Cabins in the Great Lakes region are unique. They are often passed down through generations, holding enough memories in one summer to last a lifetime. The feeling of sand-glazed floors beneath your feet after a day on the water, hearing the laughs of debate in the next room over on whether Farmers was agreed upon before the start of the Euchre game, and reminiscing around the campfire long after the last of the ice has melted in the cooler next to you. “This right here is what it’s all about,” you think to yourself. Because when it comes down to it, time at the cabin is indispensable, and you wouldn’t trade your time here for anything else in the world. This is why refreshing a cabin’s style must be done with careful consideration and intention. How does one even begin to design around Great Grandpa’s rocker and an MCM lamp? With careful consideration of the colors used, furniture and fixtures can blend seamlessly together, no matter their style. This is what cabin culture in the Great Lakes region is all about. Honoring the legacy of all those who have ever spent time here. So without further ado, let’s dive into how to go about refreshing your cabin for the season through creating a timeless color palette and mixing old and new elements to create a style unique to your cabin that echoes the stories of all those who have shared time there. 

Color Refresh

While cooler tones like greys and stark cool whites definitely have their place in modern cottage design along the shore, warmer, moody tones can be excellent to tie into your interior as a nod to the old-growth forests outside. Adding touches of colors like moss, clay, and ochre can help to achieve a cozy, serene atmosphere that feels like a warm embrace after a long day outdoors. This can be done by adding a few purposeful objects in these colors to your room, like throw blankets, pillows, and rugs. However, if looking to refresh a room on a larger scale, we’ve gathered up some paint samples below that we feel would be excellent choices. 

Ochre

A nod to the deposits in the iron ranges of the Upper Peninsula and along Lake Superior shorelines, this color is the perfect way to add a touch of warmth in a room. If used as an accent color, aim for three objects in this color throughout a room. An example would be an ochre- colored lamp, blanket, and vase placed throughout the living room or den. 

Bonus: Ochre wall colors would look smashing in a room with a lot of windows in the autumn when Sugar Maple trees outside are just reaching peak color. 

• Benjamin Moore: Acorn Squash, Seville Tan
• Sherwin-Williams: Artifact
• Farrow & Ball: Octagon Yellow

Clay

One of the most beautiful earth-toned colors that is often overlooked in nature, probably because it is always beneath our feet, is clay. Clay tones are very versatile because their neutralness pulls warmth from and complements several wood tones already found in cabins throughout the Great Lakes region. Perfect in rooms with antique oak furniture, or used as an accent color in cabins where warm wood tones are the dominant feature, adding a touch of clay to your space is the perfect way to refresh it. Clay will not compete with, but work alongside these features in your home, and its timelessness will keep it around for years to come. 

Sherwin-Williams: Canyon Clay, Tanbark

Behr: Timeless Copper

Farrow & Ball: Fox Red

Moss

Earthy moss tones in old-growth forests in the Midwest are among the first colors we notice in spring and are the primary tones in our woodlands in the fall. As a calming color, moss tones work great in bedrooms, living rooms, and reading nooks. The warm, brown undertones of moss complement both modern and antique copper and brass fixtures, allowing different style elements to exist within a space and making them look intentional. Additionally, moss tones in fabrics with striped and tartan patterns also make great transitional pieces that can be moved throughout the home and complement every season.

Behr: Green Scene, Truly Olive

Farrow & Ball: Sap Green

Sherwin-Williams: Artichoke

A Mix of Old and New

One of the easiest ways to refresh your cabin is to start by moving furniture around, not only within a room, but also from room to room throughout the house. This allows you to experiment with the layout of a room and helps give a new perspective on a space. It can also help give a newfound appreciation for some pieces that may have gone overlooked for years, tucked away in a less-used room or even in storage. This can help train your eye on what old and new objects visually pair well together. Another helpful tip for pairing old and new furniture together while keeping a cohesive space is to try to keep furniture of similar tone together (i.e., warm cherry and mahogany). 

As far as objects that cannot be moved, like cabinetry in bathrooms and kitchens, try changing out hardware. For instance, in kitchens with oak cabinetry, try switching out cool-toned metal knobs and pulls for brass. Both the brass and the oak have warm undertones that work well and complement one another. Brass also pairs well with nickel in kitchen and bathroom fixtures due to nickel’s warm undertones. 

All of us have had small mementos that have slowly accumulated at our cabin over the years. A special mussel shell collection stowed away in a jar, the first fly-fishing lure you tied alongside Grandpa, a small Petoskey stone collection tucked away in a drawer, these are the reminders of what make our cabins so special. Finding a new way to display family memories and mementos can give us renewed appreciation for these objects. Try displaying family pictures from over the years on a gallery wall in a central location like a main hallway or living space where they can be admired by everyone who passes by. Place shells in different-sized apothecary jars on an open shelf. Make shadow boxes of mementos and pictures that mark a special event and display them in your office or living room. These are just a few ways that can make your cabin reflect your family’s legacy. 

One Final Note

Refreshing your cabin doesn’t have to seem daunting and unachievable. Start with one room at a time, and refresh the space for the season. This can not only be attainable but enjoyable for the whole family. By mixing old with new and doing some rearranging, your cabin will feel warm, inviting, and ready to make new memories for years to come. Please let me know in the comments how you plan to refresh your cabin this season, and if this article was helpful in your refresh!

Looking for more inspiration? Check out our blog on Bringing the Lake Home: Natural Textures and Tones Inspired by the Great Lakes.