Camp Style--Vintage Cabin Life

Fantastic camp style!   The bentwood chair and hickory desk are by Genessee River Trading Company. 

I just stumbled across this photo on pinterest.  It doesn't link back to anything, but I don't really need it to.  I immediately recognized it as a photo of a trade show booth from one of my favorite camp-style vendors, Genssee River Trading Company.

(By the way, the red bentwood chairs and desk are available in our online store, TahoeDreamInteriors.com.  These chairs come in bentwood or aluminium, in arm, side or rocker styles and in many different color choices and are $550--just fabulous if you love camp style!)

What is camp style?  Well, it's many things and there are really no hard and fast rules.  Folks who decorate in camp style pretty much feel free to pick and choose from among their favorite old cabin elements.  However, camp style is often characterized by hickory furnishings, especially antique hickory.  You also might see hand hooked rugs and old quilts.  And of course, there are the vintage cabin collectibles.  These feature all sorts of themes from camping, fishing, woodland animals, canoeing, Indian trading pieces and any other old thing that might have been seen in a cabin during the first half of the 20th century.

Although there have always been fans of camp style, it became chic in the late 90's thanks to the smart Laguna Beach store, Camps and Cottages, which helped it make its way into mainstream decorating. The store's owner, Molly Hyde English, eventually published a book, Camps and Cottages in 2001 (vintage copies are still available at Amazon.com).  At the same time, the shabby chic movement was taking place and the two worked together synergistic-ally.  

The 2001 book by Molly Hyde English, owner of the store by the same name in Laguna Beach.

Ralph Kyloe is another person who has had a big influence on this style.  Kyloe is an antique dealer, store owner and writer who lives in the Adirondack Mountains.  Although he would probably call the look he promotes "Adirondack Style", there are many overlaps with camp style.  He collects antique hickory, old canoes, willow backpacks and other camp collectibles.

Interior of Ralph Kyloe's store.

Kyloe has written many books on this subject and is truly an expert on old camp and Adirondack antiques.

Just one of Ralph Kyloe's many books.

As the best original camp and Adirondack pieces get rarer, prices increase, of course.  Luckily, there are still plenty of manufacturers currently producing hickory furniture, such as Old Hickory and Genesee River Trading Co.  We've selected our favorite pieces for our online store, TahoeDreamInteriors.com.  If you love camp style, you can easily get the look by buying pieces from these current manufacturers.

Another way to get the look is by attending flea markets.  It may take a little digging, but if you love prowling around flea markets, there are some great finds to be had.  My favorite flea markets are Alameda and the Rose Bowl in California as well as Round Top Texas and Brimfield Massachusetts.  

Part of the fun of camp style is that you can mix in your favorite vintage items and collections.  Some vintage collectibles you might see in a camp-style cabin would include American flags, old sporting equipment such as water skis and tennis rackets, camera equipment, plaid thermoses and lunch boxes from the 40's and 50's, game boards, antique canoe paddles, vintage Pendleton blankets, Indian trading pieces, tramp art and much, much more!  You can pretty much include anything that might have been used for a cabin holiday.  Or, anything else you love can probably work, too. 

For inspiration, here are a few more photos from past Genesee River Trading Co. trade show booths:

Genesee River beds, nightstands and benches mix with vintage signs, oil paintings, oars and fishing gear.

A Genesee bed and bench with vintage textiles, china and boating paraphernalia.

Genesee bed, dresser and stool with cowboy themed collectibles. 

A Genesee chair, chest and ski bed with vintage skis, tobaggan, and ski art.

Genesee hoop chairs and side tables with shuffle board pieces, an old boat, boating paintings and life preservers.

Genesee bentwood chairs and table with woodland themed collectibles.

The Genesee truck ready to be unloaded.  Happy shopping!

How delightful are these booths?  Personally, I love flea market shopping and the thought of furnishing a cabin in camp style just seems like outrageous fun to me.  If anyone out there wants to take me to Round Top to shop with them, I'm in!

For additional postings on camp style, click here. 

