Landscaping and relaxation do not necessarily mesh. Go for the basics and see how it evolves.

Need a 6' x 6' stoop and a clear path to it. One shrub in front of the wall left of door. Cut off the low hanging limbs.

I don’t think that’s 4 seasons without some insulation to keep the heat in!

Sun catchers that are hung with a suction cup for the kitchen window. Pick pieces that represent your interests and hobbies.

https://www.google.com/search?q=small+Tiffany+style+sun+catchers&client=firefox-b-1-d&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjixfu71L7oAhUDTN8KHTiGDaIQ_AUoAnoECAwQBA&biw=1366&bih=654

For your child's bedroom, there are inexpensive sun catcher paint sets available at the Dollar Tree, big box stores and pretty much any store that sell arts and crafts and decorations. Or. you can DIY:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ln680Z684Ew

Since this is your place for relaxing, don't go formal for seating; instead, consider modern adult bean bag chairs.

https://www.google.com/search?q=adult+bean+bag+chairs&tbm=isch&ved=2ahUKEwij0oz21L7oAhUDI1MKHYkFB90Q2-cCegQIABAA&oq=adult+bean+bag+chairs&gs_lcp=CgNpbWcQAzoCCAA6BQgAEIMBOgQIABBDOgcIABCDARBDOgQIABAYUOjEFViV3xVgi-EVaABwAHgAgAGeAYgBmw-SAQQxNy40mAEAoAEBqgELZ3dzLXdpei1pbWewAQA&sclient=img&ei=dAuAXqPIAYPGzAKJi5zoDQ&bih=654&biw=1366&client=firefox-b-1-d

You could add a 6' shed roof front porch with low maintenance concrete floor. Make it the width of that section of the house from door to the left corner and invest in a few chairs for relaxing outdoors after a day of hiking or sitting watching the setting/rising sun.

If practical, consider a large back screened porch and patio for indoor/outdoor living even in rainy weather ... and it could be a good place to keep your bicycles or skis or sleds or muddy hiking boots and walking sticks and backpacks ... anything you use for outdoor fun -- rather than bringing those indoors to crowd or dirty your home away from home.

As for landscaping, do keep it low maintenance ... as natural as possible. If your lot is large enough, add some fruit or nut trees for the blooms and eats.

IF you enjoy a bit of DIY, then you could build a pyramids in the sunniest sections of the yard for things such as strawberries or spices.

https://www.google.com/search?q=strawberry+pyramid&tbm=isch&ved=2ahUKEwjllLCh1r7oAhWD0FMKHXBgB9wQ2-cCegQIABAA&oq=strawberry+pyramid&gs_lcp=CgNpbWcQAzICCAAyAggAMgIIADICCAAyAggAMgIIADICCAAyAggAMgYIABAFEB4yBAgAEBg6BQgAEIMBOgQIABBDOgYIABAIEB5Q8-QXWKKEGGCZhhhoAHAAeACAAaIBiAHtDJIBBDE1LjOYAQCgAQGqAQtnd3Mtd2l6LWltZ7ABAA&sclient=img&ei=2wyAXqW7DYOhzwLwwJ3gDQ&bih=654&biw=1366&client=firefox-b-1-d

What does the other side look like—appears from the interior shots that it’s mostly glass, yes? If it’s on a lake with a lake access/view then the side we see is the entrance opposite that lake side, yes? What does the little annex area look like from the inside? Is it a bedroom? I agree with the comment that it may not be 4-season depending on the severity of your winters, of course. Without knowing a little more, I can only confidently give a few comments. 1. Lose that ugly white door. It’s not what you’d expect for a cabin. 2. Consider replacing the carpet with a more cabin friendly material like tile or wood plank.

Skip the landscaping for now and work on making the interior liveable and functional. There's a lot of dead space behind that wood-burning stove. Can it be moved near the ladder or shifted toward the wall as close as possible? Then you'll have more room for seating. I also like the idea, below, of replacing the ladder with a spiral staircase.

Here are a few interiors to take a look at for guidance:

The Salsa House · More Info

Winter Cabin · More Info

The ladder is much better than a spiral staircase. I do agree the insulation is going to have to be addressed very soon.The wood stove is in the perfrct place for heating the whole space Bean bag chairs are not comfortable seating and take up a lot of space.If you could post a to scale floor plan with all measrements clearly marked you might get some good ideas here. IMO an antler light fixture would work but they are quite overwhelming in smaller spaces, maybe some antlers on the exterior wall by the door.

