My Cabin: Mini Hideaway in the Ozarks
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My Cabin: Mini Hideaway in the Ozarks

We originally planned for our cabin to be a simple shelter with a kitchen that would serve as a deer hunting camp on our 200-acre farm, but the idea grew into a three-room cabin with a kitchen/living combo, a bunkroom and a bathroom (in addition to our outhouse).

The lean-to structure began without a plan, just a 16x16-foot square. The face of the cabin was built around a half-moon window, a design taken from my aunt and uncle’s old general store called Windmill Gardens in Fremont, Mich.

For the rafters, pine logs were cut from trees on our farm. We used a draw knife to remove the bark by hand. The ceilings are open beam with pine planks from the local sawmill. The windows, trimmed in red cedar, were donated by friends or purchased inexpensively from the local Habitat for Humanity ReStore. The interior is pine tongue-and-groove, with the north wall covered in recycled tin. The kitchen is a unique blend of pine countertops and open pine shelves with cedar log supports.
As we built our rustic cabin, family, friends and neighbors would offer help, in addition to ideas, so it was truly a labor of love. Now, every Independence Day, we host a picnic so we can share our favorite place.

Although the cabin is only a couple of miles from our primary home, it is in an entirely different world of peace and relaxation. We spend so much time there that we now do container gardening, which provides a variety of summer produce.

As we sit in our rockers on the covered porches and read, or watch the wildlife, we know we are truly blessed to have a cabin in the woods. When we visit, we want to stay forever.
TRIBUTE – The cabin’s design was inspired by an old general store, where the author’s aunt and uncle salvaged old windmills.
RUSTIC TOUCHES – The tiny cabin’s kitchen and living area walls are decked out in tongue-and-groove pine and recycled tin.

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