ORIGINALHOME • MAGAZINE

Discover Your Personal Style on Any Budget

OHWINTER

WONDERS•2014•

Create a Warm Spa at Home

Embrace Winter with Both Mittens!

A Winter Yardsale:Free Up More Space

Add the Best of Lodge Style to Any Home!

Winter Windowsill Gardens

Welcome TO

ORIGINAL HOMEMagazineWinter isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. Even if you

aren’t the one in five people affected to some degree by Seasonal Affective Disorder, winter

can be just plain hard. Gone are the days of snatching up your keys and grabbing an impromptu cup of coffee out with a friend. Instead, you have to make sure you’ve shovelled the car, or put on those extra layers to stand at the bus stop while slush is sprayed over you. Multiply those layers by however many people are in the family and it takes, on average, an extra six minutes per person to just get out the door in winter than in summer. Once outside, it’s a hair-raising walk or drive with your eyes peeled for “the other guy” who hasn’t slowed down for winter driving conditions, the hesitant shuffle-step over sidewalks and steps that may not be properly cleared, the muddy trail of slush inside that needs mopping up every time anyone comes or goes, and the generally grumpy people standing in line with you. What used to be eagerly anticipated as a caffeinated delight with a friend is now just a $4.99 heat pack while you shiver and drip. Small wonder people decide to just stay home more once the snow starts! Whether you live in the northern hemisphere or the southern, winter, in whichever month it arrives, significantly changes our lifestyle. We’re less likely to take on home projects, less likely to entertain at home once the winter holidays are over, and less likely to get

exercise outside when the temperatures drop. With this issue, we hope to change all that! Original Home is all about making your home the place everyone wants to be. We want it to be the cozy haven that makes you smile when you think about it, sigh contentedly when you walk in, and a warm refuge from uncooperative weather and all life’s other stresses. We want your home to express you,

to welcome your friends and family, to be the spot people think of when they envision a fun winter evening, the place they want to come

back to after building the snowman or taking one more run down the hill.

In this special seasonal edition, we give you fun and easy ways to make the most of winter - indoors and

out. You’ll find ways to make spring come faster, entertain more easily, make your home a warm cocoon

for everyone, and even get a few of those indoor projects finished.

We haven’t forgotten outdoor pleasures either. This issue gives you great ways to keep warm - or enjoy the outdoors from inside! We’ve even found some destinations that will pamper you while you discover winter’s hidden delights! So, curl up with a coffee and find a dozen new ways to embrace winter with both mittens!

OH!

Ngaire GengeWe welcome your suggestions - drop us a line at OriginalHomeMagazine@gmail.com

Bring the

Best of Lodge Style to Any Home!

“‘Lodge style,’ like ‘art’ itself, can be hard to define,” says architech and

architectural historian Phoebe Lin. “We all have an image in our heads of what a ‘lodge,’ is, but we’d likely be surprised at how different all our pictures are from one another!” Laughing, she adds, “It is tempting to say that ‘lodge style’ is like art, or pornography, you ‘know it when you see

it’” Lin, however, starts her description of lodge style not with any architectural terms, but with people and purpose. “Lodges weren’t initially homes in the strictest sense,” she says. “It was a place away from the primary residence. In Germany, for example, it was a secondary residence high in the mountains. Farmers didn’t live there

“To have the feet of many friends to the hearth in one’s own lodge seems the very best of conditions.” - Thoreau

year-round. It was a place to bunk down during the summer when you took animals up there for grazing.” In other parts of Europe, such as England and France, lodges were the preserve of the elite instead of

Our Cover Photo:

OH staffers saw lots of lodges while working on this issue, over two hundred of them! Some were fantasy homes with kitchens that cost more than all our cars combined. Others were modest cottages that had sprawled over the years, added on to as families grew. Our cover photo this time, of a home in Apex, British Columbia, Canada, however, caught all our imaginations. Tucked between the trees, snug and secure under its blanket of snow, it was exactly the spot we’d like to spend a winter evening.

Ingrid Boys, of Nicola LogWorks, said of this home, built in 2010, “The design, materials, and finish were chosen to suggest a vintage quality and mood, that the home had been there for ‘forever.’” Which is exactly what we hope this particular style deconstruction will do for our readers, help them create a home that borrows the best of lodge style, adding a piece of warmth to your winter, even if your home isn’t a real rustic hideaway.

