I am thinking I would go all in for the rustic, early 1900s look when electrification was a new thing and buildings were often lit by a single bright light bulb hung from the ceiling with a wire with no fixture surrounding it, hung in the center part of the cabin near the wood-stove. There are so many great retro-LED bulbs, and it would so much like a poor cabin from that era when people had only a few electric lights. Plus very energy efficient to spread out the light over the majority of building, with only separate fixtures in the bathroom, kitchen, and then task lighting like table lamps by the rocking chair or next to the bed.

I was thinking I would do wood-plank style flooring, either over a post and beam floor or poured concrete slab foundation, to keep that rustic look, along with wooden shiplap and/or tongue and groove inside walls with the use of congregated steel in the bathroom and kitchen, and in front of the firewall where the wood stove would be located. I could certainly install those materials myself, and it would not only save money, but also put more sweat equity into the whole project. Plus, while I don’t hate drywall quite as much vinyl siding,  plain drywall walls are so ugly, and far less sustainable then pine or even cedar shiplap or tongue and groove. Plus drywall is hard to keep from getting dingy with mud and muck I’m likely to track in from barnyard and hauling wood into the cabin, or the occasional smoke and ash from back-drafts and chimney cleaning. Plus then I could keep the scraps either for heat or bonfires out back. Burning hunks of shiplap in a bonfire out back with a cold beer is probably a hell of lot more fun then paying to landfill hunks of drywall. I guess you can chip and compost gypsum board, but they use fly ash in it which contains heavy metals. Yuck!

Fire safety people probably wouldn’t like the lack of walls in the center part of the cabin, and when I consult with the architect and town building inspector, I would have to figure out what the code requirements would be. Walls are good should a room flash over in a fire, as your bedroom could be closed off from the main section of the building. That said, having good smoke detectors and a nearby window for escape might be sufficient. I really like the idea of minimizing walls, outside of the bathroom, to ease heat dispersion from the wood-stove, simplify building, and be able to light more of the building using that single central light bulb. I want be warm in bed, even in the coldest nights. I don’t have privacy concerns, as I live alone and aren’t real interested in marrying anytime soon.