Design Ideas: Open Concept Oasis

For many family members, the idea of a weekend on the lake varies wildly- whether it's curling up with a book, hanging out in the screened room, or hosting a happy hour. With an open concept however, all that matters is that the whole group can pursue their perfect weekend without having to split up.

Timbers And Tech: Great Rooms

When designing your dream cabin, you need to consider it from all angles. With these cutting edge previsualizations, you'll be able to explore your cabin inside and out before construction even begins.

Impressive Engineering: Outdoor Amenities

As we explored previously, one of the best ways to deal with Lake of the Woods' rugged terrain is by turning your cottage's negatives into positives. With the right mindset, you can use your property's challenging topography to help your cabin stand apart from the rest.

In a previous post we explore the lakeside fire pit as a cost effective way to maximize the use of your cabin's property. One of our builds has taken that concept a step further by using the unique layout of the lot to add some custom, one-of-a-kind amenities.

Wanting a unique, interactive addition to their cabin and seeing some potential in a nearby rocky outcrop, these homeowners killed two birds with one stone, and designed an outdoor pig spit/smoker. Construction is underway- stay tuned for more updates on this out of the box addition!

Have questions about Kenora builders, contractors, or interior cottage design? Please contact Bill Scurfield at bscurf@mymts.net or visit our website http://blackfoxconstruction.com/.

Best of BC: Choosing A Timber Frame

Lake of the Woods is unparalleled for it's natural beauty and incredible summers. When exploring for the best cabin timber frames Canada has to offer, however, our search goes from coast to coast.

Timbers And Tech #2

As explored in our last post, the use of digital imaging is essential to modern cabin building. These 3D cross sections allow a virtual walk through of your home before any construction begins.

Timbers And Tech

Even in the rustic world of cabin building, it's important to keep on the cutting edge of design technology. When coupled with our experienced carpenters, these design programs can take your cottage further, faster.

Video: Helicopter Hot Tub Install

As we discussed in our last post on problem solving, we recently had a hot tub flown onto the deck of client's cliffside home. Check out the video in this blog post to see that, with the right preparation, even some of your most perplexing problems can be solved in a few short minutes.

Impressive Engineering: Helicopter Hot Tub

When the buyer for one of our most recent developments requested a hot tub on the property, we were happy to oblige. Set on a rocky cliff, there was no conventional way to get the hot tub from the truck to the deck. As with most engineering challenges on Lake of the Woods properties, we had to come up with a creative solution.

 

Lakeside Landscaping: Rock Faces and Wildflowers

While building your dream cabin, there are a number of creative options that will put the finishing touches on your property. One of the most striking (and cost-effective) landscaping options is a colorful wildflower garden.

Storm Bay Build Update #2: Working With Tough Terrain

If you're building a cabin on Lake of the Woods, chances are you're going to have to deal with a few challenges posed by rugged terrain. Luckily, we're no strangers to engineering challenges.

Lakeside Landscaping: Fire Pits

When designing your dream cabin, the process shouldn't end when your cottage is built. One affordable (and indispensable) addition to any Lake of the Woods home is a dead simple lakeside fire pit.

Cabin Essentials: Days On The Dock

When it's summer on Lake of the Woods, there's nothing better than a day down by the water. Making sure your cabin has the right dock design is essential to making the most of your sunny, summer days.

Rustic Accents: Beautiful Barn Doors

When designing and building your cabin, finding the right mixture of classic comfort and modern amenities can be a challenge. However, with the properly placed rustic elements, like a sturdy, stylish barn door, there's no reason to shy away from state-of-the-art conveniences.

Storm Bay Build Update #1: Getting Started

With summer officially in the rearview, cabin building season is in full swing, and with it comes a brand new slate of dream homes. One of our most exciting projects is located Storm Bay, where the client's garage will soon boast a million dollar view.

Outdoor Oasis: Building The Perfect Deck

It's no secret that although the most popular room in your city house might be the kitchen,  a great deck is the main hang out spot for any hot summer day at the cabin.

