All the difference

This past summer, Kenny and I traveled from Kentucky to Montana and Wyoming via The Great River Road.  Our drive on The Great River Road ended in Minnesota.  We spent the final night of this leg of the journey in a yurt.  As a future airbnb owner, this stop made me fully realize that one show stopping vintage piece can make all the difference.

The Yurt

Surprisingly, the yurt was my favorite night of the whole trip, and we had some wonderful accommodations over the two weeks we were gone.  There is just something I find adventurous and slightly risky about staying the night in the Northwoods with no indoor plumbing.  Although, I’m not gonna lie, I was worried it would be a miserable night.

When we arrived it was windy, cloudy, and in the 50’s (mid-summer).  Our host met us and walked through the blustery woods with us to the yurt while giving us instructions.  She also introduced us to the port-a-potty which was quite a walk away from our yurt. (Note–the port-a-potty was cleaner than most full service bathrooms.)

My first glimpse of the yurt lifted my spirits. I thought the meadow at the edge of the forest where it was located was magical. I won’t go into a lot of details here because that isn’t the purpose of this post, but you can tell by the picture that it was nice.

The bed made all the difference

When we entered the yurt, I was immediately struck by the large wooden four poster bed that dominated the space.  I could easily tell that it was antique and asked about it.  Our host told us the bed was an old rope bed that had been converted to a queen size.  It had been purchased at an auction, she told us, and was estimated to have been built in the mid-1800’s.  She also said the striking wood was tiger maple which I had never heard of before.

That bed absolutely made the space in my opinion.  I found the wooden floors and other touches equally nice.  The bed though…I couldn’t wait to crawl into it.  It was so heavy, even in the yurt that was on a platform, it didn’t move when I tried to shake the posts.  

This antique bed has been an inspiration for Kenny and me as we are preparing to open our own airbnb.  Because of that, we have looked everywhere for something similar.  We have found that it is really hard to find antique or vintage queen sized beds.  If we can figure out how, we are even open to having one converted to queen size.  For now, our hunt continues.

Creating mood with a vintage piece

Have you ever encountered a space where one piece of furniture or decor created the atmosphere?  That bed did it for me the night we spent in the yurt.  There have been other times I have noticed this as well.  Notably, the backbar in The Irma in Cody, Wyoming and a 19th century chippy blue cupboard in an antique store we visited in Maine.

In my own home, it is my farm table handmade by my great grandfather and passed down to me by my dad.  That is normally the first thing people notice about our home.  It is also the thing our guests remember.  

I fully believe small touches can create a wonderful mood in a space; however, a signature piece can make all the difference.

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