Big renovations started on our A-frame at the beginning of August and by the end of September, I think/hope all the major players will be in place. It’s going to be another busy month up there but I thought I would give you a big update on everything that has been done and will be done in the next couple weeks. We’ve nailed down almost all of the foundation choices (flooring, stone, exterior!) and it’s hard to believe by the end of September/beginning of October, we’ll be installing the kitchen–there’s a really big announcement at the end of the post of about that! Here’s what I can tell you about each of the major players:
The HVAC
This is what has torn up the majority of our cabin. Previously, our a-frame was only heated by a wood burning stove and a pellet stove. Both required constant feeding and attention and took actual hours to heat up the cabin, not to mention it wasn’t something we could control or regulate from our home an hour away. There was no AC and it would get sweltering in the summer! We decided the best time to tackle this was upfront. We made 1 zone for each level (there are 3) with ducts running throughout the house and thermostats in the main living spaces and standard vents in each of the rooms. There will be A/C and heat and absolutely, there will still be fireplaces on the main level and basement level that heat the space, fueled by a giant 1000 gallon propane tank on the property (see it right here!) we also had recently installed (we’ll need to have it refilled once or twice a year). The best part of it all is we’ll be able to control the temperature zones from our phones remotely. At the same time, we have updated the furnace, water heater (we went tankless as to not burn through propane constantly) and even though this is literally the least fun way to spend $30K*cue the tears*, and has no impact on aesthetics, we know that this is the thing that will 100% make our cabin an enjoyable place to stay.
The floors
The wood floors:
If you watched this CLJTV video than you know that after looking at so. many. samples. we decided to go a little bit outside of our comfort zone and go with a lighter option–KÄHRS OAK ASPELAND from Stuga Studio. They have a beautiful white finish and rustic cracks that encompass the vision of what we hope this cabin to feel: cozy, rustic, cabin-y, but still modern. Stuga Studio only sell Kährs of Sweden, the oldest hardwood flooring company in the world. They invented engineered hardwood flooring back in 1941 and were the first company in the world to remove all chemicals from their finishes, way back in 1983. The flooring will extend throughout the entire main floor living room, kitchen and bedroom (we have other plans for the bathroom), down the stairs and throughout the entire basement level and up the loft stairs (bye, bye aggressively orange stairs!). However, the loft will be carpeted…
The carpet:
We imagine the loft to be a fun place for kids to hang out. We plan on packing in the single beds with trundles and making it the sleepover spot of our dreams. And while we’re definitely going to have area rugs elsewhere, we’re excited for some soft wall-to-wall carpet underfoot in the loft. We were honestly going to get the exact same carpet we have in our home because we love it so much. We are going to go with Stainmaster Pet Protect carpet (it cleans up like a dream) Secret Dream in Canvas (top right sample above). It’s low-pile, looped/Berber carpet that’s incredible soft. The canvas color is two-toned and warm and we think it will hold up beautifully up there.
The fireplaces
Since we were doing away with the wood burning and pellet stoves, we had to pick new stone for both fireplaces. The main fireplace has always looked so squatty because they only took the stone up about 5 feet (and the ceilings are 20+ feet!). We’re going to take the stone all the way up and have it match upstairs and down. We went to a local stone yard (rocky mountain supply for anyone woondering) and zeroed in pretty quickly on larger stone that felt warm, casual and welcoming. It’s called GREYPEARL CRAFT ORCHARD LIMESTONE (see above). At first Chris laughed when I called the stone welcoming, but after I showed him the contrast between sharp/jagged stone and the slightly rounded/smooth stone that we decided on–he agreed, it felt welcoming. It’s a great mix of warm grays.
The exterior
Are you going to paint your cabin? Yes! We will be staining and sealing all of the many decks ourselves in the next couple weeks and will be hiring out the exterior paint job at the same time–fortunately, the majority of our a-frame is a light warm orange roof, so it shouldn’t be too expensive and we can avoid those scary heights. Currently it is stained a bright red (which is so alarming with those large trunks in the front), our plan is to paint it a warm black and keep the decks a nice wood toned–we’re gathering a lot of inspiration from @invernessaframe below! We can’t wait to see it come to life. For the green around it all the really shine even more. To see the black against the white snow in just a couple months, or the blue water. We’re still nailing down the exact shade-but we love the inspo below and we’ll definitely keep you posted.
(via @invernessaframe)
The kitchen
(via  Brad Krefman)
(via danawolterinteriors)
Our kitchen plans really deserve their own post–so that’s coming. But we just got the green light to spill the beans! We’ll be using our own cabinet line we’re launching with Semihandmade in the next couple months!!! Ahhhh!!! A year ago, they reached out about a collaboration and we started brainstorming and pinning what we wanted to bring to the table and I was drawn to shaker wood doors over and over and over again (See my whole Pinterest board full of them here). As a refresher, Semihandmade makes cabinet fronts to fit Ikea cabinet boxes ( we’re also working on compatibility with at least one other brand!) was all about it and our initial launch will have light wood, light grayish wood and dark wood cabinet fronts! Over the past few months, we have gotten increasingly more excited as we have gotten samples and have definitely seen wood returning to the kitchen and bathrooms and homes in a fresh way. We can’t wait to use them in our cabin and see them in the homes of many others, too! Much more to come about this. :)
Hi Chris and Julia,
We are designing out A frame cabin located in the Black Hills. I really like the dimensions or yours! Would you share with me the overall dimensions or your cabin? Length, width, roof pitch or height. Inside dimensions aren’t necessary, I’m trying to get the scale right from the outside.
thanks!
Sorry, I don’t have that
Exciting!! Can’t wait to see your floors and the wood choices you make for your kitchen cabinets!!
looks beautiful, just curious how you afford all this ? Do you have day jobs, or just using the blog?
We both work on the blog, social platforms and we have multiple lines. We also do what is called rollover budgets where we setoney for a project and anything we don’t use, we rollover to the next project.
Love the plans and love the new partnership. You have me second guessing my kitchen cabinet plans, now!
Ah! Exciting!!!! I don’t love Semihandmade’s current wood options so I’m dying to see what you will bring to their lineup.