Here are just a few examples:

• Ski Cooper. This small resort is tucked into Colorado’s San Isabel National Forest. It’s not crowded, and lift tickets are not overly pricey. If you’re looking for a quiet family vacation, this might be your spot.
• Hidden Valley. Skiing in the Ozarks? Apparently so. Located in Wildwood, Missouri, Hidden Valley offers skiing, tubing and snowboarding. They offer a lot of fun, high-energy events and activities.
• Burke Mountain. If you’re looking for New England skiing, Burke Mountain might be just the place. It’s a very environmentally-conscious ski spot, and the folks there seem to be serious about the skiing experience.

Yes, there’s Breckenridge and Taos. But you can probably find some good skiing just a little closer to home. SkiWhere.com is one resource to help you find a location nearby. Good luck!

Here are a few ways you might incorporate wrought iron into your rustic décor:

• Chandeliers and lighting. With rust finishes, classic iron, or a gunmetal kind of finish, wrought iron makes for great lighting pieces. This chandelier with rawhide shades has a great western look.
• Curtain rods and tiebacks. Wrought iron can be cast in scrolls or nature themes to make a gorgeous accessory for your window treatments.
• Metal wall art. Wrought iron can be used to create a beautifully simple wall décor item, or you could even upcycle a vintage wrought iron gate or grate to use on your wall. Especially if it looks aged and distressed, it will work wonderfully with your rustic décor.
• Furniture. Wrought iron makes for elegantly simple accent furniture. Choose a wrought iron barstool or small table for just the right furniture that doesn’t take up a lot of space in the room visually.
• Bath and kitchen hardware. Wrought iron branches or pinecones on bath hardware work perfectly in a rustic bathroom. It adds a look that’s distinctly natural, but with a lot of grace and style.

Simple scrolls add a classic look to your rustic décor or rugged western room, and nature motifs just add to that natural elegance. In any form, wrought iron could be just what your rustic room needs.

According to this article by the American Hiking Society, hiking offers very direct benefits for your physical fitness:

• It contributes greatly to lowering body weight.
• It’s good for your heart; regular 30- to 60-minute walks can help boost your good cholesterol levels and decrease hypertension.
• A daily walk has been shown to reduce depression and anxiety.
• It contributes to the prevention of osteoporosis by helping your bones pull in calcium.

Keep in mind that, although a lot of the health benefits of hiking come from getting any moderate exercise, some benefits are specific to hiking and getting outside. Outdoor activities are uniquely connected to elevated self-esteem and reduced stress and depression.

So while you’re at the cabin, why not take a hike? It’s a pretty simple activity, but it’s good to keep a few safety factors in mind as you’re getting started. Here’s a quick fact sheet to help you get on your way.

What are your favorite activities to do at the cabin? Are you a regular exerciser?

Here are just a few of your window treatment options. There’s a great deal of fun to be had with any of these.

• Blinds. Among the bonuses of blinds is that they are adjustable to allow the preferred amount of light in, and they offer a clean look that works well with any décor.
• Drapes, curtains and valances. These window treatments offer a multitude of options. Draperies can be wrapped over a curtain rod in addition to curtains to create a luxe look, or you can use a valance to hide the curtain rod. You can also use curtains in addition to blinds for a layered look. The options are just about endless.
• Fabric shades. Fabric shades, such as Roman shades, are panels of fabric that can be drawn up to allow more light in. They can be made of materials that contribute to energy efficiency in your home, which is an additional bonus. They can range from a clean, simple look to rich prints and ruffles. So shades are really very versatile.
• Natural-material shades, such as bamboo. These are a really trendy window treatment option. And the natural materials would work well in a rustic setting. They allow a bit of light to pass through, which is good.

Choosing the treatments that work for your room depends on your needs and the rest of your décor. Something like these lace panels offer a nice woodsy look in delicate lace that allows a lot of light to pass through. In contrast, heavier fabrics will block more light, or shades will create a more subtle effect. Here’s a slideshow with a bunch of ideas from CountryLiving.com.

Rest assured that, whatever you choose, your new window treatments will give your room an update and a fresh view on the world.

Here are a few tips from HGTV.com for choosing a color scheme. Among other pointers, they offer this advice:

• Pull colors from the largest pattern in your room to create a color scheme. If you already have your big furniture pieces or a favorite rug chosen, use some of those colors in the rest of the room.
• For a casual, relaxing room, choose colors that are close together on the color wheel. Join greens with blues, for example.
• Use colors from light to dark vertically. That means light colored ceilings, a medium-toned wall color, and dark flooring.
• If you include something black in every room, even if it’s a small item, it will set off the other colors in the room beautifully.

A lot of paint chips offer a sampling of complementary colors on the backs. So you can just pick up a paint chip in a color you like and use the colors on the back as a guideline for the rest of the room.

Greens make a wonderful addition to cabins and log homes, since they fit the surrounding environment so well, and browns work especially well with green. Fortunately, there’s plenty of rustic furniture and rugs out there that have those beautifully nature-inspired colors and designs. What colors have you chosen for your cabin?

