Fall at the Cabin

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The brightest spot of 2020 has been our rustic cabin in the woods. We spent a good part of the summer working on this little house, turning it more and more into our home away from home. Truth be told, this place feels even more like home than our home in NJ. We live with less here. There is just one small bathroom, no dishwasher or clothes washer, but the nature right outside the door makes up for all of that. And then some. 

The foliage was glorious this year. I spent a whole week here in late September, a few days just Dax and me when my husband and son went home for work/school. The one silver lining in our son's hybrid school schedule is that he can do school from here a couple of days a week and so we spent more time here so far this fall than we ever have been able to before.

Inside the cabin, I added some fall decor to the fireplace. I am still working on a post of the updates we have done here but I figured I would share fall first, while it's still fall. The main changes we made to the fireplace were painting the dark stained wood in the same Backwoods Green by Benjamin Moore that we painted the kitchen cabinets. This room can feel especially dark and this new green really reflects light so much better and it brightens up the whole space. 

One of my favorite updates is the banquette style seating we added in in the kitchen. It's such a cozy spot for breakfast, especially on chilly mornings. But I also had visions of puzzle doing, crafting and school work being done in this spot when I designed it. I'm also slowly working on a gallery wall in this corner. So far, I've added a few of my small embroidery projects, including one made by my mother-in-law many years ago, and some favorite pictures. 

We added a new farmhouse sink and some open shelving in the kitchen that functions very well for our family. I will write a whole post on the changes we made here and the challenges that come along with design in a seasonal home. 

We also added some shelving and an old table to a corner in the family room. My goal is for the inside of our cabin to reflect our adventures outside the cabin. This place has played such a big role in our family's history and I enjoy having pictures and collected things that remind us of that.

The family room is such a cozy spot. This plaid furniture is super comfortable and was handed down to the cabin from my brother and sister-in-law but I think we will be replacing it with brown leather furniture that we currently have in the basement of our NJ home. Jury's still out on that decision though because this plaid furniture is REALLY comfy. We do have plans to replace the carpet soon.

I use some mason jars hanging with rope to display nature's treasure found on walks in the woods every year. I collect leaves on every walk, every day, no matter how many I've already collected. :)

Back at camp, the front porch is a favorite spot for everyone in all seasons.  I added a few fall touches to this space too.

We worked on creating a new fire pit area back behind the cabin too. The cabin lights define the space so well and this area has given us another fun space to gather. When we were working on it this summer, I kept thinking of how pretty it would be in the fall and it far exceeded any visions I had. Now I am looking forward to it in the snow.

We had plans to buy a group of all weather Adirondack chairs for this space but decided to put it off until next year. In the meantime, our son built some benches from logs and I love them! They will provide seating in this space throughout the winter too.

The view from our back porch to the fire pit was the prettiest thing I've seen in a long time. It truly took my breath away when I opened the back door and saw this when we arrived at camp after just a few days away. I have so many more fall foliage pics to share but I will save that for another post since this one is already so long.

I have been reading the work of Mary Oliver more and more these days and I thought I'd end by sharing a bit of her writing that came to mind when I saw this view. 

Still, what I want in my life

is to be willing to be dazzled - 

to cast aside the weight of facts

and maybe even float a little

above this difficult wold.

-Mary Oliver