This beautiful home was crafted of western red cedar with dovetail construction.Hand Crafted Dovetail Log Home by Nicola LogWorks, Merritt BC General Contractor: The Owner's,Penticton BC Photo by Okanagan Photography West- Kelowna BC

Tap the icon to visitNicola LogWorks

Deconstructing Style: Is lodge style your style?goatherders. In the many scattered states of the 1700s that would become Germany, the more elaborate your hunting lodge, the higher your political status. “Noblemen, those with lands and hunting or fishing rights, would have lodges that we’d probably call ‘uber man caves’ today! They could get pretty elaborate - with silver service and servants and someone to bring you a cup of warmed wine when you arrived,” says Lin. “They weren’t exactly roughing it!” “People believed - often rightly - that getting out of the towns and cities improved their health too,” says Phoebe. “If you think back to early New Orleans in the United States, people, if they could afford it, had little lake homes away from the city where they’d retreat during the hot summers. Away from the mosquitoes and malaria, and cholera outbreaks, and just away from the sweltering conditions.” A desire to get in touch with natural surroundings is deeply ingrained in many cultures, and lodges of one type or another have been addressing that need for centuries. “In Scandinavian countries, for example, there’s a very real cultural connection with the land, and environmentalism, and the idea that health is a personal goal that includes time walking or biking or skiing, and all those ideals are met in some way within a cottage or lodge away from the main residence.” Lin says the notion of a place apart is seen in aboriginal cultures in North America and many other locations around the globe. “The sweat lodge, the lodge where young men went away together to hear the history and story of their

culture, was a place apart,” she notes. “Even the healing lodge wasn’t necessarily a place to be when you were sick, it was a preventative idea as well. By spending time apart from normal tasks, you had time to learn, think, consider, and you emerged healthier.” Cottage country, says Lin, carries that same connotation. “A place to get away from it all for a bit, to renew family ties, put aside the concerns of the moment perhaps, to get in touch with a more laid back lifestyle,” that’s all part of the ‘lodge’ mentality.” Finding the connection between a modest cabin in the woods and soaring modern residential homes that easily fall into the seven- or eight-figure bracket can seem a stretch. “Not if you look at the structures from a purpose perspective,” says Lin. “Basically, what happened was that people so enjoyed the feeling of those secondary homes, they just decided that’s what they wanted full-time,” she says. “They simply didn’t want to leave it behind on Sunday evening when they had to trek back from that wonderful weekend away. So, they found ways to live in that mindset all the time - they made the lodge, their home-away-from-home, their real home - or they began decorating their primary home in a similar way, to extend the experience.” So, what does tie all the different versions of ‘lodge style’ together? “Form follows function, always,” she begins. “Function often begins with geography and environment, so, if we start there, we can say that lodges are responses to their environment first. The

A small lodge in Lapland, Sweden, complete with its outdoor sauna and ski-in space, is a cozy spot to share a warm drink at night after enjoying

the outdoors together all day.Photograph: Vichaya Kiatying-Angsulee

Early chalets and mountain lodges boasted few creature comforts - but lots of creatures. Used as seasonal shelters, they were employed mainly during summer grazing when a few people would travel up into higher

pastures with goats, sheep, or cows. They were merely emergency shelters in winter, until recreational winter sport gave them new uses.

Photograph: OeilDeNuit Photography - RGB Stock

A lodge in the Haute-Savoie Mountains, Saint Gervais les Bains, is the architectural forebearer of mountain lodges in North America, with local log construction, snow-load conscious structure, and warmth.

Photograph: KodakGold Photography - RGB Stock

deep eaves so quintessentially ‘lodge,’ for example, keep the sun out of the lake house where you’ve gone to cool off during the summer, they shade the porches of an Adirondack log cabin, they keep snow and rain and other damaging elements from weathering the exterior of homes in the snow belt. “The idea of a lodge was that it was a place to get away to, not a place you had to paint every spring. Stained logs, stone, metal rooves, cedar shakes and shingles - all materials that don’t require the same constant attention as, for example, painted siding and finicky trims.” A lodge was a convivial space. “Lodges were gathering places. Whether it was the boys out for a fishing trip in Colorado, or a multi-generational gathering out for a ski and a sauna in Finland, lodges were places where a bunch of people could get together,” says Phoebe. “If you think lodge today, you picture a great room so you can have a lot of people in comfortably, open plan

Deconstructing Style: Is lodge style your style?

Built of materials found nearby, lodges are responses to local georgraphy and

environment. Porches and decks link inside spaces with the outdoors, create shelter from

sweltering sunlight, torrential rains, and heavy snow. They protect the building, decreasing

maintenance, allowing more time to be spent on other kinds of activities.