Impressive Engineering: Retaining Walls

When building a cabin in the Canadian Shield, often times working with the rugged landscape is a lot more cost effective than fighting it. The results, like this retaining wall, can not only save you money, but leave you with a stunningly unique cottage too.

Sun Rooms: Bring The Great Outdoors Inside

At Black Fox, we believe that every square foot of your cabin is indispensable. And when summer on the lake is in full swing, there are fewer rooms more popular, or versatile, than a well designed sun room.

Boathouses: Living On The Lake

When you think about building your dream cottage, most likely your main cabin is the first thing to come to mind. However, even though a boathouse or lift may be something of an afterthought, it is no less essential to enjoying a weekend on the water.

Cabin Essentials: A Beautiful View

Building a dream cabin is no small feat, but ultimately the most important features that will allow you to make the most of your summer home are fairly straightforward. Arguably one of the most important (and satisfying) components is a breathtaking view.

Breakfast Bars: Staying Casual In The Kitchen

If the kitchen is inevitably going to end up being the social center of your cabin, it's important that it be a comfortable. A breakfast bar is the perfect way to keep your kitchen's vibe casual. 

Love At First Sight II: Grand Entrances

When designing your cabin, what's the first thought that comes to mind? For family and friends, their first impressions of your home will be formed as soon as the walk in the front door.

Making A Statement: Great Rooms #2

In a year round cabin on Lake of the Woods, no room brings people together quite like the great room. In an open concept lodge like this, your design possibilities are truly limitless.

Rustic And Refined: Glass Barn Doors

Although conversations about your cabin most likely revolve around numbers of bedrooms and square footage, it's the little details that truly make your cottage unique. A set of glass barn doors is the perfect accent to give your home a modern touch.

Entertaining On The Lake: Home Theatres #2

After a long day on the lake or an afternoon of sledding in the winter, it's important to have a place where you can kick back and put your feet up.

Master Suites: The Master Bathroom

Although much of your time on Lake of the Woods is spent with family, having a master suite that let's you get away from the chaos is essential, and nothing let's you freshen up and relax like a great master bathroom.

First Class Amenities: Laundry on the Lake

It's an often overlooked fact- the more friends and family you have at the cabin, the more work you'll have to do around the house. But with a full service laundry room, the last thing you'll have to do on your vacation is worry about  hand washing dirty beach towels.

Custom Staircases #2: Mountain Lodge

As we've discussed previously, custom staircases can often be the one of your cabin's biggest and most beautiful features. In this post, we examine a beautiful, sturdy staircase in a Lake of the Woods lodge-style cottage.

Bunkhouses: Ready For Anything

Once you've built or bought your dream cabin on Lake of the Woods, anything can happen. Whether you're entertaining surprise guests, needing an extra large game room, or just wanting some time to wind down away from the main cottage, bunkhouses have you covered.

Cabin For Sale: Update #2 -- Sold!

Although many of our Lake of the Woods cottages are designed with our clients, last week we shared a few progress pictures of our most recent spec build in the Kenora area.

Warming Up With A Tulikivi Fireplace

As we've explored previously, a fireplace is the perfect way to transform your cabin into a warm, inviting lakeside retreat. While style and price point can vary dramatically, one of the most fascinatingly unique fireplaces is the Finnish made Tulikivi which doubles as a wood-fired oven.

Cabin For Sale: Build Update #1

While many of our cabins are designed and built for our clients from the ground up, not everyone is prepared to invest the amount of time, energy and money that's required to start your dream cottage from scratch. This brand new cabin, just 15 minutes outside of Kenora, offers a turnkey solution in the heart of cabin country.

Giving Your Cabin A Personal Touch

Even in the early stages of cabin building, it's important to talk with your builder and architect about the finer details that will truly make the cottage your own.

VIDEO: Getting A Bird's-Eye View On Lake Of The Woods

At Black Fox, we believe in embracing the cutting edge when designing your dream cabin. One of the best ways for you and your contractor to better understand your property is with a quick flyover from a video capable drone.

