Photographs by SPACECRAFTING
Flexible floorplan
Flexible floorplan: Since the cabin only has one bedroom, designer Stephanie Lalley selected a queen-size sofa bed from Blu Dot to increase sleeping options. A pair of light nesting tables stand in for a coffee table, easier to move in and out of the way when guests stay overnight. Chairs from the dining area pull in for added seating.
In January 2020, interior designer Stephanie Lalley felt in need of a design project—one that wasn’t in her own home. “I started looking—not very seriously—but then this little cabin came up, and I was like, ‘I need to go look at it,’” she says. “It was in total disarray!”
The 200-year-old, 480-square-foot log cabin near Backus (almost three hours north of the Twin Cities, close to Nisswa) was a project only a designer could instantly love. It needed TLC, but Lalley couldn’t wait to transform the dark, dingy house with no heat or water into a bright and airy oasis unlike anything else in the area. “What I liked about it was that it was small, and I thought it would be a little more manageable,” she says. “It was a beautiful property, but the cabin had been a little neglected.”
The land itself—a hillside slice on quiet Barrow Lake with a private dock and easy access to nearby Woman Lake—was just the kind of quiet oasis Lalley had in mind when she dreamed of remodeling a cabin. So she and her husband, Dan, spent the next year revamping it: from updating the floorplan (increasing the bathroom’s size by removing an awkward back bedroom, moving the fireplace from the kitchen to the living room, and building a breakfast nook where the fridge used to be to help the flow) to spraying insulation, building kitchen cabinets, painting coats of white throughout the space, and choosing livable, unfussy furniture and décor. But after they decided to sell the cabin in summer 2021, it fell into the right hands faster than they could have imagined.
Lalley hired Rob Grosse, a photographer at Spacecrafting, to shoot the cabin before they put it on the market. “I went up there, and they let me stay the weekend in it to photograph it,” Rob says. “I walked in and was completely floored. It took 10 minutes, and I said, ‘Steph, I’ll buy it.’ I hadn’t even talked to my wife yet.”
Rob purchased the cabin—furniture and all—to rent out as an Airbnb (search “Unforgettable charming one bedroom log cabin”), adding a few touches of his own along the way but mostly keeping it as Lalley designed it. “I never would have been able to put this together,” Rob says. “It was perfect already.”
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Pink door on a brown cabin
At first blush: A pop of pink on the door sets the tone (Cherry Malt Benjamin Moore, benjaminmoore.com): This house doesn’t take itself too seriously—and neither should its visitors. “That was the original door,” Lalley says. “We really just brought it back to life. It has this mauve undertone—it seemed really fun.”
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Dining area
Scene-setter: A built-in bench doubles as storage space and as seating around the Rove Concepts lacquer tulip table. Vintage Cesca chairs from Tonkadale warm the white surfaces. Lalley found the horseshoe in the cabin when she bought it and knew immediately she would hang it above the door for good luck.
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Kitchen before
Before.
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Kitchen sink
Retro cool: Lalley didn’t want to dedicate too much space to the kitchen, knowing people likely wouldn’t be cooking gourmet meals there, so she reorganized the layout and opted for a mini fridge (a Frigidaire Retro), a small sink, and a 24-inch oven instead of full-size options—although there is a larger fridge in the shed outside. She and her husband built the cabinets and shelving themselves and included cheeky details, like a built-in bottle opener next to the fridge.
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Kitchen and dining area
Vintage modern: One of homeowner Rob Grosse’s design contributions? The paddles above the window: “My wife and I spent a day going to all the antique shops in Walker and found them,” he says. “Then we painted them ourselves.” The family makes sure to block off a week every season to enjoy the cabin themselves (even though they also own a lake home in Wisconsin).
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fireplace
Finishing touch: Rob knew he needed to tile around the fireplace for insurance purposes to turn the cabin into an Airbnb—but didn’t want to detract from the modern vibe. A black-and-white hex-tile design (which he created himself from Home Depot tiles) fit the bill—from both a safety and a visual interest perspective.
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deck
Chill out(side): The deck, overlooking Barrow Lake, sports mismatched-cool cushions and furniture from Modway. Rob includes access to a canoe, kayaks, paddleboards, and snowshoes (depending on the season) so guests can enjoy the outdoors during their visits. Black Forest GreenBenjamin Moore, benjaminmoore.com
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Before outside
Before
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Cabin outside
Fade to black: Lalley knew she wanted to stain the cabin a dark color (which is actually a deep green, not true black) to keep the surrounding nature as the focal point. “We did white on the interior so you could look out at the green, and dark on the exterior so the cabin recedes within the tree line,” she says.
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bathroom
Creature comforts: When Lalley purchased the cabin, getting the plumbing to work was at the top of the unsexy-but-necessary to-do list. “We reworked that whole back area,” Lalley says. The light and bright feel, complete with Scandi-inspired cerused oak hardwood floors and white paint (White Dove by Benjamin Moore), continues through the bathroom.
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bedroom
Hideaway haven: The single bedroom, which features uninterrupted views of the lake, is barely big enough for a queen-sized bed—so Lalley and her husband built a shelf wall that acts as a headboard to maximize space. Linen bedding from Parachute keeps guests cool in the summer.
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outside shower
Cool off: The outdoor shower—hidden on the side of the house for maximum privacy—is “just kind of for fun,” Lalley says. She used the same stain as the rest of the exterior and cut a drain into the floor so the water flows down the hill.
Designer: Stephanie Lalley, Lucy Interior Design, IMS, 275 Market St. Ste. 311, Mpls., 612-339-2225, lucyinteriordesign.com
