BHG.COM/DIYMA G A Z I N E DO IT YOURSELF Winter 2020 73
ALISON ALLEN NEEDED A BREAK. NOT FROM THE NONSTOP HOUSE
UPDATES SHE SHARES ON HER BLOG, DEUCE CITIES HENHOUSE.
INSTEAD, SHE AND HER HUSBAND, JEFF, WERE LOOKING FOR A
WEEKEND RETREAT TO GET THEIR KIDS OUT OF THE CITY (THEY
CALL MINNEAPOLIS HOME) AND INTO THE WOODS.
“Our sons, Finn and Gus, are 10 and 7, and we
wanted to fi nd a spot to get together but also get
away from it all,” Alison says.
Enter a circa 1968 chalet-style A-frame located
about two hours away in Hayward, Wisconsin.
With a secluded, tree-covered lot overlooking a
private lake, the property resembled something out
of a favorite storybook.
The home’s interiors, on the other hand, were
not worth writing home about. A dilapidated
kitchen and wall-to-wall shag carpet made for a
dark, dated, and somewhat smelly house.
But with 10 years of DIYing under her belt,
Alison was undeterred. “I immediately saw the
potential here,” she says. “And I knew we could stayon a budget if we embraced the rustic elements of
the home rather than try to update them.”
Out went the old and in came a whole-house
palette of black, white, and dark green that let
the cabin’s rough-hewn character shine. Room by
room, Alison mixed elbow grease and ingenuity to
create inviting spaces that felt comfy but not cabin
clichéd. The result: a cozy, woodsy retreat. Just like
the family had been pining for.EYE OPENERThe home’s biggest eyesore was a
bank of upper cabinets obscuring the view between
kitchen and dining space, opposite. Crowbar in
hand, Alison tackled the demo in an afternoon.
“With those out of the way, I knew my vision for an
open living area could become a reality,” she says.HEARTH + SOUL This corner of the living room served
as ground zero for homeowner Alison Allen’s cabin
revival. With the bones of the home basking in rustic
splendor, she incorporated clean-lined furnishings to
balance the rough-hewn look, this photo.