In my last blog, I pointed out that the half-round logs that came with the log cabin kit make the corners look kind of silly. My dad suggested cutting pieces to glue to the flat edges, to make a “full” log. It was a bit tricky dealing with such little pieces, but I managed and it looks 100% better.

Extreme close-up. There’s an obvious “split” where the two pieces of log meet, but whatever. I think the appearance of full logs outweighs that little flaw.

Continue reading

With the first floor interior of my Little House cabin finished, I moved onto the exterior. The Sugar and Spice kit came with a bundle of “half timber” logs that sit flush against the side of the house. They have to be cut to size.

Initially I made the mistake of cutting almost all of the short lengths to the right of the door from the same log—a particularly brown log. So color-wise, it looks a bit funky. I’m hoping that adding the gray stain will make this less noticeable.

Since the logs are only half round, they don’t exactly look authentic where they meet up. But it’s close enough and the benefit of gluing something flat to the side of the house, as opposed to something round, more than makes up for this!

Continue reading

With the floor and walls of the main room “timbered,” I decided to try aging the wood while I could still easily get my hands inside. I have some Minwax slate gray stain (water based) that I originally tried on the raw wood, but it was too light. The ebony stain was proving to be too dark, so I added a coat of slate gray with a sponge brush.

The result is easier to appreciate when comparing the room to the second story floorboards, which just have the ebony stain on them.

Next I got to work on the ceiling. Again, I wanted to do this while the ceiling was still unattached and accessible.

Continue reading