Photograph: Phiseksit Photography

spaces so the cooks and kitchens are part of everything, big decks so you can do the same group cooking outside, and monster sofas so you can all throw yourselves onto them together to watch the fire and roast your marshmellows.” Simple square footage, however, doesn’t define lodge style. “Not at all. Your gathering spots might be outside the home proper altogether,” says Phoebe. “In the cottage country where I grew up, the cabins were all fairly modest. Instead of a bunch of bedrooms, we had a ‘bunkie,’ a little cabin separate from the rest that was nothing but a bunch of bunk beds up the walls - about four bunks high! - on both walls, for the kids. It was small! But, we spent the nights chattering away and our days were spent down on the dock, around the outside firepit, or on the deck, and we had lots of deck! Probably twice as much deck than we had in square footage under the roof.” Lodge style encompasses the very rustic and the very elegant. “It’s that goatherd versus nobleman thing,” agrees Lin. “And, leave us not forget the ladies, they had considerable influence too. Without getting into stereotypical roles at all - some women were more ardent fishers and hunters than the guys! - but, having

men and women, older and younger people using the spaces made them more diverse dwellings.” In broad strokes, then, says Lin, “Lodge style is relaxed, with the goal of making people comfortable. It embraces natural materials like wood, stone, and metal. It has, traditionally, reflected the home’s cultural, environmental, and geographic surroundings. Lodge homes blur the lines between inside and outside spaces. Whether on a massive or a modest scale, lodge-styled homes ground people - you can combine lodge elements with totally modern spaces in the middle of a city.” To lean towards a specific lodge style, Lin says, “as always, style is in the details.” “If you can tell the difference between an Adirondack chair and a Muskoka chair, you’re one up on me - and I grew up in Muskoka! - but, yes, there are differences between an Adirondack-styled lodge and a western lodge and a mountain lodge. There are sub-types of all those, but, those three types are good points to start.” “The western style lodge generally evokes a ranch,” says Phoebe. “Think more metal than, say, Adirondack style, and heavier, squared-log furniture instead of twig styles.”

A modern lodge home displaying many of the elements of the style: log - both round and square - construction, massive stone fireplace, rustic wooden mantle, overstuffed furniture, fabric in

nature motifs, canoe shelving, twig/branch lamp post, fur pillows, nature prints, twig baskets, undraped windows, Misson style wooden rocker, vintage accessories, direct links to the outdoors

and, of course, a deer over the mantelpiece! Project by Brian Morgan - Adirondack Camp Design

Metal, cowboys - and girls, and horses, beautiful Native American art, and classic bronze sculptures of working cowboys and animals would all be right at home in western style. “Where you’d find a fur rug in a mountain lodge, you’d find a cowhide one in the western lodge,” says Phoebe. “A leather couch is a standby in any style of lodge, but, in western style, you’d find a Navajo blanket draped across it, or made into pillows. It might be a little more distressed in appearance than the one back east, less the ‘overstuffed and tufted’ look, more the ‘worn to the right-shape’ look.” One thing she warns against in western style is “assuming it’s dusty or overly rustic.” “Western lodge, rancher lodge, can be very elegant,” she says. “Yes, your dining table could be a well-worn slab of pine with long benches that could seat a lot of cowpokes, but, it might also be a lovely Edwardian table in inlaid ebony surrounded by sixteen chairs upholstered in butter-soft leather shipped in from San Francisco. The west was a great crossroads, so, you can be at any point on the formality spectrum - and eclectic.” Also on the crossroads theme, Phoebe says lodges are often thematic, and this can help you get a firmer handle on your take on lodge style. “The western theme is certainly tied to ranching, all things horse,,” she says, “But, it is also about the mining, Native American influences - Spanish is in there too, the crossroads, the wagons-ho, transportation, and the train!” In terms of decor, she says, “That opens up a world of interesting things like time-worn trunks and wagon

wheels turned into tables, iron railway-spike coat hooks, and punchy blue enamel-ware in the kitchen.” If you’re thinking mountains instead of the plains, Phoebe points to vintage wooden skis, fur - or faux fur, round-log furniture, and more cut stone than you’ll think of for your ranch-style property. “Western floors tend to the wooden types, with either the wide-plank on the rustic end or the polished narrow strip on the elegant margins. In mountain, you can think slate floors covered in thick rugs. In Adirondack, it might be natural pine or even painted floors, with a stone patio around a firepit outside.” The mountain lodges today might be home-base to snowmobiling fun, but, traditionally, snowshoes, those old skis, and a little hunting and trapping would have been the majority of activities. “All of which gives you tons of scope for decorating,” says Phoebe. “Antlers seem to fit the mountain lodges best - the traditional moose over the fireplace - but, you can tone that up or down as much as you’d like and think more apres-ski than apres-hunt. Warmth and welcome are the keys to success with mountain style. Now is the time for those overstuffed sofas - in cheerful fabrics if you’re not a leather fan! - and a huge upholstered ottoman for lots of toes instead of a big wooden coffee table.” Mountain style is the most likely to include those cathedral ceilings and sheets of glass windows. “The Adirondack and western styles can sometimes include the ‘big beam’ look, but, traditionally these are spaces with lower ceilings. Western lodges are often sprawling single stories,

Deconstructing Style: Is lodge style your style?

