The House that Cedar Fixed

Cottage Country Transformation You Won’t Want to Miss – Episode 1: “Cabin Makeover Ideas”

Looking for cabin makeover ideas? Follow Colin & Justin in this exclusive Real Cedar web series, as the dynamic design duo transforms a dated 1980s, Ontario cabin into a luxury lakeside wilderness lodge. In order to add value to their property and enhance their cabin-living experience, they’re incorporating inspired applications of Western Red Cedar into their cottage country transformation. These additions include a revamped interior as well as the addition of a sunroom, pergolas, a funky Bunkie and a gorgeous 2,500 square-foot wraparound deck.

How to Renovate Your Cabin

When it came time to renovate their latest cottage investment, Colin & Justin had some pretty lofty design ideas kicking around. To realize their vision, the two international designers and property developers needed a versatile, top-performing building material that could help transform their dated, frumpy cabin into a luxury cottage.

“Western Red Cedar is our go-to timber,” says Colin. “We’re using it indoor and outdoor. And we’re going to show you exactly how it can enhance your property, how it can enhance its value and how it can make life at the lake just so much better.”

Adding a Beautiful Bunkie

Their first project will be adding a beautiful Bunkie for guest overspill – wait until you see the big reveal! Next up in episode 3, they’ll chronicle the making of their beautiful sunroom.

“You cannot have a summer cottage without a screened sunroom,” says Colin. “You got to keep those bugs at bay and ours is a beautiful cedar structure that really enhances our property. It gives us more space, a great place to go in the summer and really makes this such a worthwhile experience.”

Benefits of a Cedar Deck

But the showstopping addition to their cabin will be their stunning Real Cedar deck.

“Now, they say you can tell an awful lot about a man by the size of his deck,” says Justin. “Ours is going to be 2 ½ thousand square feet wrapped around virtually every elevation because brining the outdoors in the indoors out is super important for us. With a climate such as this, we want to be outside as much as possible and we can on that wonderful cedar platform.”

After that, the dynamic design duo will install some beautiful space-defining pergolas.

“These wonderful cedar structures really add a natural organic element to the architecture,” says Colin.

Warming Up Your Interior Space

One the reasons they love working with Western Red Cedar so much is because not only is it naturally beautiful. It’s also naturally resistant to rot, decay and insects. So, it’s really the ideal building material for all your outdoor projects. But, fun fact: it’s also does wonders for your interior space.

“Our cedar adventure outdoors is all very well, but we’re taking it inside too with some cedar planking which we’re going to apply to every single ceiling surface,” says Justin.

“Real Cedar is great in construction – it really brings something to a build,” adds Colin, ‘and for your interior design pallet, it can really make a difference as well.”

For cabin makeover ideas Ideas, binge watch the entire series here