—and you’ll wonder why you didn’t do some of these things years ago. Lets’ get started:

1: Find Local Thrift Stores

Let me start off by saying you can find potentially beautiful tables—end tables, sofa tables, coffee tables, wall tables etc. for about $20 to 30 bucks a piece at any kind of thrift store. If you’re willing to rummage, you’ll find pieces ‘in the rough’ that have far more potential than you would ever imagine.

For example, I bought an old oak ice-chest, with original brass handles and hinges for $25! I didn’t take the time to strip it—just gave it a light sanding and painted it a burnt orange and covered it with matte-finish polyurethane—voile`! The piece is stunning and stands along a wall in my kitchen with a cozy little lamp on top that adds the finishing touch—all for under $40! Any leftover paints and finishing products can be saved for other pieces in other rooms of your log home. Also, one can simply add a coat or two of chalk paint and finalize with a coating of antique paint that is created to crackle. You will be amazed at the results and even MORE amazed at how little you spent!

Be willing to see the ‘big picture’ and roll up your sleeves! Thrift stores have any number of ‘diamonds in the rough’ that can be transformed into absolutely gorgeous pieces that will garner compliments from everyone!

2: Get Up With The Chickens and Have Garage Sales Mapped Out

Garage sales can offer up some tremendous bargains—even cheaper than thrift stores! The concept, here, remains the same—analyze a piece and look beyond the dulled finishes, the nicks, the scratches and missing or broken knobs—which brings up another point. Any pieces you refurbish should be embellished with new knobs, when applicable. Hobby-type stores have incredible selections of dynamic knobs that will act as the icing on top of the cake for any piece you redo. Ceramics, hand-painted woods, metals and cut glass knobs can all add their own ambiance and finishing touch to any furniture piece you choose to ‘breathe new life into’. And don’t forget bargains at flea-markets or on Craigslist!

3: Know That Each Month Is A ‘Sale’ Month

Virtually anything you and I purchase can wear out its welcome in its respective retail establishment due to new inventory that is waiting to take the place of the old (which is still new). Cars, jewelry, clothing and even airline tickets will have their prices greatly reduced during certain times of the year; but you have to know when to look. Here’s a brief run-down of which items are typically on sale during their respective times of the year. Some items go on sale throughout the year more than once:

  • January: Flooring, miscellaneous furniture items and large appliances
  • February: Mattresses & box-springs and home-theater items
  • March: On-line merchandise
  • April: Televisions, electronics and home-office furniture
  • May: Mattresses, electronics and refrigerators
  • June: Recliners and other dad-related items for Father’s Day
  • July: Furniture, in general, including high-end pieces during ‘4th Of July’ sales
  • August: Mini-refrigerators, desks, small appliances, rugs and mattresses
  • September: Patio furniture
  • October: Large appliances and dining-room sets
  • November: Look out for ‘Black Friday’ sales--selections may be limited
  • December: Bedroom furniture

4: Repurpose Wooden Pallets

You can add a burst of color to any room as well as adding an eye-catching rustic wall decoration that will absolutely turn heads. Find an old wooden pallet and repurpose it into something functional and adorable! Here’s what you will do:
  • Power-wash or thoroughly hose down the piece with a mild detergent and allow to completely dry.
  • Paint the supporting pieces one color but paint the platform boards alternating colors—orange/brown/orange/brown or tan/cream/tan/cream etc.—whatever colors suit your fancy.
  • Add some dynamic-looking coat hooks and attach 1 to 3 hooks on each platform board, keeping in mind you’ll need to decide if you what the platform boards to run vertically or horizontally when the palette is hung on the wall.

Once hung, this magnificent-looking piece can be used for hats, coats, scarves, purses—you name it! You WILL get compliments! After it’s all said and done, ask yourself, “How much did I spend on this piece?” – Probably just the cost of the paint and the hooks!

5: Let Mother Nature Lend A Helping Hand

The woods can offer up some unexpected surprises! If you have a long wall that needs to be filled, think ‘rustic’ and envision it embellished with a long piece of a weathered tree branch that might be 5 or 6-feet in length. It can be bleached and/or stained or painted and drilled into a wall that is begging for something to give it personality. How about surrounding the wood piece with family pictures in really cool frames? Your ‘family-tree’ wall will become an attention-grabber and will become, yet, another a conversation piece with anyone that walks into the room.

But don’t stop there! If you can find a good sized stump, find a way to get it home and cover it with bleach to get rid of any rot or critters. The wood will take on a stylish, yet rustic, washed-out look that can remain as-is or be stained or painted. If you can (power) saw the top and get it flattened, you could cover the top-end with a round piece of glass from your local glass shop and, voile`!—you will have created a true work of art that will be stunning and functional!

Let your creative juices flow and realize you can become a furniture designer in your own right and fill those nooks and crannies of your log home with pieces that you will never want to part with! Your log-home may have cost a pretty penny, but some of the furnishings you place in it can cost next to nothing!