Right at home in mountain lodge style, the Rocky Mountain Log Bedroom Collection features eco-friendly reclaimed pinewood with

engraved and tinted pine tree motifs. A weathered oak stain and the heavy wood grain give it a vintage feel.

Black Forest Decor

Far from the bunkhouse, but definitely western style is the Isabella Western Leather Bed. Fine joinery, seasoned wood patina, and hand-tooled leather panels are embellished with tack accents for that extra

western feel.Lone Star Western Decor

Twig and willow furniture is happily at home in Adirondack and other eastern-styled lodge homes. Sustainably harvested, hand-crafted, and finished in natural linseed oil, this headboard is an eco-friendly choice.

Log Cabin Rustics

reflecting the plains around them. More accessible ceilings and lower beams are great for hanging those bunches of dried flowers in Muskoka decor, or nailing a few horseshoes to in western style. The big beam, post and beam - or those massive spaces where they just peel the bark off and use whole trees for supports! - that’s the image many people have when they think ‘lodge,’” says Phoebe. “Those massive, steep rooves are absolutely practical in the mountains where you expect big snow and want to shed the load as quickly as possible,” she adds. “Form follows function, always.” Inside there, she says, “There’s room for bigger statements than in spaces with lower ceilings. You can park a whole vintage canoe up in those rafters - if you want! Canoes though, paddles, duck decoys, and all that, are, really, however, more associated with the east, Adirondack, hunting and fishing lodges.” For mountain lodges, she says, “You can hang those big chandeliers, whether the ones made of antlers or big metal ones , anything you want really. The scale of a big dramatic light, hanging low

on chains, helps the space feel more human-sized. Soaring walls and massive fireplaces are great spots for significant art or

hanging sculpture.” Those glass walls are found mostly in mountain lodges. “They can frame the most incredible views, they really blur the edge between inside and out - especially if there’s decking outside, which there usually is.” They can also feel like you’re living in a fish tank. “Yes, definitely. We tend to think of lodges in isolated areas, but, quite often, they aren’t, or, we’re trying to recreate the lodge feel in a city where we may well have the nice wall of glass and light, but, not the privacy that goes with it at night. Which means, privacy control. Draperies of some type.” Lots of smaller and more rustic lodges forego curtains or shades because windows are smaller or they just aren’t willing to shut out any view. “They can put up a light cotton drape or canvas blind and it’s perfectly in

character,” says Phoebe. “You can’t just chuck yards and yards of gingham at a window that’s thirty feet tall and maybe

Deconstructing Style: Is lodge style your style?

Seeing a fixture like the Spruce Mule Deer Chandelier and its custom-fitted 18 lights evokes a very specific image of “lodge” - one with the soaring scale

to accomodate it! Mountain style! You can go big with your lighting in authentic, naturally-shed, and reproduction options.

CDN Antler

Lodges are intimately associated with the land and wildlife surrounding them. In these fixtures from Avalanche Ranch Lighting, that connection is beautifully apparent. The Sheridan Round Chandelier on the left, with its towering pinon trees and mountain bear motif, stands tall, just as

mountain lodges and the rooflines do. The barbed wire wrapped Sunderland Oval Pendant, evokes the ranch land’s broader horizons. In the Stika fixture at right, the cattails and wetlands of the east find colourful expression while the semi-flush fixture will fit well in the often lower-ceilinged

cabins, cottages, and lodges of the region. Fortunately, while styles evolved in specific locales, modern homes can be anywhere, and adopt any of the variations on lodge style - and there will definitely be lighting fixtures to help you set the mood.