Michelle Nussbaumer's Gstaad Chalet is a Crazy Mixed-up World of Color, Travel, Adventure and Fun

Say the word "cabin".  Do you think of logs, plaids and moose heads? Think again...there are really no rules.  A mountain home can be anything you want it to be.

Take Michelle Nussbaumer's Swiss chalet.  It's a true mixture of wanderlust inspiration.  Textiles from Morocco, Mexican pottery, Chinese porcelains, French and Swiss antiques.  You name it, if it's exotic and glamorous, Michelle has tossed it into this fabulous family retreat.  It's less an escape FROM the world and more an escape TO the world.

Nussbaumer is a Dallas-based designer and owner of Ceylon et Cie. Her vibrant store is packed full of exciting items collected on her travels around the world.  Nussbaumer's colorful and eclectic style can be seen in her Gstaad chalet.

Nussbaum and the cow on her back patio.

The home is a centuries old classic chalet.

Beautiful antiques including a stunning painted amoire and a French needlepoint chair are brought to life with a colorful tablecloth and pottery collection.

A colorful feast for the eyes.

A comfortable seating area with a dramatic blown up canvas in the background.  

I love the warm colors and interesting collectibles that are artfully scattered into every nook and cranny.  It gives the rooms such a welcoming, comfortable feeling.  

Hands down, my favorite utility room...ever!  

The strength of using a great fabric everywhere in a room.  Delightful!

Exotic textiles galore!

Another cozy bedroom with a crazy mixed up collection of textiles.  Somehow, it works together beautifully.

Vibrant and exciting colors.  Don't you just love the crazy Mongolian fur chair?  And right in the middle of it all, a modern table with old blue and white pottery.  

All photos by Melanie Acevedo for Veranda.

If you love ethnic fabrics, here are some of our favorites, click here.  And to view our favorite ethnically-inspired wallpapers, click here.  

A little more about Michelle Nussbaumer's new book...

Miles Redd Uses Red Quite Prettily in his Own Cashiers Cabin

Many people love the color red in cabins, lodges and ski chalets.  Do you?

I have to confess that as a child, when asked what my favorite color was, I always answered "red." Red is no longer my favorite color, but I still love it. And in my role as a Tahoe Interior Designer I am often asked for red fabrics and accessories.  Over the years of writing this blog, I have gathered together photos and stories from many beautiful mountain and cabin interiors and I simply can't help but notice that red is often an important color in the best designs.  People seem to love red in cabins and for many good reasons.

Of all the red cabin interiors I've seen, however, I'd have to say that I prefer Miles Redd's design for his own cabin in Cashiers, North Carolina.  (Even more so than my previously favorite red cabin designs, those of Ralph Lauren's Indian Cove Lodge collection, see here.)

Miles Redds' personal cabin in Cashiers, North Carolina--A hint of what is to come...red window trim.

The cabin itself is charming but modest in size.  The rooms are cozy with log siding and chinking.  The fireplaces look well loved and often used.  There is nothing grand, extreme or lavish at all about the place.  And yet, this is the cabin I would most prefer to live in.

One of the coziest and prettiest cabin rooms I can remember seeing.  I just love it.

Miles uses red fabrics and furnishings throughout.  I especially love the old-fashioned floral fabrics accented with red and white tickings.  Florals are less popular these days and I say let's bring them back!  Who can argue with this logic after seeing this room.  Everything is just so very darn pretty.  Antiques, books, pretty lamps, flowers, curtains...this room contains everything I love.

In fact, I'd love this cabin for a personal retreat.  If it were mine, I'd often use it all by myself.  I'd light a fire and dig into a favorite book.  The rooms just look like the perfect place to indulge in personal time.  I hope Miles Redd gets as much pleasure out of this cabin as I know I would.

Another pretty red seating area and fireplace, left.  Red transfer-ware mixes with a gorgeous Black Forest carved bear clock and mirror, right.