On a second look it appears that you ugly white door is the screen door not the main door. You can replace it fairly on the cheap with a custom wood screen door which you stain dark. (There are many suppliers with very nice cabiny/cottage designs.) An example of what I mean,

https://www.houzz.com/hznb/photos/a-modern-day-cabin-porchcustom-screen-door-ships-anywhere-in-the-u-s-https-nashville-phvw-vp~128437168

Landscaping should be understory shrubs, like mountain laurel. You're going to struggle with grass. You can try groundcovers, but most of the natives aren't walkable, so decide if you want to use your yard for activities like things involving a ball. Ferns are good.

Knotty pine is vintage and kind of cool, but dark. You might consider filling in between the rafters with some insulating panels, painted white.

Are you going to use an outhouse in the winter or keep the water and heat on? That will make a big difference in the importance of insulation. Take it from someone who knows, arriving at your vacation house in winter and needing to shovel a path to the door and to the outhouse before you can "enjoy the go" is a pain, particularly for the people who can't turn snow yellow while standing up.

I don't know anything about Lovesac, but my observation is that the most comfortable guest beds in order are: fold-flat futon, air mattress with no leaks, distant last is a pull-out sofabed. Most brands use the same mechanism and the mattress has to be thin for it to fit in the sofa.

Depending on where it is located you do not want plants close to the cabin because of the fire danger. Bushes can also encourage snakes to use them as resting places while waiting for the mice that a house in the woods attract. Best to enclose any stoop on all sides for the same reason. I like snakes but having stepped down onto a couple for their health it is better to plan on having things that do not draw them.

Oh, very nice! Now that gets my creative juices flowing! FYI, my wife and I bought a 20X20 three-season lake cabin in 1988 and very slowing over the years, and after much thought and discussion, we turned it into a 2,000sf four season lake cottage. So, this project of yours reminds me of our own cabin odyssey. Before you give in to big plans let me make a simple suggestion, live with it a while. Come to know it and it’s environment well before making huge changes. Although I will submit, from our own experience, I totally agree with the comments made so far to go easy on landscaping changes. It’s a cabin. And it’s meant to be (or should be) free of landscaping hassle. That’s part of a lake cabin charm!

My advice would be to take a deep breath. Think about how you will actually live in the house, this should be a relaxing place to rejuvenate your soul. Embrace the natural beauty. I would not do any landscaping other than a nice sturdy walkway and a little cleanup. The last thing you want to do on vacation is yard work. I would have it repainted a dark foresty green and get rid of the white door and window frames. Also, take advantage of some of the vertical space. Maybe replace the large speakers with wall-mounted speakers. There is already so much wood that I would not bring any more in, replace the stools and the little standing chest or at least paint them. The pendant lighting should be a bit bigger and possibly hang lower. I would consider painting the back wall in the kitchen and adding some shelves. I would also paint the ladder and the railing, just to break up all the wood. Don't get me wrong, the wood is beautiful but there is so much of it, its hard to take it all in. Also, a skylight would be fabulous! It would add a ton of light and you could also enjoy more of natures beauty.

Great little cabin in the woods, and a wonderful place to share some adventure with a four-year-old. Relax, that’s what cabins are meant for. Can you post an interior pic looking out from the large windows?

@Dan H. My husband says the same thing! We have to spend some time in the space and get to know it. All of the comments suggest simple (or no) landscaping. We'll do a little clean up and have one less thing on our minds while we're there to enjoy nature and relax!

Glad to hear it! Please allow us to follow along with you as you execute future improvements. By the way, I do agree with your idea about the cabinet color for your planned kitchen upgrade. We also have large amounts of knotty pine T&G in our cabin and continued with some of the same pine in all our additions. When we finally built our new kitchen we selected a “sage” color for our painted cabinets. It seems like any form of “green” goes very well with wood, especially pine. If you search Houzz with those word terms you’ll see it’s true. And, of course, it breaks up the tedious monotony of all that wood! Again, congratulations on your new place.

https://www.houzz.com/hznb/photos/kitchen-eclectic-kitchen-birmingham-phvw-vp~53134

If it is in your budget I would remove the carpet and put in flooring as carpet in the kitchen seems less than ideal and in general less than ideal in a setting where you will be spending time outdoor and drag in wet (snow) and mud. If the budget allow I'd consider flooring where you could add electrical in floor heating that you could control remotely to be able to have it turn on ahead of visiting.

What a dream!

Honestly, beyond the kitchen cabinets, I would focus on furnishings. That goes a long way and keeps your mind on enjoying that beautiful place more than anything. Here's a link to a blogger I follow who bought an A-frame similar to yours. She linked all their sources here.

And like others have said, I wouldn't bother with landscaping. Just take a rake (or shovel) to the front every season to clean up the pathways. I would also consider engineered hardwood or LVP for flooring. Makes it much easier to clean with the added dust, compared to carpet.

