Log on

Ditch that minimalist designer look in favour of a comfortable piece of homely goodness, writes Carol O’Callaghan.

AWASH as we are with colour and its opposite of clean white minimalism, it seems there’s room for something else too, a look that is actually less about “the look”, and more about an emphasis on comfort; after all, we’re still in the thick of winter when all white, clean lines and sharp angles really don’t cut the mustard.

Given how great an influence American house styles and sizes have been in recent years, log cabin style is one that can lend itself very well to our love of open beams, high ceilings and feature walls finished in stone and brick. But before you start imagining versions of Grizzly Adams’ humble abode with its furniture roughly hewn from trunks of trees felled by the grizzly one himself, or the parsimonious simplicity of the Little House on the Prairie, think again as this is a look that speaks of warmth and the cosy comfort of chunky furniture, bold textiles and muted colours carried off with simplicity and lack of fuss. Above all, it’s one to appeal more to home and hearth lovers rather than design aficionados.