Avalanche Ranch Lighting

twice that wide though. If you really want to control the view in, or light, in a mountain lodge with huge windows, you’ll need to have either shades with remotes - because it’s not practical to keep a ladder in the livingroom - or, consider stacked layers of drapes that you can operate independently, again perferably with remotes. This isn’t necessarily the place, however, to ‘leave your mark’ visually. Ideally, you want whatever you put up at the windows to not fight for attention with the view when the window coverings are open.” Phoebe suggests wood blinds in a tone to match in with surrounding wood, “disappearing when they’re open, blending into other walls when they close.” “If you want a fabric, which is comforting on stormy nights, natural

colours or print motifs will fade away when you open them. Avoiding bright pops of colour here will prevent your entire room from being dominated by the equivalent of, for example, a bright red movie screen!” Because of the massive scale of things in a mountain lodge, everything tends to cost more. Big art, big fireplaces, big furniture to fill the space at a reasonable scale, big windows. It all spells big money, which makes the mountain lodge the one people also see as expensive, high-end, and luxurious. “Absolutely. Totally different end of the perceived spectrum from the Adirondack cabin or the Lowland fishing lodge in the Carolinas - though they could all be equally costly in reality,” agrees Lin. “Generally, the bigger the volume of a room, the more it is seen

as high end. So, yes, if you have a preference for upscale elegant, you like that hit of luxury, the mountain lodge is a place to show that off.” A nice Remington bronze on the table behind the western lodge sofa might get lost in a mountain-style lodge’s great room. “Big. Just think big. Standing art, sculpture that is life-sized, can fit in here and look perfectly proportioned. Want a sixteen-foot couch that’s deep enough for everyone to use as a bed? Not a problem. Massive flagstones for flooring? You might have to take a window out to get them into a lodge in Louisiana, but, they’re just right in a room where you can’t get your arms around your support beams. A mountain lodge can also house true antiques without seeming out of place.”

Deconstructing Style: Is lodge style your style?

“If you think lodge is all dark and plaid, you haven’t seen what contemporary designers are doing with it,” says Phoebe Lin. “Jennifer Visosky has it all in this brilliant interpretation. Who says logs can’t be white-washed, or a deer’s head come in punchy graphic form?”The lush bedding, fur throw, furrier rug, wood accents, simple window treatments, multiple lighting sources, and nature prints - all the

classic elements of lodge style! - are here, part of an ultra-chic room, just updated for a modern sensibility.

Project by Jennifer Visosky - Grace Home Designs • Photography by Tuck Fauntleroy

Mountain lodge, undeniably dramatic, can dwarf its occupants, especially when there isn’t a crowd to fill the place with voices and activities,” says Phoebe. “If you have small decorative elements, try to have enough of them to create a collection which, seen as a whole, is a larger item in the big space, but, that can still be approached and appreciated as individual items up close. Likewise, try to create ‘snugs,’ smaller conversation areas in the big room, a spot where you can have a cup of tea and not have to look at fifteen other, empty, chairs. Most mountain lodge homes have a fireplace which makes a warm focal point - when it’s lit. When it isn’t, having lots of table lamps in the room, which can make a pool of warm illumination for one or two people, helps increase the cozy level.” If mountain lodges are the drama queens, the Adirondack cabins and cottages, the small hunting lodge and the fishing chalet, are the jewel boxes. “They positively radiate cozy,” says Phoebe, “And this is where you can really see colour at work.” “All the lodges traditionally reflected the areas where they were built, so, you’d see big logs in the mountains, stone in the westerns. Local building materials, local colours,” says Phoebe. “Well, the east was settled first, so you’ll see more handed-down vintage pieces. It had readier access to some supplies, like colourful paint, so, you’ll see more painted furniture, painted floors, and painted trim around the windows and doors. There were even hunting lodges decked in Victorian gingerboard, so there’s great variety in lodges in the east. There was a multitude of activity ongoing, so, here’s where you’ll see the Hudson Bay blanket, vintage canoes, and hunting and fishing memorabilia all cobbled together quite naturally.” Phoebe says the entire eastern seaboard is a spectrum of lodge styles, all grounded in their environments and histories. “One of my clients in South Carolina has frogging memorabilia throughout his family’s summer lodge,” says Phoebe. “There are frog lures in cubby-hole shadow boxes, and frog giggers lashed to the open beams. Their frogging licenses for each year back to ages ago are all stapled to the beams

Deconstructing Style: Is lodge style your style?

Modern log homes make wonderful backgrounds for an eclectic decor. Notes Lin, “The real lodges have generations of stuff in them, right up to and including modern additions by today’s occupants. When you’re decorating this cozy space, you can do as designer Jennifer Visosky did

and add contemporary elements - they’ll be tomorrow’s vintage pieces!”Instead of a massive, single-purpose log coffee table, Visosky opted for multiple smaller twig

blocks which can be easily moved, used as side tables, or bunched back together to play a board game on together. Her lanps and side table bring a modern note to the room, while her cowhide

and tack chair, along with the bright fabrics on ottoman and dining chairs add pops of colour.Project by Jennifer Visosky - Grace Home Design • Photography by David Agnello

too - except for the war years when the family was scattered and didn’t go to the lodge.” Another of her clients families worked the coal mines and escaped to a fishing lodge in the Adirondacks whenever they could, finally expanding it and making it the family home. “It’s a real Adirondack lodge,” says Phoebe. “There’s twig furniture, bent-willow, so much lighter than the lodge pieces to the west. The couches and chairs, and rockers, inside and out, are the classic Adirondack pieces, with cushions, plump cushions in bright fabrics.” Instead of the colourful Native