Course, for the exterior, I personally would be tempted to paint it a deep dark green or black. I've always wanted a black A-frame, but that's just me. A fresh entry door would also add a nice touch to this charming cabin. I might even do a triple-pane full-lite entry door for added light, while keeping thermal efficiency a top priority.

Enjoy!

Congratulations on your new rural escape! As someone who has lived in an A-frame for many years, I thought I’d add in my two cents worth. I agree with those who have suggested that you focus on the interiors rather than on landscaping. That said, I think a path to the door would be worth putting in, especially if you plan to be there during snowy months, it makes shoveling easier, and makes for a more welcoming arrival. As for the inside, I would rethink using IKEA cabinets. Using any kind of pre-made cabinets in an A-frame wastes a lot of space. If you can manage it, I would recommend having a carpenter build cabinets that fit into the space. That is - the bottom shelf will be deeper than the top shelf. I have a wonderful built in dresser. The top drawer pulls out about 13”. The bottom drawer pulls out approximately 36”. If I had just installed a regular dresser, I would have considerably less storage space. Someone else mentioned that the wood stove in the center of your room really limits your layout options. Others have mentioned adding insulation. These are definitely related issues in an A-frame. If you want to add insulation, it involves opening up the roof. Whenever you decide to do that, whether for insulation purposes, or whenever the roof needs replacing, I would consider moving the wood stove to a side of the room or a corner. Finally, that is a LOT of knotty pine. It must be an A-frame thing! A few years ago I decided to brighten things up by sanding my knotty pine walls and putting a thin whitewash over top. I can still see the wood grain, but it was amazing how much brighter and bigger my home looked afterwards. It took a lot of time and elbow grease, but actually cost very little. Enjoy your A-frame!

Niiiice!

Are the deck and supports in good condition? I would put my money there....

You need a wood shed ASAP to run the woodstove. Place an order for kiln-dried wood. Storing wood under the back deck will be super inconvenient when it's 20 below. Plus, snow melt will drip through the boards of the deck and ice the logs together (been there, done that). The shed should be nearer the front door.

Sometime this summer collect blow-down twigs on your property. Garbage cans are great for storing these.

Will you have auxiliary heat to keep the pipes from freezing? Otherwise, you're not going to be visiting on winter weekends, 'cos you're going to have to drain the pipes for winter.

No concrete for a porch. It will crack in no time. Use wood. Try Trex for the steps, and make them extra wide so you can easily schlepp stuff like firewood into the house. You can use crusher for your front pathway; it does well in freeze/thaw cycles and is cheap to replace.

Consider having a more substantial entrance, like a big vestibule or enclosed porch (a very New England thing). There will be muddy boots, wet jackets, skis, fishing rods, waders, hats, snow, wet, mud, everywhere. These get stashed BEFORE people go into the house front door in some kind of fore-room. Slippers get put on. You need a bench or chair there. Extensive doormats and drip spaces.

Yep, have a mouse treatment of some kind for the house. Have a way to store food so mice can't get it.

At least carpet is warm underfoot. Maybe the right idea would be to have some comfy rugs.

The knotty pine is fab. Even minor changes to it would lower the property value, especially whitewash, scraping, paint...

If there's a way to take down a tree or two to add more interior light and/or open the lake view, I think that would be smart. I don't think that house has been in the woods very long, so it's not like you'd be taking down historic trees.

I disagree that the woodstove should be in a corner or to the side. It's essential for heating the home: it should be central so warmth reaches everywhere.

If you have kids or pets, you MUST put a metal barrier around the woodstove for safety reasons. This can have a gate so an adult can access the front of the stove to load wood.

Do you have a security system of some kind? Might be a good idea for a seasonal place that's that nice.

I'm an avid gardener with a huge garden where I live. We have had a fishing cabin for years--I have done nothing there. Why? Anything that get planted needs some TLC, like frequent watering at the outset to get the plants established. Being there only on weekends makes this pretty impossible. The property has daffodils (oh, that's something you could do--deer don't eat them) and a couple of old, established lilacs and forsythia and we just have to mow the grass (and even then, we sometimes have to hire someone, if we don't get up there for a while in the summer).

following

We also have a lakeside cabin in the woods which we love, although it is just a summer place. All the knotty pine turned orange over the 50 years we have had it, so we recently painted some of the cabinets and laid LVT in the kitchen. Furnishings are old and comfy, chosen for comfort and durability rather than style. Foldout couch gets lots of use, and grandkids are the 4 th generation to enjoy our place. Live there for a while and decide what you really want to change. Comfort and function should be the driving factor. Beautiful place!