Furnishing Your Cabin: Handcrafting Gorgeous, Practical Shelving

There are all kinds of things to love about your new log cabin: The wide-open space surrounding it, the gorgeous wood grains, and, of course, the fact that you built it yourself with a portable sawmill. But there’s one area where many log cabins, despite their other advantages, fall short.

Portable Sawmill

You guessed it: Log cabins typically don’t excel when it comes to storage. There are several reasons for this, and chief among them is the fact that log cabins are often smaller than the average home, so there’s less room overall.

However, most of us choose to build and live in log cabins because we’re driven to do more with less. So, when it comes to storage, rather than building or purchasing bulky cabinets or storage furniture, quality shelving is the way to go.

To help you complete your log cabin, use these five steps to build shelving that’s both practical and visually appealing.

Start with a Solid Plan

We’ve already discussed that space is a concern, so it’s important that you plan carefully before you start milling and building. Otherwise, you could end up losing valuable usable floor space by installing too many shelves, or shelves that are too large.

To decide how many shelves you need, where to place them, and how large they need to be, consider not only the size of your cabin, but also your storage or display needs. If an item would fit on a coat rack, in a kitchen drawer, or even under the bed, you don’t need to allocate shelving space for it.

Source and Mill Your Lumber Using a Portable Sawmill

Alright, here’s the fun part. Identifying the timber you’d like to use for your shelving project and using your portable milling setup to transform it into attractive lumber is arguably the most enjoyable phase of any DIY build.

You may have to test a log or two to ensure the grain doesn’t clash with your cabin interior. But once you’ve found the right timber, all you have to do is fell it, log it, haul it, and mill it.

Size and Finish Your Shelves

With your shelving boards milled, you can cut them into lengths and then use a table saw or your saw of choice to tailor the width. It’s wise to cut a couple of spare shelves, just in case.

Then, before you finish them, take one inside and hold it in place to see what it will actually look like and how it will impact the space. When you’re satisfied, carefully sand and stain each board. You could even apply resin and give the shelves a glossy finish, but it depends on how far you want to go.

Carefully Mount Your Shelves

Be sure to use mounts that compliment your cabin and the shelves. You could use store-bought wrought iron for a rustic effect, or handcraft your mounts using any leftover lumber. Everything else can go into your firewood pile or wood chipper PTO.

Whatever you do, don’t forget to measure twice and cut once. Otherwise, you could wind up with a lot of extra holes in your log walls. You may even want to experiment with your mounting setup before you decide to sand and stain each shelf.

Store or Display Items Appropriately

Using information about your fasteners, the thickness of your shelving boards, and the items you want to place on them, you should be able to get a rough idea of your shelves’ weight capacity.

Be sure you don’t exceed that limit, and be wary of placing shelves where they might make an attractive handhold for visitors.

With your new shelves completed, you can proudly display heirlooms and memorabilia while keeping your go-to items within easy reach.

About Woodland Mills

After hiring a local sawyer to mill fallen trees on his property, Josh Malcolm decided he needed his own sawmill. But in searching for the right portable bandsaw mill, he found that the new models were too expensive, while used mills didn’t offer the performance he needed. So, Malcolm called his childhood friend Neil Bramley and asked, “We can just build our own, can’t we?” That was the beginning of Woodland Mills. Now, Woodland Mills is globally recognized as the go-to for independent sawyers, hobbyist woodworkers, and landowners looking for the industry’s best-valued forestry products. From the flagship HM126 sawmill bandsaw to the new HM136MAX, the new TF810 PRO PTO Wood Chipper, the Pathlander ATV log trailer, and much more, Woodland Mills delivers the capability you need at an attainable price point with world-class customer service.

Discover the industry’s best-valued forestry gear from Woodland Mills at https://woodlandmills.com/