American blankets in the west, baskets of grass and reeds are part of the eastern take on lodge style. Local glazed pottery is filled with dried flowers. “Where I grew up, it was that classic cottage-turned-home situation too, but our escapes were messing about in boats, water-skiing, playing horseshoes and badminton on the lawn, croquet on sunny days and board games around the kitchen table when it rained - it was a time when motorboats were all made of wood. And that’s what is reflected in our family ‘cottage,’ which grew over the years into a space that can now house, well, a lot of people - I think we’ve had close to sixty there!”

Unexpected splashes of colour highlight classic Adirondack chairs.Photography by Geoffrey Whiteway

Deconstructing Style: Is lodge style your style? Bringing a bit of that wonderful feeling back to “regular homes” in towns and cities, comes down to recognizing which of all those details to combine away from the lodges. “Some people just love lodge style and decorate their whole home that way,” says Phoebe. “That’s the mood they want to come home to every day - and this really is about the feeling, more than the actual building.” For the majority, however, lodge style is something that gets added in smaller doses. “A favourite place for lodge style is the family room or recreation room,” says Phoebe. “Which makes perfect sense as these are relaxed spaces where people gather to have fun - which is the real definition of lodge!” In Phoebe’s home, her bedroom is that spot, and reflects her adult interest in horses. “Totally western!” “My bed is squared-off log furniture, covered in vintage horse blankets. My cowgirl hats have their own hatrack in the corner. A rug in Navajo patterns is the first thing my toes encounter every morning,” she says with a grin. “The art above my bed is sepia-toned prints of me, my husband, and our horses. It’s all about good memories of time together” To bring the best of lodge style to your home, Phoebe says, “It’s all in the details and doesn’t have to cost a fortune!” First, remember the key elements: comfort, conviviality, and nature. “If you have wood, stone, or metal elements in your existing decor, build on that,” she says. “That’s your cornerstone. If you don’t have those things, you do not need to build log walls inside your home. Bring wood in as natural trims around

Dens and home offices, areas tucked away from the more open plan areas of homes, make perfect niche spaces where a different style can play out without creating a jarring effect against

a home’s prevailing mood. These more removed spaces can also allow a masculine influence in a home that is primarily more feminine in style, or, taken in the opposite direction, allow for a

feminine retreat in a home that is primarily masculine or modern in design.

“Home offices are generally small, but that needn’t be a problem,” says Phoebe Lin. “It’s like a tiny powder room in that you can afford to do some more expensive things when you have less

square footage to stretch it over. If you only have to deal with 100sq’ of floor, you can have a pretty elegant floor! A few, really wonderful pieces are all you need for huge impact.”

Lin loves this stylish home office by Chalet.“This interpretation is a wonderful example of how western can be upscale, modern, and

downright sexy! This is not a big room, but it captures the imagination in a big way!”

Tailored leather and nail heads create a refined western feel to the well-stuffed furniture, as do the natural neutral color scheme, the elegant fire surround, and the cased beam ceiling.

“The overhead light fixture is a stylized version of the wagonwheel motif, the rug is deep, and the tables are natural woods. If you were a modern rancher, this could well be your ranch office!”

Architecture by John Mattingly - Chalet • Interior Design by Regan Mattingly - ChaletPhotography by Emily Minton Redfield

Western rope is inexpensive and can be used as a wall-hung detail, stair “rail,” or to tie back

draperies. Little details have big impact.Photo: Gualberto107 Photography

Deconstructing Style: Is lodge style your style?windows and doors, consider adding some faux beams to the ceiling to make it feel lower, cosy - and give you places to nail up your thematic elements like those horse brasses or vintage skis!” It doesn’t have to happen overnight. “As you bring in new furniture, bring in pieces that match your lodge dreams,” she says. “In the meantime, a leather footstool, a bunch of faux fur cushions, antler lamps, or a vintage blanket over the back of your existing couch can all provide the look.” Paint is wonderful in Phoebe’s book. “Nothing changes a room like paint. Natural colour schemes are classic in lodges. Picture a white box of a room in your mind. Now, put in those stained wooden trims, maybe beam elements on the ceiling, paint the walls a forest green, put your couch in and throw a colourful Native American blanket over it, and put a long, leather-covered ottoman-cum-coffee table in front of that.... Well, you’re practically there - and for not a lot of money!” The colour palette does vary for traditional lodge styles. “Western tends to the sage-y green-tan-ochre schemes. Mountain tends to navy blues, burgundy, and, again, green, but a darker, forest-y green,”

