Creating a Cozy Interior:
Interior Design for Park Model Cabins
Do you dream of escaping to the woods on weekends? During your busy work week, do you wish for the quiet, slow pace of life around a campfire, walks in the woods, or a cozy read at night?
Purchasing a park model cabin is one way to bring these dreams to life!
There are many necessary things to do after you purchase a park model cabin: paperwork, ensuring electric and water hook up, inspecting safety features, and getting it parked at the perfect location.
After those are done, you’ll want to make your cabin a place where your dreams come true by personalizing your park model cabin!
In this article, we put our years of experience to work and tackled that exact subject. When you’re finished reading, you’ll be equipped with what you need to decorate your cabin perfectly.
Let’s get started!
Table of Contents
Why Decorating Your Cabin Matters
Personalizing your cabin interiors can be fun but also challenging. Many park model cabins are mass-produced and lack the warm, personal touches that make a home special.
If you are personally using the cabin, you want it to be a place you enjoy and relax. Skimping on decor may make it feel less homey and take away from your experience.
If you are a campground owner, decorating your cabin makes it feel personalized and cozy for every camper that comes through. They'll tell their friends and want to return again!
However, cabin decor stores and websites are full of busy buffalo check; cheap, mass-produced art, and pillows that soon go flat.
If you want beautiful, cozy cabin interiors with personal touches and a sense of history and depth, you’ll want to steer clear of these quick and easy purchases. Your dream cozy space probably won’t be purchased all at once or from one store.
Thankfully, you can follow some simple steps to create the cabin of your dreams. While your park model home might be small, you can transform it into a unique, cozy space that you can’t wait to escape to on weekends!
Let’s get into how it’s done!
Find an inspirational picture.
For most of us, trying to visualize what we want our space to look like can be difficult!
That’s why we recommend that you start by finding a picture of a cabin you love. What colors are dominant in the space? What style are the furniture and decor? Is it fresh and modern? Nature-inspired? Warm and cozy?
Some cabin styles you may want to explore include Scandinavian cabin style, New England cabin style, Southwest cabin style, vintage camp-style cabin, rustic lake house style, or 1970s cabin style.
After choosing an inspirational photo (or two), decide which elements of the picture you can add to your cabin. Some examples of things you might see in your inspiration picture that you could put into your park model cabin include specific patterns, colors, types of furniture, and window treatments.
The next section will cover decorating elements essential for making park model cabins cozy and unique!
Paint!
Cabin interiors have lots of wood. Even the coziest, most rustic spaces can benefit from painting a wall or a room to freshen up the heaviness of the wood. While white always brightens up a wooden interior, don’t be afraid to go with other colors (refer to your inspiration photo).
In general, dark greens and dark gray blues are great cabin colors. When choosing a color, refer to inspiration photos - will the paint color look good with the type of wood in your cabin?
For example, light gray or beige paint with bright honey-colored wood will not look good together. On the other hand, darker, warmer tones would look great with bright, honey-colored wood.
Let’s Add Plaid (and when to stop)
Does anything say “I’m at a cabin” more than plaid? Many American cabin styles include plaid, and there’s a good chance your inspiration photo does too!
You could add plaid pillows, plaid bedding, or a plaid jacket hanging on a hook - it all adds a cozy and rustic feel to your space.
But be careful! If you walk into a cabin decor store, they may try to sell you everything in red and black buffalo check.
Here’s the best-kept secret of cabin decor:
Less is more: You only need to add a little plaid, not a whole cabin of plaid. Stick with three to four small and medium plaid items (pillows, throws, etc.) or one large plaid item (sofa, bed, or area rug).
Vintage Pieces: Banishing the manufactured look
Vintage pieces personalize any space and add character! Don't skip this step if you are trying to get rid of the “off-the-lot” feel of your park model cabin.
Vintage pieces often are collected over time, giving the cabin a sense of history. Vintage pieces also allow you to express your hobbies, interests, and local history and nature.
Some examples of vintage pieces you might want to include in your cabin decor are vintage furniture, camp lanterns, artwork, picnic baskets, animal mounts (fish, fox, or antler mounts), books, and vintage sports or outdoor gear (such as fishing rods or boating equipment). A collection of vintage maps or old-fashioned board games would also be great accessories to a park model cabin!
A Magic Trick (add lamps!)
Now, I will perform a magic trick for you. Are you ready?
Take a look at your inspiration picture again. I will tell you an item in your inspiration picture, and you will tell me if I’m correct.
Are you looking at your picture? I’m thinking… mmhmm…wait… almost got it… Ah-ha!
