I love it! Thank you!! Do you know how I can save those photos to my idea book?

Looks like a really great place, lovely wooded setting, great standing seam metal roof. I'd paint the garage doors a color that recedes so they are not a focal point, change the color of the door to emphasize the entry, some plantings in front of the house, a couple of Adirondack chairs on the porch. Consider a green similar to the roof, maybe a little lighter, for the front door. I'm sure you'll get ideas for landscaping on this site.

You can save by clicking on the green "More Info" which takes you to the original page. Should be a "Save" box at the bottom to put them on your ideabook.

Personally, I dislike black top! Lots of it in my country neighborhood..

Please, don't do this:

In the country, gravel driveways are charming. You could do stamped concrete in the parking area.

Wow! This community is amazing!! Thank you, now I know how to save these beautiful suggestions! I would have never thought of keeping it gravel and just elevating the gravel and adding pavers. We have kids and I want them to be able to ride their bikes, but I'm sure this could work for a while! Thank you!!!

Another charming thing with cabins is to use red or green or blue-green in the trim or entry door . . add window boxes with flowers . . . your roof being standing seam, it is probably light gray but here appears to be blue green .. so then the front door might be great in bm stratton blue . . or if it is just reflecting the sky . . .you might use a cottage blue / cobalt color . . bm bedford blue http://www.benjaminmoore.com/en-us/paint-color/bedfordblue http://www.benjaminmoore.com/en-us/paint-color/parisianred

maybe a dutch entry door for added charm .. . congrats on a gem ..

Thank you! I am struggling with the front door color because the roof is a hunter green. We have talked about eventually having it painted red, much like the sample that you linked to. But while it's green, I don't know what color would work for the front door. You think that blue would work with hunter green?

The green roof works with a red door most beautifully - even red trim at the windows, or red window boxes would work. The combination of the green with the red is hands-down a winner. The white door is a drawback as is.

Other choices: A hunter green door is a match, of course. With hunter green roof, you could also easily do a classic royal blue . . no blue greens. Since hunter is sort of a jewel tone, you just have to match that sort of strength and clarity in the color you select - no pastels or weathered look colors .. I can't recommend a strong gold (too close to wood) or purple (could work but isn't traditional - more preppy with hunter green than lodge like).

I think if you guys are coveting red, the green roof helps that.

Green roof with red door:

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I agree that something more rustic than a blacktop would be your best option for the driveway. Out of all your options for work, having a defined driveway will probably have the biggest impact.

Maybe add something along the drive near the entrance like this. Where the firewood is piled you could create an informal flower bed.

This is a great way to contain a "flower bed". I grabbed a much larger version of this from a neighbor. She had just sort of thrown it out since it leaked. Now it sits along my driveway!

Look for "barn sales". The older and more rusted it is the better.

What a lovely log home! I agree with the comments above to stick with gravel or some sort of pavers. Definitely would stay away from asphalt and plain concrete (could ruin the authenticity of your beautiful log home). I feel like your house itself looks great. Now it's the details to dress it up. Maybe a front porch/patio. Also, I would consider the landscaping and by adding a few structural shrubs to bring some layers to your landscape. Make sure to have a balance of evergreen as well. Yews would work great with this home. Ivory halo dogwood, viburnums and lilacs are great shrubs as well. Love the comment above with using some recycled troughs as planter boxes. Keep in mind, even by just adding some annuals, this would guarantee color throughout the seasons! Looking forward to seeing the final outcome. Good luck!

Yes, barn sales are a lot of fun. I picked up a four foot taller creamer, nice and rusted, for about $20. Now it is next to the front door holding a star jasmine.

I need the accountability of posting an updated picture! Thank you all so much! Lots of great ideas floating around!

What do you all think about painting the roof black? I have seen a few cabins like this and it looks very clean and updated. Most of them are mansion type cabins, so I'm not sure how it would look on a simple cabin like this. Also, if you are for a black roof, what would you paint the front door and garage doors? Thank you!!

No I would not paint the roof black. The green roof with the dark red accents will look awesome. Does it snow where you are? Pavers can get loose and gravel will not work when plowing the driveway.

I just don't know if I can pull off the green and red thing without looking too Christmas or country. What about a red roof? Yes, it snows where we are, that is another dilemma with the driveway. That's why I felt my two options were concrete or asphalt. I wonder if some of the cobblestone stamped concrete can stand up to snow plows?

Ok, I don't live with snow, so I don't know what works with a snow plow. If you decide on black top trimming the edges with pavers would help.