If you love colour, you can add unexpected - but appropriate! - pops of colour to most lodge

rooms. This blue, for eample, is prevalent in Spanish and Mexican culture, which makes it a

natural in western-style lodges too!Photo: Ian L Photography - FreeRange

notes Lin. “The Adirondack style is very natural with pops of unexpected colours - picture the gray of cedar shingles with a brilliant red rocker on the porch and you’ve got it!” Thematic vintage decorative pieces, to scale, are the next key to achieving this warm, comfortable style. “It should look like you’ve been sort of organically accumulating things for years, of course,” says Phoebe. “However, don’t get hung up on not having a family history to fill the space. Pick something that is actually of interest to you - not just space filler stuff. One of my clients couldn’t figure out why her space felt so off until we determined she really had no interest in all the vintage ski-lodge stuff she’d been using to decorate. The space looked fine, it just wasn’t her. So, we went flea-marketing and, it turns out, her natural interests were more farmhouse than ski lodge. She came home with beautiful blue-and-white-speckled enamalware, glazed pottery jugs in soft pastels, and a twig rocker. Once she found her groove, the space transformed and she felt comfortable there - and so did her

guests.” Fireplaces are, perhaps, the one elements that appears in every interpretation of lodge, but, if you don’t have one, it can be an expensive addition. “If it’s in your budget, and you can physically accommodate it, then, yes! Absolutely. Nothing makes a space warmer or provides as natural a focus for a seating area than a fireplace,” says Phoebe. “If it’s not your wall, or you share a wall with the condo next door, however, there are other options. Today’s electric models are amazing, and can warm your space. Failing that, make yourself a faux mantel in a natural finish like stone or wood and set a bank of candles within what would be the firebox - same effect without permanent alternations or a real fireplace!” Mantlepieces have regional looks too. “Mountain is where you’ll see huge half-sawn logs, while you’ll find a more squared-off look in western rooms, more of a plank than a log, while eastern lodges might have less stone and more wood, a whole wood surround instead of

Wicker and twig furniture,milk glass, and the natural

pastels of roses from the garden are part and

parcel of a more Victoriantake on lodge style insome eastern regions.

Lodges, cabins, chalets, and cottages

encompass a wide rangeof eras and styles.

Experiment.Find your perfect match.

just a piece of wood on a stone frontice. Eastern fireplaces tend toward brick instead of stone, and the mantle may be brick as well, though it is usually wood.” Lodges are supposed to look lived in, notes Lin, “So, this is a great opportunity to cut your decorating costs by going second-hand. A banged-up leather couch is actually better than a shiny new one. Handmade furniture, folk art, even stuff you repurpose - like turning a bunch of short milk cans into legs for a coffee table - makes the space better, and saves you money!” Pillows are must-have accessories

for lodge spaces, but, you can make them yourself out of old denim, blankets - even sweaters with holes in the elbows! “Haunt the second-hand and vintage shops and you’ll find old games you played as kids, oil lamps, vintage magazines that make wonderful art prints.” Remember that lodges are inspired by nature. “Botanical prints, wildlife paintings, antlers - which fall off naturally, so you don’t have to feel any guilt about them! - and dried plants are great additions to lodge spaces. You’ll often

Deconstructing Style: Is lodge style your style?

Wagonwheels and weather squared-off mantels bring a western feel.Photo: Aleksandar Momirovic

find decoys used as art in lodges. They bring that natural touch to the space too, and are simply beautiful in their own right.” Play up the themes. “Paddles, those decoys, and your bamboo fishing rods are a natural grouping,” says Phoebe. “Wagon wheels, saddles and tack, well-worn boots and cowboy hats, that works too. It’s when you have a cowboy hat, waterskis, and a telescope that things can get a little confusing stylistically - but, if that’s you, even that will work.” Don’t forget the personal touch. “Family photos! Dig out pictures from your albums and blow up a bunch of them, try them in black-and-white or sepia, and create a family wall. Grab a set of cheap diner coffee mugs and decorate them with everyone’s names - and have blanks on hand to do the same for friends that visit!” Lighting sets the mood. “Give yourself choices,” advises Phoebe. “You want to have soft, quiet mood lighting, good general lighting if you’re all playing Monopoly® together, and, spot lighting for reading.” While lofty rafters can accommodate big lighting, she recommends playing back into the theme for western and Adirondack too.

