Huge selection of Home And Garden!

The Orvis Book of Cabins celebrates this beloved form of rural design with cabin getaways owned by people who love the outdoors: anglers, hunters, hikers, paddlers, and those who feel most at home when close to nature. A beautifully produced full-color book, this volume showcases cabins small and large, rustic and sophisticated, in all parts of North America, from Maine to Montana, from North Carolina to California. Some have been in a family for generations while others are newly built or completely remodeled. All provide inspiration for living the dream of an active lifestyle, from the perfect setting for a cabin to adapting a structure for fullest enjoyment of the outdoor world, be it near shorelines, woodlands, or mountains. Nineteen homes in all are featured with scores of others pictured in individual photos.

Comprehensive Cabin Book
This isn't just a book of pretty pictures. Although it is beautifully illustrated, "The Orvis Book of Cabins" delves beneath the glossy surface of standard coffee table books to offer really useful and interesting information. It covers subject like how to site your cabin, making the most of loft space, suggestions for storing sports equipment, kitchen and bath decorating ideas, and floor plans for a comfortable-looking 1500 square foot cabin. The author also tells the stories of nearly 20 different cabin owners, discovering what drew them to this lifestyle, what challenges they faced in building, and ultimately, the rewards they've reaped from their cabin retreats. Two of the homeowners include country singer Charlie Daniels and Kathy L'Amour, the widow of novelist Louis L'Amour, and while it was great to get a sneak peak into their lives, I also enjoyed reading about the "regular" people, like the man who felled and stacked his own logs (and whose mother wore her fingerprints off spreading the chinking) and a couple who camped out and bathed in a Minnesota lake while restoring a 1920s cabin that most people would have just knocked down. They seem like the kind of friends you would like to have over for dinner, swapping stories in front of a roaring fireplace in your own cozy cabin.

Great selection of cabins, big & small, & useful design ideas
This book offers an extensive cross-section of 19 cabins all across the U.S., from grand lodges to plenty of cozy, humble getaways. A few of the more rustic examples include "Building a Cabin from Scratch," which the owner built with his family in the North Woods of Wisconsin; "A Simple Boat House" in Maine, with "unfinished" walls that double as bookshelves; and "Casting Call," a cabin in North Carolina made with cleverly recycled elements. Fans of the late Wild West novelist Louis L'Amour will be intrigued by the article about his ranch in Colorado, and there's also an interesting look at the Tennessee log home and remarkably down-to-earth lifestyle of the legendary Charlie Daniels. I found the design sections--with advice on things like "creating antique patina" to give newer cabins more character, innovative storage ideas, selecting a wood stove and designing a fireplace, building interesting bathrooms, and planning outdoor rooms and outbuildings--extremely helpful. (One of my favorites: the dog house on page 101.) This is a great book for hands-on planning and gathering design ideas, as well as a beautifully photographed record of a type of home that is an art form unto itself. A great Christmas gift and must-have for cabin lovers.

A very special form of rural architecture
In "The Orvis Book Of Cabins", freelance writer and interior design expert Amy Laughinghouse celebrates a very special form of rural architecture through profiling more than eighteen cabin getaways that cater to anglers, hunters, hikers, canoe paddlers, and simple lovers of nature. Beautifully photographed in full color, the cabins range from small and simple to large and rustic. Some have been the home to generations of families, while others are either newly built or completely remodeled. But all of them are superb examples of an active Orvis lifestyle catering to the enjoyment of the outdoor worlds of mountains, lakes, rivers, and woodlands through every season of the year. "The Orvis Book Of Cabins" is especially recommended for browsing by non-specialist general readers with an interest in cabin architecture and interior design, and of immense value as a reference for professional architects and anyone planning to build a cabin of their own!