For Ever and Ever I’ve Wanted to Live in a Cabin in the Woods

I envisioned a stone fireplace, wooden floors, and all the trappings of an earthy, unconventional home. But of course, living in the woods is not practical for a single woman with 2 dogs, a dream and a plan.

For the past 50 years I’ve lived in a one-bedroom walk-up apartment on the fifth floor of a pre-war building in Manhattan. In comparison to other apartments in my neighborhood my apartment is fairly large, and my living room and bedroom windows offer a view of a 3-acre park filled with trees and the smell of honeysuckle in the warmer months. I awake every morning to birds chirping their sweet songs to greet the day.

Throughout the years, while my friends were filling their apartments with the latest modern gadgets, I was looking for the most rustic furnishings I could find to create my cabin in the woods in Manhattan. This is an ongoing process that I pursue in my spare time. Many of the rustic statement pieces that fill my home were found abandoned in the street. I’ve given them new life and they’ve given me a home of my dreams.

Completing my home is part of my reinvention, and I’ll take you along through the process, room by room, piece by piece. Where we live and how we live reflects who we are and how we feel about ourselves. Rustic interior design is warm and welcoming, emphasizing organic and natural materials, earthy colors and lots of wood.

It’s definitely a bohemian thing.