Some classic pieces can be the foundation of all your lodge styles.

Mission furniture is adaptable. Swap out your cushions and you can go full-on leather, Native American blanket weaves, denim, overstuffed canvas, repurposed horse blankets, Hudson Bay or

other trading blankets, even canvas in bright solids, natural tones or prints, or stripes reminiscent of awnings over decks at the lake!

Drop a cozy blanket over the back or arm, or a lap rug or fur throw for additional layers of comfort and style.

You can go for more Mission in your ottoman, side tables, and lamps, or, mix them with contemporary pieces and fixtures.

Photo: Kevin Hoffman - Free Range

Deconstructing Style: Is lodge style your style? “Western can be the antler racks, but, metal is really more the thing. If you’re not up for wagon wheels, a metal wagon rim, which is a hammered texture, with half a dozen down-lights with metal shades? Perfect,” she says. “I saw some done with barbed wire twisted into rounds and they were awesome!” In Adirondack, Lowland, and other eastern styles, along with the more elegant European hunting-style lodges, Lin advocates for fixtures with a lantern feel, “or carriage lights, bulls-eye, that solid square form that screams northeast whenever you see it.” Mission style and arts-and-craft furniture and fixtures marry well with lodge in all its variations. “Those mica and amber shades? They will blend beautifully. And don’t forget the candles. Don’t just stick ‘em on shelves, use them - especially if your urban pad doesn’t have a fireplace.” Kitchens and bathrooms aren’t the places most people choose to indulge their lodge feel “unless they’re taking their whole home into the style,” says Phoebe. “However, there’s no reason why a master bath can’t be as rustic as the master bedroom, or that your kitchen, attached to your family room, for example, shouldn’t carry the same style.” Again, she suggests “more woody to the eastern styles, more metal to the western, and more massive with stone to the mountain style.” “Specifically, in Adirondack style, you can have simple twig handles on your cabinetry, but try distressed metal drawer pulls and handles in western kitchens and baths, maybe

even polished stone knobs in big western spaces.” In bathrooms, the vessel sink can be pottery in the east, zinc or copper in the west, and oiled wood in the mountain style. “A wooden toilet seat will make you think of that little trek outside in the middle of the night and give you a grin,” suggests Lin. “Be playful, this is supposed to be a fun space! Hang pictures of outhouses in there, tuck a catalogue amongst the bathroom tissue and you will definitely have people laughing!” “Kitchens and baths are also great places to add a more feminine touch,” suggests Phoebe. ‘Lodge can come across all masculine, but, dried flowers, pastel dinnerware, a little ruffle on the shower curtain, a soft rug on the slate floor of the kitchen or bath will all soften things up a little. Try fur and blanket-style rugs in mountain lodges, cowhides and sheepskins in western rooms, and braided or rag rugs in the east. Lodges often have a bunch of chairs around a fire; try having some leather club chairs and some upholstered wingbacks for a little ying and yang.” Vintage fabric pieces - quilts, cross-stitch samplers and anything handknit or crocheted - are all perfectly appropriate to the rustic look of a cabin, and add a softer edge. High-end versions such as tapestry needlework on a footstool, embroidered pillowcase and towel edges, or lacy mantel scarves will fulfill the same function in one of those snazzy hunting lodges. Whether you’re converting a whole home to lodge style, or just stealing little bits of it for your bedroom, family room, or

Not every lodge space needs to be overwhelminingly masculine.This bathroom remains undoubtedly lodge style, but adds a graceful

feminine feel with lighter tones in the custom birch bark veneers, natural wood finish counter tops and other wooden elements, a vase of

flowers and window of live plants, and sweet painted cabinet.

Project by Edwina Drummond - Edwina Drummond InteriorsPhotography by Joseph St. Pierre.

den - your inner sanctums - Lin says to be guided by your feelings. “In the end, it is less about ‘getting it right’ on a designer’s board than it is about ‘getting it right’ in your soul,” she says. “The lodge - and that piece of it you bring back to your urban loft or suburban bungalow - is a place to reconnect with nature, with family, with yourself. We go back to the family place at the shore, or to cottage country, or to Big Sky places, or to the mountains

to identify with really basic elements. These are the places, memories, and feelings that warm us through long nights and winters. It’s where we find our inner peace. “When you’re trying to decide if something belongs or not, touch it, lie on it, wrap yourself in it, sit and just look at it,” says Lin. “If it makes you feel warm and happy, if you feel at peace with it, it’s right.”

• Written by Ngaire Genge with additional research by Gail Frank and Chris Frasier