You could create definition along the edges of the driveway with plants if you choose to keep the gravel. I like hostas. Keep the edges all the same variety for an uncluttered harmonious look. Go for a variety with a medium or large size, miniature hostas would be too small for this space.

Ok - so the rustic country lodge look isn't your thing. This is all about "how" you use it. Shiny adirondack chairs in bright colors signal something different than willow furniture.

Hunter green on the roof will work with most things since green is a neutral. Great with the bright clear blues - hunter is actually a very blue green. It would work with eggplant if you want something more unique - an eggplant toned front door with or without hunter green trim would be wowsa. Think kinda preppy / ralph lauren lodge . . especially if you carry it inside with some preppy touches - a brighter sort of plaid throw, pillows that have trim and monograms, look at all their adverts with lodge things . . (with whatever colors you use) study some more modern lodge looks here . .

Stamped concrete can definitely stand up to plows . . (the trick with concrete is to pour it in the spring so it has time to cure - "water" your concrete after the first 24 hours every day - water is what makes it harder -

You might use a slate stamp pattern though - go stone like instead of cobble . .. . use colored concrete and they can overstain it . . you'll fool 99% of the people . ..

A red roof is what made us tell you go red on the trim and door because you wanted red. .. - red roof would be great, but that will be $30,000 that you didn't need to spend. Once a metal roof is powdercoated, you don't want to try and change its color unless the roof is bad and you need to replace it. That $30k would be better spent on beautiful furnishings and art inside - things you can take with you eventually, or hand down. The green roof is cool - embrace it!

Thank you, love the modern lodge idea!

Hello Ginger,

Lots of good ideas being suggested, just wanted to add a few thoughts. I would definitely stay with gravel, there are other colors though and you can use steel edging to help contain it. The irregular joints in the stamped concrete will get messed up over time. I would put the $20K+- you saved on the driveway into the landscaping. I really like decoenthusiaste idea for a fire pit/fire table. This could be a irregular flagstone patio with a fire table and some colorful seating. Some helpful info while you are planning your project, a nicely detailed flagstone patio can cost $15K and firetables start around $3-5K. I also would like to see how the driveway approaches the house. The photo seems to emphasize the garage doors which I would want to diminish. I also think you could redesign the lighting to help with this. The color of the front door should be looked at by a designer, they will be able to suggest the appropriate color based on the amount of shadow is present, while selecting a color that compliments both the roof and the building color.

- Charles

Thanks for the nod, Charles. Hopefully Ginger will show us what she did last year.

What a great house! I think the front porch columns look too small. Adding the stone bases will help, but I think you should beef up the wood while you are at it. This may be more rustic than you are thinking, but would a thicker column with some bracketing appeal to you?

I went with Sherwin Williams Cayenne. From a distance it also looks awesome. I'm also going to be refinishing the porch decks and am getting away from the green. When we started adding the color layers it all started looking 3 dimensional. For the longest time we were all wood with the green gutters and roof. We painted the window trim and the windows themselves in the green. I added the Cayenne and I'm thinking of either a slate gray or a shade of brown for the porch. We've never finished the underside of the porches and I'm thinking of just painting them with a lighter shade to add reflection. Somedays it's real dark on the porches depending on where the sun is. We can't do anything with our front yard since it's the engineered septic field. We're close to a major lake in SE MI and have a creek running through the woods between the house and the road. You can't see our home from anywhere other than our front yard. We never put railings on our porches but are thinking of adding something now since I feel it gives it a finished look. I also would love to add something else below the facia of the porches since we have had unpleasant critters wander underneath.We're 1000' feet from the road. This is our view looking towards the road. Our driveway is a tunnel through trees. When we were building a neighbor came over and asked if we were going to cut down all the trees between the house and road like everyone else did. My mother in law has issues with this as well. She says we have no curb appeal because no one can see our house. We're on a gravel road so we also don't get the gravel dust all over the house.

I'd love to see any exterior updates you've done so far. We're thinking of a stamped concrete pad just in front of our barn and two sidewalks leading to the porches. The porch above doesn't have a walkway leading to it but the identical porch in the back does since it's to the door we use more frequently.

Darling ranch .. .I think no railings looks more rural and ranch like which suits the logs / architecture of the home / porch ..think it is more high end to be hidden from street / road .. curb appeal is for people who visit / you guys / family . . not to make street look good . . trees are fab ..

If you add concrete, use color . .maybe a desert tan or buff tone to warm it up from the gray, and then use the same tone in stain for your existing sidewalk. For paths in the garden, chip seal or decomposed granite on top of gravel works well . .maybe a red brick edge. . .