I’ve just started watching the new season of “Blog Cabin” and I remembered I have this great log cabin to show you:
Brenda has the cutest log cabin! I am so jealous – and her hubby built it!
They painted the kitchen cabinets red and Brenda loves the color. She sent pictures so we could all drool:
She has a question about color for some of the rest of the cabin:
Hi Debra,
A couple of weeks ago I asked you if I should paint, stain or leave natural the stairs that my husband built in our small cabin. I told you my kitchen cabinets were painted red, and you said if I loved the red, go for it.I still haven’t’ done anything yet, for fear I won’t like anything I do.You also said you would like to see a picture, so here is a picture. What do you think? Still paint it red?
Thanks
Brenda – Cute cute cute! I love your little cabin!
I really like the red on the kitchen cabinets. From the pictures it looks like painting the stairs red would balance things. It’s a bit heavy on the red cabinet side and the stair railing gets lost because it’s all the same wood.
The beam across the middle of the room looks interesting… but I can’t really tell if it’s hanging down at ceiling height. It might be interesting to stain a dark – dark color.
Debra
Thanks for your response………The ceiling is (don’t know technical term) an “A” pitch roof and the beams are the same height as the floor in the loft area.
Are you talking about staining the stairs a dark color or staining the beams? (Which has giving me another idea)
Actually, as far as the stairs go, what I have been dwelling about is staining the steps just a regular medium shade, paint the balusters red and paint the top railing black.
Hey Brenda
I was thinking of staining the beams a dark color which would set them apart from all the matchy wood.
The idea you have for the stairs sounds cool – but… it might be busy.
I might stick with the same dark stain as the beams for the hand rail and the stair steps… and then pop on the red for for the balusters.
BTW… the dark I’m thinking of is really really dark… like mahogany.
To balance this darkness you will end up having to use something dark in the room. Like a dark coffee table or???
_______
Do you have any words of wisdom for Brenda? Any ideas? Leave them below in the reply section!
{ 20 comments… read them below or add one }
The only thing I would do is paint the hall opening overhead and down post marking the hallway opening. Use the same red as the kitchen cabinets. That would make the kitchen look larger and it continues it. Do nothing with paint on the stairs except put a clear semi-gloss on all other wood to bring out the wood design. It will pop and all will be well. Accent pillows in green and red that matches your window insert design for your furniture and there you have it. Thank you for sharing.
That wood is really beautiful and natural wood give the cabins it’s rustic feel. Dark stain is probably too much. I would opt for a Golden Oak or even an Oil like Tung or Danish to make the grain pop and the stairs glow.
Are the stairs the pine that the rest of the cabin is? What kind of wood are the stairs?
Brenda
I would glaze the kitchen cabinets to give them a richer look. I like the red but it needs to be toned down a little to go with all the wood in the cabin. I would not paint the stairs, railing or balusters. I would “STAIN” the railing first and then decide what to do with the stairs and balusters. I would use a dark rich stain on the railing and then go from there. The same dark stain could be used on the ceiling beam. I would not use red on the baluster, its to busy and would cheapen the look. You could add ART with red in it on the walls near the stair, this would help to balance. I would also add some furniture pieces that pick up on the dark stain you use on the railings and beams.
Hi! I have a thought… maybe bring in another color–I am trying to visualize this—paint the stairs red, and then doing a design in black on every other step? Such as a stencil. Maybe you will like incorporating the design so much you would like to apply it on a few areas on the cabinets too. If you look at my website, you will see stairs I painted with a simple stencil that didn’t take too long, but really “classed” them up.
While I like the idea of the red cabinets, I think they are too modern of a “red”. Mountain style cabins have old reds, which are really more of a weathered red. Look at the reds in these pieces:
http://www.crowsnesttrading.com/product/852/furniture
http://www.crowsnesttrading.com/product/81/furniture
http://www.crowsnesttrading.com/product/2991/furniture
I would go back and distress the kitchen cabinets, then stain selective pieces of trim wood in the cabin a darker color. Use weathered blacks, greens and twig accents and she’ll be in business!
Dear Brenda,
Just looked at the photos……….great job with the cabinets. They do make a statement that is very interesting and inviting, but you know what they say, less is more. I agree with adding some red to balance the overall visual effect. My suggestion is to paint only the risers on tthe stairs red. I would then varnish the rest of the stairs and the walls. It would bring out the grain and add luster to the wood without detracting from the workmanship. Just something else to think about. Good luck with the project. Hope you post a picture of the final project.
Sincerely.
patricia
Love the red cabinets. I painted my refrigerator red and that’s the thing most people just love when they see it. My thoughts are to stain the staircase, door trim including the balustrade and the beam across dark walnut. Then stain the pie shaped wedge under the stairs a red that matches the cabinets but shows the wood grain through. Maybe even wrap the red around the corner onto the wall with the two doors on it. I love all the wood but it’s a little monotone.
Hey
I was thinking that you might paint the spindels on the railing and the ones down in the hallway red. You could then leave the rest of the wood the color it is so that things don’t get to busy. If you do paint the banister black you could paint the beams black too, to tie it all together!
I love your cabin, I think the dark stain would be great!
Hope you show more pictures as you progress!
