Log Home Plans

Before starting any log home building project, it is essential to ask yourself the following questions:

1. How many people will be living in the home?
2. Will you have a lot of guests and, will guests be staying overnight?
3. What kinds of activities do you and, or, your family engage in regularly?
4. Are specific spaces needed to account for hobbies, such as an art studio or home theater?
5. Do you need a separate dining room, or is an eat-in kitchen suitable?
6. When entertaining, do you need outdoor spaces to allow for this?
7. How many outdoor elements do you intend to incorporate in the log home’s design?
8. What size furniture do you need to accommodate?
9. Do you need a garage or any out buildings, such as sheds or greenhouses?
10. Which rooms do you want the most natural light drawn from?

Asking questions like these will get you started, but this is just the beginning.  Open your mind creatively during the planning process.  There are a lot of opportunities to bring out interesting architectural elements when positioning the wood, hand scribing log ends, and finishing cabinetry.  In addition to that, remember wood choices will bring a lot of changes to the design table.

Now that the holiday’s are over we can return to our normal scheduled profiles of Log Home Builders. This week it’s Strongwood Log Homes of Wisconsin and Tennessee.

I’ve included a cool virtual tour of some of their high quality log homes that they have manufactured for clients. They also have an extensive list of high quality floor plans.

One of the first companies that comes to my mind when I ponder log home builders is Meadowlark Log Homes in Libby, Montana. Libby is home to a progressive Amish community that drives automobiles, uses computers, and dresses liberally in comparison to Old Order Amish.

Tucked away in this small Montana town is a high quality log home manufacturer who brings the hard working traditions of the Amish to the log home industry. Meadowlark Log Homes was started in 1980 in Libby, Montana and has a rich history.

They have an extensive listing of log home floor plans and models to choose from, including more and more designs each year.

My favorite model is one that I would consider a starter log home for a young family, or maybe even a bachelor pad, called the Green Gables. It’s a 998 square foot model with a master bedroom situated in a loft that overlooks the rest of the house, and at $22,000 dollars, it’s an unbelievable deal. And if you really want to round out your log cabin buying experience, you can even have an old fashioned Amish house raising to speed up the construction process.

Download the floorplan, and when you’re done, take the time to explore Meadowlark’s extensive library of log home floor plans.

In my day to day research I often try to ask myself what are the biggest needs in the Log Home Community from a customer standpoint. One of those pressing needs is Log Home Plans. We all need a place to get ideas, start conversations and compare our dream house in our mind to actual plans we dig up on the internet.

One place I recently found is called Norse Log Homes, they have a nice depository of log home floor plans that we’ve recently added to our Log Home Plans section of our resources.

Two other great places to find Log Home Plans include:
Cool House Plans
Log Home Links

Those two should keep you busy for hours planning your dream log home.

No home is cheap especially if it’s the elusive DREAM HOME. You know the one I’m talking about. The one we all spend our entire lives building in the back of our minds. Well what do you do when that dream home starts to turn into a dream destroyer? I what fun is building the perfect pad if you can’t afford to party in it? If you are staring down a dark hall of debt maybe you need the 3D’s

• Drop Expensive Items
• Do It Yourself
• Delay What Isn’t Necessary

Drop Expensive Items

Nobody wants to have to cut corners or stick to a leaner meaner budget than what they originally planned, but at some point you have to ask yourself "Do I really need a basketball court designed by Michael Jordan?" The answer is probably not (unless of course you are Michael Jordan). Try rolling out the ole floor plan and taking a look at where you stand. By lowering the ceilings and decreasing the size of your rooms by just a few inches you can end up saving thousands. Plus you won’t risk the look of your home. Yes that fireplace should be the center point of the room, but do your have to use real stone? Try artificial.

It may not look quite the same, but cutting costs equals having to sacrifice. Other cost cutting tips include choosing carpet over expensive hardwood, name brand furniture over custom made, and stock trim isn’t something to be embarrassed about. Remember customer equals cost.