Log cabin plans are essential to the realization of your dream of building your own log cabin or having a custom log cabin built for you. This is the absolute first step in your project.
There are several ways to obtain these plans. You can purchase them either online, or purchase a book filled with building plans.

Log Cabin House Plans

When looking for log cabin house plans there are a number of key factors you need to consider at the outset-

• Make sure the log cabin you intend building fits on the land you have chosen as not all log cabins will work on all sites. For example, if you want a walk out basement then you will need to have a slope or hill on your site so that your log cabin house can be set into the land sympathetically and at minimum cost.
• Aspect is another important factor and how your log cabin faces or sits towards the sun will influence greatly your enjoyment of your home with a south facing rear aspect being the most common choice. This allows maximum enjoyment of the sun as it rises and sets during the day and evening.
• Space-even though you may intend using your log cabin house for weekends and/or vacations you will still need to ensure that you have adequate space for storage and one of the most effective and efficient ways to achieve this is to put in a good basement.

Your basement is an ideal place for a spare room, games room, home office etc. and to ensure maximum space utilization it is a good idea to have a high ceiling in your basement to prevent any feeling of claustrophobia or restriction.

Your space utilization can be further enhanced with the clever use of dormer windows which allow you to add extra living space in the roof area. Obviously you will need a sloping roof line to achieve this but there is something really nice about the area you can add in the roof area with dormer windows and the extra, natural light adds a lovely feeling of airiness and spactiousness to what otherwise might be a small room.

Standard Log Home Floor Plans

Standard log home floor plans can prove to be a great buy because a company such as Southland Homes, which specializes in log cabin plans, have years of experience of supplying log cabin plans and their standard plans would have evolved from trial and error and years of experience supplying and building log cabins for people just like you.

Small Log Cabin Plans

Size also really matters when it comes to building a log cabin. If you are on a budget, you might want to try looking for small log cabin plans. You can build a small cabin that has as little as 500 square feet of living area. This would be a good option if you are in need of a temporary vacation home, where you would ideally just go into the cabin to sleep.

It is important to note that the majority of log cabins today are not actually made of logs in the traditional sense. Most cabins will have a log exterior finish to give the look and feel of a log cabin, but without all the problems that accompany a log cabin such as leaky ceilings and major maintenance bills due to the elements and insects ruining the wood. This modern design survives much better than the old one.