Hi Brenda:
As the gal that paints her floors with rugs and bricks ect and has all that tongue and groove in the rest of my place, I will offer my suggestions to you. If you are going to varathane or varnish the walls remember that they will darken as time passes. If you want them to stay that brighter natural wood then remember my tip on if it is yellow in the can it will be yellow on the wall and continue to yellow and eventually be quite dark. I am assuming you want to leave the walls looking natural. Wood has a beauty all of its own and as it ages it gets more distinct. You only want a little accent so I would just do a very deep dark brown the hand rail and the single rail that the stairs are on and the surface of the steps. The little edge of the surface of the steps will show from the kitchen. Leave the spindles natural and just varathane them also. Matter of fact varathane them first it will make it much easier to get your paint or stain off of them if you splash a little. You could also do the accent above your doorway the same dark color. To do around the spindles at their bases you will have to do some masking so that the spindles stay clear at their bases top and bottom I think if you do the entire staircase all one color of dark it will stand out too much and leaving it all natural does make it kind of fade into the woodwork….that wasn’t a pung but it sounds like one!! You just require accent with your beautiful wood walls. And when I did my walls I used High Gloss on the natural wood and they parts I stained. Helps reflect the light better and the higher the gloss the better it cleans later. And it seems to yellow slower too because it is reflecting the light and not absorbing it. Guess you could say it works like a sunscreen. By the way a beautiful stain for wood is………….”Instant coffee”. You just add a enough water to make it liquid and apply it with a rag or a sponge. Rag is best with this. The nice thing about the instant coffee is that you control how dark your stain is. It stains it very light the first time and each time you go over it it gets a little darker. And it just gives a beautiful tone on the wood. You must varathane all the wood around it first and do not let it run down. Start from the bottom of all items and work up. then if it runs the lines will not show. They just wipe off. After it is the darkness you want then you varathane it too. I did my sons bedroom in “Tasters Choice decafinated” It leaves a beautiful golden hue no matter how dark you put it. I tried samples on scrap wood and decided I wanted two coats to get the darkness I wanted. You will likely have to do three or maybe even four but it only takes a minute to put it on. No big fuss like using regular stain. I did samples with several other coffees and liked the Tasters Choice the best because it left that gold hue and that really went well with the other three walls that I left unstained and just did in the clear varathane. And I high glossed it all. Anyway, just my opinion. PS by the way, that was over 15 years ago I stained that wall and it never did seem to darken. It stayed the same. The other three walls darkened. Good luck Linda
Hi everybody,
my idea would be to do the stairs in a red stain or – as mentioned – a mahogany colour? A reddy-brown that would be a step between the kitchen (and bring out the colour) and blend into the rest of the cabin?
What do you think? Gemma Laming
PS I am trying to update my website to show some of the things I have been up to lately. But customers keep wanting me to work for them.
you did a great job on the cabinets but I think you might re-consider their color…they are too loud and it seems they are your delema to “paint around”…..maybe more of a brick tone….staying with natural/earthy tones….then you could stain your stairs. the cabinets, in my opinion, are too chinese restaurant red. but as I said you did a great job painting them.
Hi Brenda, Last thing you want to hear from everyone is to change the color on the cabinets after you spent “FOREVER” on them, right! When I look at the pictures, it looks like you have a dollhouse kitchen stuck in the middle of a beautiful cabin. You need to paint or tile or add shelving above the kitchen sink area to make the kitchen blend into the rest of the house. Wood ceiling, wood walls, wood stairs, wood railings, wood doors, WOW, that’s alot of wood. So, either you’re a fan of dark mahogany, med oak or a light natural look. My opinion would be the light natural wood(with a few coats of polyurathene) so it stays light and airy instead of dark and depressing. Someone said to paint the stairs with stencils-GREAT IDEA! What are your feelings on the wall being painted with the look of copper? It looks like there are copper colored tiles on the backsplash. Good luck and hope to see the final results! XGrMaLinda of southern Illinois.
Hey Brenda & Hubby…..cool cabin….red is good, think maybe I agree w/ Denise Hall….tone red down… Option 1: maybe a dark wiping glaze or wiping gel stain (gel stain a little more friendly to work with, less drips) adding some depth and maybe use the same wiping stain on the rails, balusters, stairs and hall entry doorway. Then accessorize with reds in furniture, area rugs, blankets/throws, etc. Then I would think about staining the beams as well just to carry it throughout the room. Option 2: Age cabinets by dry brushing black or red & black together randomly as if it were faded and worn/weathered…. Please let us know what you decide….It’s a beautiful home
I agrre with the others on toning the red down a bit and glaze. It will look so rich and not so overwhelming. I wouls stain the stairs maybe a maple? Not so dark.
Just my opinion, I think leaving as much of the cabin in the natural wood is the way you want to go. I agree with everyone, you need to tone the cabinets down. I was thinking a tan color over the red, sand it out so the red shows but the tan would be the dominant color. I don’t even know if that would work, but if it did, it would prevent you from doing anything to the beautiful wood. I will be waiting to hear what you do!! Good luck.
Donna
Hey Brenda,
I’d antique the red so as to match the wood better. It’d give you that rich colour look. I’d only paint the railing, and maybe the doorframes red, antiquing that to, so as to tie it all together. You don’t want to overpower it though, so leave the stairs. If you want extra richness and some division, why not antique the beam and railings. Use the wiping gel. Hey go for it and do the doors as well.
I would not paint that beautiful wood. A medium stain with a medium gloss finish. Red would look good on the railing and the beam to tie in.
The beauty of a cabin is the rustic feel of wood. The wood is beautiful I would NOT paint it. I agree with the others on giving it a stain and vanish and then bring the red over with paintings and accessories. If you feel you really need the red, paint just the banister. Otherwise your cabin is wonderful.