When one thinks of living in a cabin, images of the crackling fireplace combined with your favorite beverage and great conversation with family or friends come to mind. Today, log cabin floor plans can be well-built, economical plans that allow you to build your own small home from the plan that you have purchased. Log cabins come in a variety of designs, sizes and intended uses. Often used as small vacation homes, they can be comfortable rustic cottages that blend harmoniously with the woods, mountains, near a stream or anywhere that peace and tranquility are the rule.

Here are five tips for having those log cabin house plans that will provide you that dream:

1 - Create Your List of Needs and Wants - your needs are items that you must have to function every day while wants are the items that are not required every day but would be considered luxury items. When you add in the extra costs of the various wants to your log cabin floor plans, you may discover that having less provides you more enjoyment for your home.

2 - Consider a 4-Corner Cabin House - if your budget is tight, a structure with four corners and simple roof system will be the least expensive one to build from your log cabin house plans. Each additional corner adds to the finished cost as do hips and valleys in the roof. The trade-off for simplicity in the design of your log cabin floor plans may provide you a larger home for the same price.

3 - Use a Pier System Foundation - check your local building code or with a local builder to see if your site allows the use of a pier foundation. This foundation will cost significantly less than a more expensive crawl space, slab or stone foundation. The finish of the foundation is not a major visual element once the landscaping has been completed.

4 - Be Careful Choosing Your Design Based on the Cheapest Price - the cheapest bid may not be your best option. When you are evaluating overall bids, if you decide based only on the amount of the bid, you may be in for a surprise later. You will want to be sure that if you are going to have a contractor build your log cabin house plans for you, that he or she has sufficient experience in the kind of work they will be doing for you. A professional contract can be somewhat lengthy if it covers the important obligations of you and the builder. You will want your attorney to review the contract to be sure it is fair to both parties. Do not sign a contract that has too much left out or if it is too one-sided, favoring the builder.

5 - Use In-Stock Plans - custom log cabin house plans created from the beginning cost considerably more than stock plans. Find stock plans that you like. If you need to make changes to stock plans, it is much more cost-effective to modify existing log cabin floor plans to fit your needs and design. Also, be aware of the materials to be used in your construction. Choosing standard in-stock building materials like window and door sizes, trims, fireplace and cabinets in the kitchen and baths will save considerably over the costs of custom sizes.

If possible, visit local log home builder shows. You can talk with log builders, see their floor plan designs, talk with other persons interested in building and learn more about the building process. Go online and purchase log cabin house plans books and magazines. Search for plans on the online plan services websites using the criteria needed for your project. As you search online for great plans, keep a notebook of your ideas when you see features in plans that you would like to have in your home.

And finally, relax and have fun! Make the planning stage an enjoyable educational experience as you organize your ideas. No matter whether you are just starting to organize your thoughts or are well along in your log cabin house plans design, learn as much as you can about creating your own log cabin floor plans design that will give you, your family and friends much enjoyment and pleasure for many years to come.

Copyright 2007 InfoSearch Publishing