Beautiful cabins and cabin-inspired interiors for winter dreaming
Cabins have existed for thousands of years, as fast-to-build houses that use largely natural, local materials and blend into sylvan surroundings. Originating around 3500 BC in Scandinavia and Eastern Europe, the traditional log cabin was reportedly brought to North America by the Swedes and Finns in the middle of the 17th century. From then, cabins became known as iconic silhouettes of the American frontier, sturdily built against the dangers of extreme weather and wildlife. By the mid-18th century, Scotland wanted a slice of the action too, and cabins known as ‘bothies’ were scattered across the country as workers' accommodation on farms and estates. By the 1930s – when their original use had waned – hillwalkers started to use the remote spots for safe and warm(ish) overnight accommodation – a practice known as ‘bothying.’
Today, log cabins – in any form from luxury chalets to rustic bothies – are one of the most sought-after types of holiday rentals, with searches for such holiday lets on Airbnb increasing by 25% from 2020 to 2022. Their woody exterior and cute proportions encourage a certain type of comforting, cosy style of interiors. Ralph Lauren was a great proponent of American cabin interiors, with rolling log walls as the perfect woody background for mounted antlers, tartan blankets, studded leather furniture and wood-burning stoves.
At the more luxe end of the cabin spectrum is the ‘Alpine hideaway’ aesthetic, replete with ski racks outside and fondue pots and fireplaces within. Scandinavian wooden shacks are a distant memory in these luxurious holiday homes and hotels, where glass walls overlooking mountains and high-tech interiors still strive to capture the rustic, rural feel. “I love contradiction,” says Ralph Lauren in his interiors tome Ralph Lauren A Way of Living: Home, Design, Inspiration from 2023. “The mix of old and new, raggedy and sleek, a penthouse that feels like a log cabin or a log cabin that feels like a penthouse.” And we agree: our archive has lots of organic, beautiful log cabins in North America, as well as plenty of urban houses and apartments that have taken inspiration from log cabin design.
Get the log cabin look
Jonathan Hokklo1/21This charming cabin on Sweden's west coast is home to art director Nicklas Hultman and his partner Teo, who come here to experience a creative life at one with nature. While this rustic 1966 black-painted log cabin by a Norwegian architect is simple, it is well made and although it measures a mere 43 square metres, it provides ‘all the space that we need’. Inside it reveals a large room combining a sitting room and an open kitchen, painted in Farrow & Ball's ‘Shaded White’ to provide an ideal backdrop to the couple's collection of art.
Mark Fox2/21Inside, Olly Williams' Lapland cabin is simple and functional, with a mezzanine level for sleeping, a large central wood burning stove, and distinct areas for sitting, eating and cooking. On the wall behind the stove hangs a photograph showing Robert Falcon’s Scott team in 1912 during their unsuccessful South Pole expedition.
Ben Tindall3/21Whilst log cabins often feature natural wooden walls, Ben Tindall’s charming blue cabin by the sea in Scotland shows that colour can work in even a very small cabin space. Here, two traditional Orkney chairs with woven backs and seats keep the warmth from the fire within their distinctive hooded backs.
Ben Tindall4/21Elswhere in Ben's house, the colours and forms are reminiscent of seaweed, with kelp and bladder wrack shaped cut-outs in the boxed-in bedrooms. Whilst the decor looks quite ‘out there’ for a cabin, it's traditional that a cabin would reflect the surrounding wildlife in its materials and design, so this house is in keeping with that practice.
William Jess Laird5/21Inspired by the vernacular architecture and craft traditions of rural Colorado, interior designer Clive Lonstein has devised elegantly rustic interiors for a log cabin that looks perfectly at home in its majestic frontier-country setting.
William Jess Laird6/21Inside, and salvaged from the original building, the ceiling beam structure was restored to support this double-height space at the centre of the Colorado cabin. Painted wooden panelling and a generous fireplace made from local stone provide a warm, authentic backdrop for the vintage Chesterfield leather sofa and chairs, and the mid-century coffee table by Fornasetti. The cowhide rug is from Dualoy Leather.
Alexander James7/21Designed by HÁM Interiors, these three cabins are colourful hideaways tucked in the Exe Valley. When it came to decorating the cabins, designer Tom Cox's priority was “to anchor them in quality furnishings not typically found in such rustic surrounds.” Instead of scrimping and saving on the decorative bits, they "carefully selected quality elements, to offer guests an experience reminiscent of a fine hotel." Just behind the kitchen, a table and set of chairs doubles up as a games board. With room enough for two, the table is light enough to be manoeuvred around to create more floor space when needed.
Alexander James8/21Tom thought a great deal about the practicality in order to release the charm of the cabins. “It was essential to accommodate moments when guests might return from a woodland walk, wet and muddy,” says Tom, who arranged the layout so you don't enter into the main living area. Storage is also essential: by having thoughtfully designed storage areas, HÁM Interiors have created an environment that fosters relaxation. By hanging pots and pan on the wall, HÁM Interiors have reserved cupboard space for more unsightly kitchen appliances. Open shelving also helps to establish the purpose of the space, with attractive glassware and crockery on display.
