Urban Cabin: Tumbleweed Tiny House Company

My friend sent me a link to the Tumbleweed Tiny House Company years ago and I'm so glad it's still around.  I mean, look how amazing this is:

It's a whole house!  Even if you had a tiny city lot, you could still have so much yard to plant things in!  I love how the houses come in two sizes: tiny and small.

Tiny.

Small.

The interiors are beautiful, and they are affordable.  You could even build it yourself!  And what more do you need than this little place?  Little storage = less stuff  = simplicity.  I would love to see more of these in urban areas!

Window Frame

I'm loving this window cold frame from Small Measures with Ashley English.  Who doesn't have old windows lying around?  If you don't, you could probably find some on the side of the road this coming spring.  I can see this box around the side of a house placed purposefully over the crocuses to get them to come up early!

Camp Style: Walden 1845

River Island striped top, 35 GBP
Steven Alan wool sweater, $119
Burberry Prorsum slim pants, 250 GBP
Wanted Shoes side zipper boot, $25
Bronze jewelry, $20
Miss Selfridge vintage shawl, 16 GBP

I only live a couple towns over from Concord, but I've only been to Walden Pond once. I was surprised at how clear the water was, but was mostly enamored of the little Thoreau replica cabin. It had so few things in it, but I wanted to stay. He famously noted in Walden, "I had three pieces of limestone on my desk, but I was terrified to find that they required to be dusted daily, when the furniture of my mind was all undusted still, and threw them out the window in disgust." So if I went to visit Thoreau in March, I wouldn't bring him anything but food and company. But here's what I'd be wearing:

-Brown wool pants and boots to navigate the muddy dirt roads

-Soft striped shirt, earrings and printed scarf to blend in with the pre-leaf forest

-Cozy wool sweater

Camp Style: The Boots

You know, the boots.

I haven't owned a pair of Bean boots in ages, and these waxed canvas beauties are calling my name. Perfectly suiting both my style (when on my feet) and my cabin stylings (when displayed proudly on my mantel.. I mean, on the welcome mat...).

Best of all? Made in Maine.

Fireplaces

Hand-made stone fireplace, Cobbossee Lake, Maine

Many cabins come standard with fireplaces, but many urban apartments do not. Or not that you can light a fire in anyway. My apartment doesn't have one, but there is a sign of there once being a wood stove in the kitchen. Modern appliances have long since replaced it, which is what probably got us into this no-fireplace mess.

So how to bring the warmth and relaxation of a fireplace to your apartment?

-If you have a fireplace that doesn't work, try cozying it up with some faux logs

-Look for a wood mantelpiece on Craigslist to go on a bare wall (a quick search found one for $75 near Boston!) and place a basket in the center

-Set up a (tiny) indoor fire using fire gel and a planter

Whatever you do, keep the fireplace rustic, and then load it up with pinecones and knick-knacks!

Helen Palmer's rustic 'place

Blanket Lamps

A little while ago Anthropologie had these Log Cabin Pendant Lamps for sale:

In my mind they would cast out warm, fluffy light over a wooden table. It's like the lamp you want to hug. But for $600, no thanks.

As soon as I find an old striped wool blanket at Goodwill though, watch out. Blanket lamp would be mine. I could even use guidance from this bushel basket Design*Sponge DIY.

Urban Cabin: First Sighting

The first time I ever saw an urban cabin was in Seattle's Fremont neighborhood in December 2009. That was when I knew they existed.

Here is a photo from GSV:

This is how truly cabin-y it is. You can't even see it. But I remember peeking in through the little gate and it had a wide open porch and nice little yard. Like they woke up every morning in the woods, and then walked to work in the city. Brilliant.

Camp Style: Lake in June

POL floral top, $30
Polo Jeans Co blue short, 79 GBP
Blue loafer, $100
Aurélie Bidermann embroidery bracelet, $95
Athletic Sweats, Logo Crewneck: Sweatshirts at L.L.Bean, $35

Quintessential around-the-cabin wear:

-Rolled pants just high enough to pull a boat to shore
-Bright florals to match the wildflowers on the table
-Oversize sweatshirt
-Slip on and off boat shoes for a trip into town
-A bit of rope and a charm

Alternately, wear this to work and make people jealous that you just got back from camp.

A Coming Together...

I spend an awful lot of time looking at design blogs, style blogs, reading the science section of the New York Times, reading articles from the Nature Conservancy and Audubon, going for walks, going for hikes, going birdwatching, looking at plants... and it all seems to lead to the same place.

I work in Cambridge, but I long to be in the woods. And not just in the woods. In a cabin in the woods. But how to reconcile that when I live and work in the city?

So here's where I'll pull it all together. Ideas for urban cabin design. How to bring more native plants to small places and foster native habitats. How my style can reflect the clothes I feel the most comfortable in (hiking clothes!). And how to bring relaxed cabin living to my everyday life.

It's all about simplicity and the good life, and realizing it doesn't have to wait until a summer vacation in Maine...