Ready For Happy Hour

As we've explored previously with our craftily engineered basement bar, making sure your cabin is equipped for happy hour is one of the quickest ways to become the most popular neighbor on Lake of the Woods.

Seeing The Light: Chandeliers

Even if you're primarily using your cabin on Lake of the Woods as a rustic retreat, adding a few refined elements can let you home go from from dockside to dinner party in no time.

Stone, Wood and Steel: Keep Your Cabin Rustic With Custom Metal Work

No matter what stage you're at while building a cabin on Lake of the Woods, it's never too late to consider the final, finishing details. One of the subtlest ways to enhance your cottage's woodsy charm is with rustic metallic accents.

Hardwood Havens

At Black Fox, we believe that your cabin should be as beautiful as it is cozy and comfortable. Depending on how you and your builder approach them, hardwood floors can offer up the perfect blend of warmth and beauty.

Rock Solid: Finishing Your Cabin With Custom Masonry

When building your dream cottage on Lake of the Woods, the devil is in the details. When you're putting the finishing touches on your lakeside abode, one of the quickest ways to make a splash is with rock solid stone features.

Warming Up With Framed Fireplaces

As we've previously explored with the stately masonry fireplace, a cozy hearth is an essential centerpiece of any Lake of the Woods cabin. A framed fireplace offers you the same opportunity to kick your feet up at the end of a long summer day, but at a fraction of the cost. 

Great Rooms: The Heart Of Every Home

Whether it's sundown or happy hour, one of the most popular rooms in any cabin on Lake of the Woods is the great room. Ranging from stoic and stately to warm and cozy, your builder can help you create the perfect shared space for your ideal cabin.

Raising The Roof: Building A Beautiful Ceiling

What separates a city home from a Lake of the Woods cabin? If you ask a cottage owner or builder, one of the first criteria is often a cabin's overall rustic, rugged aesthetic. Funnily enough, a feature that best encapsulates a cabin's unique, woodsy appeal is ironically one of its most overlooked- the ceiling.

Cooking In The Great Outdoors

When it's summer on Lake of the Woods, any excuse to stay outside is a good excuse. So, when dinner time roles around at the cottage, an outdoor kitchen is a great way to make the most of your evening.

Warming Up With Masonry Fireplaces

Whether you're relaxing by the fire with a drink after a day of snowmobiling, or curling up on a cool Lake of the Woods summer night, a fireplace is a necessary addition to any cozy cabin.

Mixing Style With Safety: Outdoor Stairs And Handrails

As cabin builders, we know that the more time you spend down on the dock, the better.  For some of us,  that might require more than a few sets of outdoor stairs and handrails, but that doesn't mean your walk down to waterside Lake of the Woods can't be as stylish as it is safe.

Mantels: Giving Your Cabin A Personal Touch

In the end, cabins are about family. Nothing beats a cozy weekend on Lake of the Woods with loved ones, and for our money one of the easiest ways to truly turn your house into a home is with a welcoming, one-of-a-kind mantel.

Movin' On Up: Beautiful Custom Staircases

As Kenora builders, we know that certain parts of your dream home can be taken for granted- your staircase being chief among them. However, with the right design and an attention to detail, you can take your stairs from second thought to cabin centerpiece in no time.

Love At First Sight: Foyers And Front Entries

While your cabin's view of the lake is important, it's far from the only one that matters. Too often, builders and prospective homeowners forget about another critical snapshot of their dream home- the impression it makes when you first walk in the door.

Balconies: Building A Room With A View

For cabin owners, it's the simple things in life that matter. There's nothing more satisfying than taking in the lake's most picturesque views, whether it's with a cup of coffee at sun up, or something a little stronger when the sun's going down.

For builders and clients alike, there are a few elements to keep in mind while designing your perfect balcony (and perfect view).

Ready For More: How To Accommodate Last-Minute Guests

Going to the lake is a family affair, and often enough you'll find yourself having to sleep a few more guests than you initially thought. There are several ways to accommodate last-minute overnighters, but these are a few of our favourites.