Stephen Karlisch9/21In this beautifully sparse Texas cabin decorated by Melissa Morgan, Melissa added cushions in an embroidered linen from Chelsea Textiles to the dark green-blue painted Swedish bench. The rug was designed by Bunny Williams for Dash & Albert. Two early-Texas pine chairs are teamed with linen seat cushions. The cabin has no electricity, so illumination is provided by the hanging kerosene lanterns and candles in the wrought-iron chandelier. Deer antlers found on the ranch are displayed throughout the cabin.
Lisa Flood10/21In this Wyoming cabin by owner Lisa Flood and designer Emily Janak, the duo knocked back the Western aesthetic by introducing French fabrics and sophisticated antiques amidst the wooden architecture and cowboy memorabilia. They reupholstered a Dunbar sofa in a charming pink fabric. The swing was a housewarming gift from Emily to Lisa made by the Oak & Rope Company, a British woodworking firm that specialises in oak engravings.
Paul Massey11/21This clever treehouse-cabin owned by furniture designer Jeremy Pitts is a more contemporary version of the traditional cabin. Though innately connected to nature - particularly as a result of the large, uninterrupted views of the tree canopy outside - the design is far more modern and ‘urban’ than most of the other cabins in our archive. Despite the streamlined aesthetic, it has a nod to the clean, practical feel of the original small houses of Scandinavia. Moments of modern cabin life are clear throughout the house: pictured here, for example, Jeremy converted the old gas-powered lantern to run on electricity.
TYIN Tegnestue, Photo Gaëlle Le Boulicaut, Cabin Fever, gestalten 202112/21An entire side of this Norwegian cabin – built to look like a boathouse – opens up to let in light and fresh, lakeside air. Embracing nature is a large part of cabin life, though old American frontier houses would have been built to protect their residents from the elements rather than interact with them. This wholesome setup is example of the transcendent power of rural or waterside cabin life – stylish, simple and natural.
TYIN Tegnestue, Photo Gaëlle Le Boulicaut, Cabin Fever, gestalten 202113/21In the same cabin in Norway, throws, cushions and rugs in earthy tones furnish the cabin interior. The rustic nature of the hut, with beamed ceilings and panelled floors, is a low-maintenance backdrop for furniture, which needn't be too ‘matchy-matchy.’
Dean Hearne14/21This Victorian farmhouse designed by Bodil Blain features some of the best elements of cabin style. The panelled ceilings, which were based on the ‘Piglet’ cabins at Soho Farmhouse, creates a warm, textured and cocooning environment. The studded, tartan upholstery – a Sibyl Colefax & John Fowler plaid – adds to the effect.
Dean Hearne15/21Upstairs, the elder son's bedroom is a perfectly elevated cabin look, with walls upholstered in the same Colefax & Fowler plaid as the living room. “One thing about old English houses is that they need an extra layer of padding,” Bodil notes, “so I suggested to the clients that we upholster some of the walls.” The tactile walls are a clever way to dampen any residual coldness in an old house and to create an even more cocooning effect that we look for in autumn and further into winter. Sisal (on the rug) and leather (on the vault-style podiums at the end of the bed) are good textures for a cabin-style house.
The Ingalls16/21Less rugged ‘American frontier’ and more laidback surf shack, Kelly Weastler's 1950s house in Malibu perfectly balances light and shade, freshness and cosiness. “I used wood panelling throughout the space to add a subtle and effortless texture, creating visual interest with the sleek geometric lines of the wood while introducing an element of contrast with rustic soft furnishings,” says Kelly.
Paul Massey17/21If your cabin space feels too overwhelmingly ‘woody’, then why not try a white wash over part of the walls or ceiling, like in this tiny barn sitting on the edge of a Gloucestershire meadow? The house is filled with unique treasures collected by the antique dealer and designer Christopher Howe, providing its owners with an idyllic country bolt-hole. The interior is a mishmash of furniture from across the centuries, timber-clad walls, oak floors and hefty stone slabs in the kitchen. In the kitchen, antique church pews mark out the tiny dining area, while Plain English cabinets contribute to the distinctly cottagey feel and an eighteenth-century Norwegian dresser fits so perfectly it might have been made for the space.
Paul Massey18/21In the living room of the same cabin in Gloucestershire, this striped orange and red blanket over the coffee table (an antique textile bought in Istanbul) feels quite Western, which is complemented by the antlers and other rustic antiques. Like in the kitchen, the top portion of the room is lifted by the white paint.
Paul Massey19/21Architect Jonathan Tuckey found this timber-panelled chalet in the Swiss Alps on a family ski holiday in 2008. Jonathan was able to super-insulate the house from within and add a wood-burning stove for warmth from Austroflamm and as a focal point for the sitting room. The clapboard walls (clad in a light, fresh wood) are a nod to the original cabin aesthetic, but in a super chic and pared back fresh way.
Esther Bellepoque20/21Though the interiors here feel reminiscent of an eccentric, art-filled cabin in the woods, in reality this is a tiny house in London belonging to modern furniture dealer Stanley Quaia and their partner. It's not only the pine-clad walls that make this London flat feel like a log hut, but also the ingenuity and homemade nature of the furniture inside.
Esther Bellepoque21/21The London flat is great inspiration for those looking to create an eccentric but still comforting cabin space. Pictured here, the ‘First’ chair by Michele de Lucchi, one of the co founders of Memphis Milano sits in front of a colourful artwork rescued from a bin in Milan, alongside an Andrea Branzi plant stand.
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