Rustic furniture, of course, is attractive in most cabins, but it
frequently takes considerable skill and ingenuity to make it
comfortable.
Where considerable room is required to sleep weekend party guests, give
a thought to furniture and fixtures that can be converted into
comfortable beds on short notice. Studio couches provide lounging by day
and sleeping by night. Double-deck bunks use a minimum of floor space
and provide attractive and comfortable sleeping accommodations. Hinged
wall beds that disappear under shelves and curtains or into closets are
likewise popular.
[Illustration: A good cooler. Make a large box-shaped frame and
cover with several thicknesses of burlap. Put it in shade under a
water hydrant set to drip continuously but very slowly on the top of
box.]
[Illustration: These diagrams show the various steps in making a
comfortable barrel chair. The seat, which may be the barrel head
dropped down until it wedges tight, can be upholstered to suit your
own taste or you may make a rope lacing for seat support as shown
above.]
1-INCH HOLES SPACED 4 INCHES APART and 1¼ INCHES BELOW LINE OF CUT
ROPE LACING FOR SEAT SUPPORT
FURNITURE WEBBING OVER ROPE SUPPORT FORMS GOOD UPHOLSTERY FOUNDATION
[Illustration: Here is a simple and sturdy cabin table that can be
built in a few hours. Allow two linear feet of space for each
person, and build the top of the table 29 inches from the floor.]
2-INCH SLABS
HALF-ROUND SPLIT-POLE CLEAT
HALVED JOINT WHERE TABLE LEGS CROSS
SPREAD OF LEGS AT BOTTOM EQUALS WIDTH OF TOP
[Illustration: An extremely simple yet effective camp stool made
from a smoothed half-log. Bore four holes at least two inches deep
for the legs and be sure they are spread well apart.]
[Illustration: This “dummy waiter” type of underground cooler
consists of a hole or well about 10 feet deep lined with concrete or
bricks, with a frame over it to hold a series of shelves hung on a
pulley with a counterbalance.]
[Illustration: A small skylight trapdoor above your cabin cook stove
serves as a ventilator and an escape for smoke and hot air. The
drawing shows how it should be rigged. The box keeps out rain and
snow and should be flashed all around with drain holes on the lower
side.]
BOX
WIRE SCREEN
FLASHING
[Illustration: The simple two-way stool shown here is made by
knocking out one side and one end of a fairly strong box. Round off
the corners and fill the box with pillows or tack pads inside. It
can be used as a low backrest on the floor, and when inverted makes
an ordinary flat-topped seat.]
[Illustration: A rope-wound keg with sponge rubber cushion makes an
unusual stool. A similar keg may also be used as a table base. Tack
rope to hold in place.]
SPONGE RUBBER CUSHION
½-INCH ROPE
LINOLEUM COVERED TOP
[Illustration: Any home craftsman can make this hurricane
candlestick. Vent holes should be drilled on the underside to
provide air for combustion. An ordinary lamp chimney is used. It
will not smoke the chimney nor blow out in the wind.]
[Illustration: An old-fashioned, long-handled skillet, an electric
clock and the skill of a manufacturing jeweler are the ingredients
that go into the making of this unusual cabin timepiece.]
[Illustration: Steps in making traditional backwoods chairs. Seat
and back can be woven of rawhide or covered with plywood and padded.
If bending is not done when wood is green, steam wood in very hot
water in covered trough.]
TWIST ROPE WITH STICK
WOOD BLOCK
BEND
WEDGE IN TENON TIGHTENS JOING WHEN DRIVEN UP
SLOPING SHOULDER
MORTISE & TENON JOINT
[Illustration: This wagon hub lamp is simple enough to make and
carries out the farmyard motif.]
[Illustration: A wagon wheel gate makes an interesting entrance to
the cabin pathway.]
[Illustration: This illustration shows how the guest-book may be
given a permanent support. It might be placed in the living room or
on a covered porch.]