Log Home Ideas

A plain old spring-loaded plastic bar toilet paper holder might not look that impressive in the bathroom of your new log home (ok, those T.P. holders don’t look that impressive anywhere), so you might want to shop for something that is more fitting of the log theme.

Perhaps a western style toilet paper holder?

This piece is hand-crafted by a member of the Etsy community. “This is a western style decor toilet paper holder. It holds a roll of toilet paper perfectly. Built from 1/2″ strap steel welded to a horseshoe and painted black. I built one for my bathroom it looks real good and works like a champ.”

You can find other handmade metal pieces of home decor at the shop too:

Metallic Gardens

If you like the idea of a beautiful hand-blown glass sink in your bathroom, but think it won’t fit in with the rustic feel of a log home, think again. This blue (excuse me: cobalt) glass vessel sink looks wonderful on its rustic wooden stand. It’d work wonderfully in a log cabin or log home.

It’s just one of several glass sinks available Art Glass Sinks, where all the pieces are hand blown and made to order. The prices aren’t listed on the website, but you can doubtlessly expect to pay a little more than you would for a plain white porcelain model from Home Depot. Still, this is something that you’ll be pleased to see every time you enter the bathroom.

When your bathroom walls are made from logs, a plain old white porcelain toilet may seem out of place. Why not add a woodsy accent with a wooden seat and cover?

This toilet seat and lid set is carved from oak. It’s been handmade by a seller over at Etsy:

“Our Nuthatch toilet seat is solid oak with a solid brass hinge. We relief carved the nuthatch design into the wood by hand to give it unexpected dimension, then hand painted the design to really make it pop. Coated with several coats of high gloss sealant, both the lid and seat are well protected.”

$70 through Etsy.

Here’s this week’s rustic log-cabin/home-appropriate eBay find: pine cone shower hooks.

Yes, now you can bring the great outdoors (or at least hand-painted resin replicas of the great outdoors) into your bathroom. A nice touch for that authentic log cabin feel, doncha think? Though one does wonder what kind of shower curtain goes with pine cone hooks…. something woodsy, no doubt.

Most of us are familiar with bathroom sinks made out of porcelain, but if you’re building a log home, why not consider a wood sink? With the proper finish, wooden sinks hold up well, and this teak double sink is truly handsome, not to mention unique. How many bathrooms have you been in that have something like this? It’s more of a piece of art than a simple sink and countertop, though I’m sure it’s functional too.

The sinks are one of many pieces made by Four Seasons Teak Root, a company that specializes in crafting furniture from the roots of the Asian teak tree. The company practices environmentally responsible harvesting and ensures new trees are planted for each one they use. Aside from this sink set, Teak Root does chairs, tables, porch swings, and benches. Check out their site for some beautiful pictures from their gallery.

http://www.teakroot.com/

As with most houses, log homes usually have bathrooms (unless you’re going really rustic and you’ve just got an outhouse out back), and bathrooms need lighting. The thing about log homes is that most of what you find in the furnishings department at Ikea isn’t really going to go with the rustic feel of your house. What you might need is lighting that says back-to-nature. Or in this case, back to fishing.

If you’re building a cabin or home on a lake and someone in the family is an avid fisher, this could be a fun vanity light for the bathroom. Fish aren’t for everyone, of course, but if fishing is in your blood, you know who you are. This is a unique way to tell everyone else who visits your home who you are too. At the very least, it’ll tell them you don’t shop at Ikea.

http://www.avalanche-ranch.com

If you’re building your log cabin out in the wilderness where sewer hookups are few and far between, you don’t need to resort to an outhouse (let’s face it: a middle-of-the-night run outside in cold weather isn’t all that pleasant). As an alternative to a traditional toilet (or an outhouse), you can go with a composting toilet.

These commodes reduce waste to a soil/fertilizer end product that goes right back into the earth where it’s used by Mother Nature. Composting toilets don’t need very much water, and if you vent the system properly, odors won’t be a problem.