February 09, 2021

Home Spotlight: The Sweet Beast Cabin

by Haley Pittman

After cutting her teeth on fixing up her 1929 Tudor-style home, Emily Cosnotti of The Sweet Beast found her new design obsession: An almost A-Frame cabin in the mountains of Pennsylvania.

The cabin meant an escape for Emily and her husband Andy, as well as a new project where she could invest her creative energy.

With help from Emily's dad, the couple DIY'ed the installation of Shell through the main living space of the cabin. Getting rid of an awkward carpet-to-tile transition in favor of clean, natural hardwood floors gave the space a breath of fresh air.

Read on for our full interview with Emily!

Emily Cosnotti

Tell us about your cabin. What spoke to you about it?

Our cabin is a cedar-sided sub-A-frame nestled on a mountain ridge at Raystown Lake in Central Pennsylvania. It was built in the early 2000s as a vacation home and has so much potential. There are many things about the cabin that spoke to me, the location, that A-frame style roof, for example, but what stood out most was the view.

How would you describe your design vision for the cabin?

My vision for the cabin is a warm, Scandinavian-modern, slightly rustic space with hints of summer camp. So many cabins in the area are full of taxidermy or log furniture, but I want to make this home something very different.

Where do you find inspiration for your renovation projects?

I get so much inspiration from Instagram and Pinterest, but also from designers creating boutique hotel interiors. Sarah Sherman Samuel is a huge inspiration for the cabin, along with Studio Robert McKinley.

How did you hear about Stuga? What did you enjoy about the experience?

I first heard about Stuga when Chris and Julia Marcum of Chris Loves Julia installed Pepper in their A-Frame cabin. I filed it away in my head for when we’d hopefully have a cabin of our own someday. I ordered free samples before we even closed on the sale of our cabin, and really fell in love. Once we placed our order, I couldn’t believe how quickly the flooring arrived.

And when it was time to install, the way the boards lock together so securely made everything easy, and as my dad called it, “cool”. The Stuga floors truly transformed the cabin into a modern and warm space, adding the oak across the entire main floor unified and elevated the whole space.

What made you choose Shell? Did you consider other colors?

The cabin has warm pine paneling and I wanted the flooring to work with it, not against it. I narrowed my samples down to Shell and Lucia, both had warm tones with rustic details. I chose Shell because it is slightly lighter in tone and has such beautiful variation and character.

What do you love about hardwood floors versus other options?

I love hardwood floors because of the warmth and texture they bring to a home but also because of the sound. Composite or vinyl flooring can have a loud artificial sound under the feet of people and animals, and can send sounds bouncing around. Wood floors soften and absorb, you can’t beat a natural material.

What are your three best pieces of renovation advice?

It will get worse before it gets better so give yourself time, space, and a renovation-free place to retreat to.
Know what you can do by yourself vs. what you should hire out for, and understand the time and money trade-offs.
The internet is the best resource for learning how to DIY everything, don’t be afraid to learn a new skill. Everyone starts somewhere.