By Jim & Cindy Smith
If you are fortunate enough to have a home-based business in your log cabin, your clients may think you have a hobby rather than a serious business. After all, sitting lakeside on a log while talking on your cell phone in the back yard isn’t very professional. So even though you may need an office in your lakeside home that doesn’t mean it should be to casual — but it shouldn’t be completely business-formal and stark either.
If you enjoy being in your natural surroundings, creating a rustic style office at home might fit you fine. And bringing nature’s beauty inside your home office can offer you with a comfortable and refreshingly natural feeling even on those days when you don’t have time to take a stroll down your country lane. Plus, if you are like most, a rustic setting helps you to think more clearly and become more productive.
Getting that rustic feel in your home-office isn’t difficult nor should it be an expensive endeavor. Most likely many of the furnishings you’ll need can be scrounged from somewhere else in your log cabin. In fact a trek to the loft or basement may be productive since it will likely uncover some old treasures to consider as a focal point for your office. The great thing is that whether you are starting the planning or building of your lake home or already have your home and are looking to remodel or expand; you can plan for your home office anywhere along the way.
If you are remodeling and cannot use a separate room for your office at home, you can always place partitions or walls up. The partition can be birch bark or other natural materials so your office takes on a friendly tone while maintaining a productive office feel. Your office should let you separate your work-related projects from your loved ones and from personal distractions (such as that giant lake bass that is calling for you!).
It is best if you train your children and other family members as well as those sociable chatty neighbors that when you are in your office, you need some privacy to do your work (even if that work schedule includes rocking in your comfy log chair and gazing out into the woods while plotting out your next big job!).
Don’t make your home office impersonal. Integrate your interests and hobbies into your decorations and furnishings. Maybe something as simple as a birch wood shelf formed like a boat for that lakeside feel or perhaps even a trophy that you put on the wall if you are a hunter or fisherman.
Something as simple as a coat of warm earth-tone paint on the walls of your office will make a big difference. Try it with warm colors such as shades of brown and yellow. Skip the lush carpet or ceramic tiles on the floor and go for rustic-looking rugs or nail down some rehabbed old wooden planks for creative authenticity. Or if that doesn’t appeal to you, just look around for something that excites you while fitting into your budget.
You will probably want to have a desk or table and a chair for your home-based office. Select some natural wood, bamboo or any other rustic looking material. Your Grandmother’s old wicker rocker could be a nice touch and it might also be great for those brainstorming or relaxation sessions. Add in a few old country pillows to give a comfy feel and hang an antique mirror on the wall to produce an illusion of wider spaces.
Although you may want this to be a rustic office, don’t neglect your electrical needs, as well as phone and Internet jacks. Be sure you invest in a good surge protector to protect your equipment from some of those rural spikes in power as well. You may also consider whether it is a good idea to protect your log cabin office with a security system when you are not at home.
Going rustic used to imply something old, bland and falling apart. Now it indicates simplicity and a return to “the good old days”. Bring nature’s charms into your office and inspire yourself to finish your business tasks in the comfort of your own lakeside home or log cabin. And if clients stop by to see you hard at work, they will be jealous of your ability to work in such beautiful natural surroundings!
Authors Jim & Cindy Smith built their own lakeside dream vacation log home from a log home kit. Now they welcome log cabin builders (and dreamers) to visit their log cabin kit website filled with tips and articles for those wanting their own log home memories. You can even see a photo journey of the log home evolving as they put together their own do-it-yourself log cabin kit.