There is a LAMP in your inspiration picture!
Am I right?
I’m quite confident I’m right. Do you know why?
Because almost all cozy rooms have lamps! Lamps add warmth and take a room from basic to beautiful. Think about places without cozy lights: doctors' offices, grocery stores, banks and other similar places. That is not the look you want in your cabin. Cozy places have lamps: coffee shops, libraries, gift shops, and homes!
Cozy lighting allows you to read, play games, or sit quietly in the morning with coffee.
How many lamps do you need for your park model cabin?
Recently, my family was at a lake house, and some of us were playing a board game late at night. We didn’t want all the overhead lights on at night. But there was only one lamp. We moved the board game and the lamp as close together as possible, but it still was quite dark for playing a board game.
One lamp isn’t enough for an entire room.
The truth is, it's hard to add too many lamps. Nearly every corner of a room can benefit from some type of lamp, even the kitchen. Maria Killam recommends secondary lighting every four feet!
So go ahead - buy some lamps for your cabin. You’ll be glad you did!
Curtains: The Finishing Touch
What if there was something you could add to your cabin that made a HUGE difference in appearance but didn’t take up a lot of space?
Curtains, or drapes, add softness and style to a room without taking up much space. This can make a significant impact if you do it right. Many people buy cheap, short curtains or skip curtains altogether.
However, if you want some design “bang for your buck,” you need to get some good curtains or drapes.
Beautiful curtains are hung high above the top of the window frame and wide on the sides. Plenty of fabric should be on each side of the window so the curtains can be closed. And the curtains should just touch the floor.
Yes, it's extra work to measure and buy the right size curtains, but it's a relatively small amount of work for the impact you will see in your room!
Your room will look cozy and put together. It will look finished!
Getting Your Cabin Ready for Guests: Bonus tips for leveling up your cabin!
If you own an Airbnb or campground with multiple cabins, you may be dreaming about making your park model cabins different and special from other places your guests stay.
As you know, the interior of your cabin not only attracts guests viewing the cabin pictures online but wows the guests as they step into your cabin for the first time.
We’ve all entered a vacation home, hotel, or cabin and have experienced the importance of those first impressions of the space.
Is it as beautiful as the listing online? Or even better in person? When you enter the door, are you greeted with a musty or stale scent? Does the sofa look soft and inviting? Does the bed look comfortable? Is there a note or gift for guests?
Your cabin's visual impact and physical comfort really matter to your guests! A beautiful, cozy space is more enjoyable to stay in and will make them more likely to make reservations with you in the future.
The decorating essentials listed earlier focus on the visual aspects of a cozy cabin. But there’s more to a cozy space than how it looks! Here are some cozy ideas you may not have thought of that will make your cabins or Airbnb stand out for guests!
Include at least one consumable item for your guests.
Nothing says, “We want you here,” like consumables for the guests to enjoy. It doesn’t have to be a lavish gift basket. A few water bottles or seltzers, granola bars, or some candies tell your guests you are happy to have them there!
Down pillows and soft throw blankets
Down pillows (or alternative down) on the sofas and beds feel luxurious and cozy! It's a step up from a basic pillow and will make your guests feel like your cabin is a step up, too. And who doesn’t love to snuggle up with a soft throw blanket for a movie (or a nap)? Don’t skip this important cozy element!
Cozy scents
Step into your cabin rental and pay attention to the scent that you smell first. Scents are part of what makes a space cozy, too! We all have stayed in cabins (or other places) with strange smells. It subconsciously makes your rental feel dirty and stale.
Here are some tips for a fresh, clean-smelling cabin:
- Open the windows and let fresh air in before guests arrive, or use an air purifier to circulate fresh air.
- Change the furnace filters regularly.
- Use natural room spray, potpourri, or natural cleaners to give the space a gentle but fresh and inviting scent.
- Avoid strong, artificial smells since they can bother guests with allergies.
Conclusion
Don’t let the mass-produced cabin or generic decor keep you from adding your own personality and coziness to your park model cabin. With some planning and effort, you can create a cozy park model cabin you and your guests will truly enjoy.
At Lancaster Log Cabins, we create beautiful park model cabins from solid wood logs. We’d love to help you find the perfect park model cabin that suits your needs!
There are memories to make: roasting hot dogs and s’mores, singing around the campfire, fishing, playing board games, and walking in the woods.
Give us a call or email us – we’re happy to answer any of your questions. You’re also welcome to stop by our shop and showroom in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, and see our park model cabins in person.
Let’s get your cabin ready!