Smaller Log Home

Designing a smaller log home requires sitting some priorities. Keep your kitchen, living room and master bedroom large enough to make your home enjoyable to live in. Stay as close to the basic roof lines and you will help keep costs down. You can also avoid hallways and instead let rooms flow from one to the other. You should keep windows in proportion to the rest of the house but try to admit as much daylight as possible. Keep living areas open and sleeping areas cozy. A cathedral ceiling will make a small living area seem that much larger. Some rooms can do double duty like sitting up a computer desk in the corner of the kitchen. Make sure you plan a lot of storage space. Use space under stairs, even in an attic area. Lofts use a staircase so you may want to avoid them. If you can, add a basement, it will give you extra storage space and possibly house the laundry room. Include decks and porches since they extend your living space, and landscaping the property will make the home appear larger by making everything flow together.

Modifying Log Home Floorplans

There are many reasons to choose a stock floorplan. The materials are readily available; know what the pricing is upfront; turn around time on the plan is much quicker. If you are thinking of modifying a stock plan here are some dos and don'ts of altering a standard floorplan. A lot of people have a tough time with dimensions like how much room a doorway may need to be or how much space a bathroom vanity takes up. If your considering changing anything on the main floor that will also effect everything above, and you have to look at all the extra materials involved: foundation, floor joists, ceiling material and roofing. People think they will find the perfect floorplan from a stock plan but that doesn't exist, the better thing to do would be to find one that is close and sit down with the designer. That way you can create the perfect plan with just a few changes. "When a builder, dealer or manufacturer is trying to help, listen." Keep changes simple. Think about how high you want the ceiling because it can make a big difference in how large the room feels.

Modifying Log

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Modern Materials For A Log Home

In your future log home consider incorporating a beautiful mix of building materials and wall materials as well so to add usual interest without taking away from the logs beauty. When you are planning your log home walls you will be deciding whether you want half logs, tongue-and-groove panelling etc,. If this is the case you will need to focus on keeping the walls light. High ceilings, a lot of windows and lighting will help. Another way to open up your log home is to use drywall. These materials give the eye a rest from the wood. In log homes drywall increases ways of designing. No matter what materials you use for your log home think of ways to pair colours, textiles and finishes. As a side thought over 60 percent of your walls are covered with furniture, windows, artwork and so on. You can also colour just one wall with a deep red or deep blue. No matter which colours you choose note how the natural and artificial light can change the colours intensity throughout the day.

For additional information on log homes, please visit our website at Muskoka Log Homes.

Going Green When Building Your Log Home

Whether your building a permanent home or a vacation home there is no reason to not go green. You should invest extra money upfront to achieve an energy efficient design. In the end it will pay off through lower energy bills and will continue to pay off over your home's lifetime. A well insulated home will provide even temperatures throughout the different rooms, improve air quality and reduce allergens. More people are turning to energy efficiency because of higher energy crisis. There are many options to building an energy efficient home like solar panels, high performance windows, high-tech insulation and house wrap, geothermal heat pumps, digital thermostats and fireplace inserts. When designing your energy efficient home there are two distinct parts: the exterior shell and the interior systems. Log homes have a thermal mass which is their natural characteristic which means that the log walls have the ability to absorb heat and keep a house cooler in summer and store heat in the winter and gradually release it at night to warm the house. A study done by the National Bureau of Standards showed that it reduces the overall energy needs and expenses by 30% over walls that use wood, brick, or siding. What's important is how tight the logs fit together,and how tightly the home is built. A five inch log that is constructed properly and designed tightly is going to perform much better than a 12-inch log that is poorly placed together.

For additional information on log homes, please visit our website at Muskoka Log Homes & Chalets Inc.

Figure Out The Costs Of Your Log Home

People are always trying to figure out how much their log home is going to cost by looking for shortcuts instead of answers. The long and short of it is list everything that goes into making a log home, you should then call the people who will be providing the material and or labour and find out exactly what they charge. Then once you have those answers you would add them up then you would arrive at the actual costs. The truth of the matter is the only true cost that you will get in writing is the price of the log package. Even then the price will probably still fluctuate. Don't include the land you purchased in the price of your log home. If you asked to multiply the costs by the square footage that doesn't give you an exact price because first of all you would need to ask if that includes the basement or not. Does that include finished or unfunished basement. You also have to look at the different amenities people put in the same size houses. Cabinets, countertops, fireplaces, roofing and so on, and find out if all of these amenities are stock or custom items.

For additional information on log homes, please visit our website at Muskoka Log Homes.

One-Story Log Home Living

If you are thinking of building a single story log home you should consider a few things that you don't want to do, like putting the master bedroom too close to the family room because of T.V. and other electronics. The best plan is to keep the master bedroom away from activity rooms. Making room for the master bedroom on the main floor is common in new home design, its based on designing a home that's just easier to use. Everything on the main floor is key to the majority of baby boomers who are approaching retirement. Most baby boomers are not interested in trudging up and down stairs two or three times a day. Everything designed on the main floor still leaves challenges that mean less privacy and limited areas to go for quiet times when you need.

For more information on log homes, please visit our website at Muskoka Log Homes.