Manly retreat centers come in all sorts of themes and serve all sorts of purposes. To give you some ideas for creating your own, consider these man cave themes:

• The Home Theater. Awesome surround sound and a big screen or projector make your favorite action movies and sports films even more thrilling. The equipment investment means that this man cave might be a little pricier to produce, but it’s well worth it to create the home theater you want.
• The Sports Lounge. A big-screen for all the big (and not so big) games, a dorm fridge for beer and snacks, and you’re already well on your way to a sports fan’s dream man cave. Make sure you add plenty of seating, because all the boys will want to come over.

The most important aspect of a man cave is that it suits your (or your guy’s) interests. It won’t be a good place for him to retreat to if it doesn’t reflect the things he likes to do. So if you’re looking to create a man-centric space in your cabin, start there and fill it with the things you/he finds interesting. Maybe a fishing-themed man cave for the fisherman, or a room full of camo décor for the hunter. Whatever your guy likes will make his special place in the cabin a good place for him to get away.

If what you’re envisioning involves rebuilding, here are a few tips from Man Caves host Jason Cameron. Have fun!

Camping

Camping can be fun and memorable for families and single folks alike. It provides a chance to experience nature for a much longer duration of time than suburban dwelling allows, and it offers the chance to develop problem-solving skills and experience the thrill of meeting a challenge. No wonder it’s such a popular pastime.

If you’re a total camping greenhorn, here are some ideas for getting prepared. And don’t forget safety; these tips from the CDC are a good checklist for safe camping.

Fishing

Fishing has a way of attracting ardent supporters. Since there are such varied types of fishing—fly fishing, ice fishing, freshwater and sea fishing—you’re almost sure to find something that strikes your fancy.

For the very bare-bones basics, here’s a good pamphlet to help you get started. And of course, it’s always good to go out with an experienced fisherman so that you can get hands-on instruction and watch someone go through the process of scouting a good location. One good thing about fishing is that it’s easy to find a place to fish within easy traveling distance.

Hiking/Biking/Climbing

When it comes to spending time in the outdoors, there’s something about movement that captures our rapt fascination. We love to hike, bike and climb in rugged, uncivilized terrain. Of those three activities, hiking is the easiest gateway: you can take a casual hike or an intensive one that requires more expertise—and enjoy them both immensely. Biking might require a little more knowledge to make sure you have the right equipment. And climbing is certainly something to approach with caution, but it pays off with its own unique thrills and rewards.

Check out everytrail.com for new hiking and climbing locations.

Even if you’re a seasoned outdoor lover, there’s always something new to try. Let us know what your favorite outdoor activities are. And have fun out there!

You can find antlers on every type of home décor, whether they’re genuine, realistic faux antlers or a more artistic representation in sculpted metal. Antlers often come in the

Pair them with:

• Rugged leather and western décor for a ranch look. Sturdy, masculine furniture and plenty of hair on hide on display, joined by wall-mount antlers, will give your home a distinctly rugged feel.
• Outdoor themes, such as pinecones and wildlife, for a mountain effect. Deer and elk antlers in particular work really well in a lodge setting—they perfectly emphasize that camp look. Antlers can add an extra note of authenticity to a room filled with black bears and moose.
• Vintage items for a country-rustic style with a fun twist. Antlers are cropping up in vintage country-themed rooms to add interest and a rustic note. An antler wall mount on a French blue wall, with distressed-finish tables and vintage signs, is sure to make your kitchen welcoming.
• Spare décor for a wistful, natural effect. Antlers are part of nature, and along with natural twig designs, they can add an austere beauty to a room for a look that’s uniquely rustic.

Antlers are a little thing that can make a big rustic statement in any room. They’re definitely worth checking out as you seek to create a unique rustic space.

You can take specific steps to optimize the protection you give your log home. For one thing, you can design the structure with roof extensions and locate the cabin so as to protect it from the sun and ran. You can also get it inspected every season to make sure it’s in good shape and repair any cracks or chinks that might allow moisture to seep into the logs and cause damage.

Overall, your basic log home maintenance isn’t terribly burdensome, and there are professionals to help you out. Yes, building with logs brings with it some special care needs. But those needs are not excessive, and the rewards of owning a gorgeous log home are well worth the effort—at least most cabin owners seem to think so.

A lot of log homes seem to have Adirondack-inspired layouts and structures. And the interiors can be full of the design as well. Even if you can’t make over the outside of your home or cabin, you can splash the Great Camp look associated with the Adirondacks all over the interior.

Furniture with skip-peel twig accents in geometric designs, like this occasional table, perfectly captures the Adirondack look. Smaller accessories and décor items can

complete the effect. Look for anything camp-themed, like vintage signs and fly reel décor items. A mounted fish will do a lot to add a sporting outdoor look to your cabin, or décor incorporating vintage skis and snowshoes. Really, anything that might belong in a New England lodge will give your cabin an Adirondack makeover.

The vintage camp look will make your cabin both more sporty and more inviting, with a special note of authenticity.