A funky antique chair collection placed around a round table dressed with simple checkered tablecloths.  Again, I see some very nice antiques placed throughout this room, including another magnificent carved Black Forest piece as the table's centerpiece.  The Grandfather clock seems perfect for this room, doesn't it?

More pretty red floral fabrics in the bedroom.  What could be cozier than the two upholstered chairs placed by the fireplace?  A room you can really live in.
  

If you'd like to view our collection of red fabrics for cabin interiors, see here.  For red wallpapers, see here.  To view floral fabrics, see here.  

Ainsworth Noah Cabin

I've loved this cabin since I first saw pictures of it in Veranda Magazine back in 2001.  Looking at it again in 2017, I find the design still holds up very well and it is just as charming today as it was back then.

Exterior view of the Ainsworth Noah cabin.

Ainsworth Noah is a beautiful designer showroom at the Atlanta Design Center that was founded by two partners, Hal Ainsworth and Winton Noah.  Their gorgeous showroom carries many of the most beautiful designer lines available.

Ainsworth Noah showroom

Ainsworth Noah showroom.

In addition to the showroom, Ainsworth and Noah live in a condo in Atlanta, an apartment in Paris and spend weekends in the mountain town of Cashiers, North Carolina.  Some of you may recognize that Cashiers has been mentioned pveriously in other postings.  Quite a number of well known decorators, such as Charles Faudree and Toby West, also enjoy(ed) weekend retreats there and, in some cases, worked on client projects in the area.  Cashiers has been a haven for good taste and innovative cabin design.

Because of their ties to the design industry, Ainsworth and Noah have access to some of the most beautiful furnishings available.  A number of the pieces in their cabin are from the lines they carried at the time.  However, the mix is everything in designing a good interior and these furnishings are mixed together with American and European antiques, a spectacular Black Forest collection and lots of Americana collections and references.

White painted hickory pieces on the front porch.

A primary color scheme of blue, yellow and red pervades in the great room.  Here you also see the mix of beautiful furnishings and Americana collectibles as well as European and Adirondack antiques, like the stag antler table and on top, an unusual Black Forest carved hunter climbing over a fence.

Denim and homespun checks and ginghams are used extensively in the great room.  These simple rustic fabrics provide an interesting contrast to the French antique furnishings and European mountain antiques.

A modern coffee table with traditional lines juxtaposes with an old white cabinet on the wall behind which has been hung an Adirondack stick-style mirror.  On the chunky log mantle, a blue and white collection with a Black Forest clock.

A casual, comfy denim sofa surrounded by beautiful Black Forest and pewter pieces.  I still love the urn lamps, but in 2001, these would have been at the height of chic.

Again, black forest on the mantle with French antique pottery.

More French furnishings and some beautiful old leather books.  Leather volumes are seen throughout the interiors.

A pretty blue and white vanity with a wonderful black forest carved mirror above.

A very pretty blue and white bedroom.  Here the tongue and groove walls have been painted white.

How charming is this kitchen?  It looks like a showroom display, everything is so carefully placed.  Antique baskets and copper, salt-glazed jugs, muted grey and white paint tones on the cabinetry and furnishings and again the simple and cheerful use of blue and white homespun on the window.

Americana quilts, antique furnishings and Black Forest and Andirondack pieces on the wall above the bed.

A guest bedroom with hickory furnishings and folk art collectibles.

More painted white hickory furnishings on the back porch.  Again, the focus is on the primarily blue and yellow color-scheme.  This kind of discipline throughout the house allows the beautiful antiques and collections to shine.

I just love this whole grouping of colorful Adirondack pieces on the black and white linoleum floor.  It is so quintessentially "camp-style" and yet every object is so perfectly placed, a skill Ainsworth and Noah have successfully honed in their everyday work world.

A beautiful designer bed and pretty toile curtains in this more formal bedroom.

What do you think?  Does this beautifully decorated cabin still hold up to scrutiny all these years later?  Well, apparently Ainsworth and Noah did not think so themselves...

 In the photo below from 2012 you see that the great room had been white washed and given a decidedly more luxe update.  Which version do you prefer?