Owning a log cabin on a lake or up in the mountains is a dream that many people have. A vacation home is a great place to make lasting memories with family and friends. If you are planning on having a log cabin built, there are a number of ways to do so while still keeping costs down. Use the following tips to help make building the log cabin with a company like Alaskan Barns more affordable:

Establish a Careful Budget

Prior to speaking to any contractors or making any building plans, it is essential to establish an exact budget of how much you can afford to spend on building a log cabin. Having an exact budget will help ensure that you are very careful with the money you have available so you don't run out of funds during the building process. 

Use a Popular Stock Design

Instead of hiring an architect to design a custom floor plan for your cabin, consider purchasing a popular stock design from a log home designer's catalog. The most popular designs have been built numerous times and they are popular for a reason. When you purchase a popular stock design, you will benefit from a floor plans that is carefully thought out and easy to construct, so you will save money in the long run.

Consider an Open Floor Plan

The higher the square footage of a log cabin, the higher the cost to build. You can keep costs down buy utilizing an open floor plan that does not include any wasted space. An open floor plan is also easier to entertain in, since the kitchen, dining, and living spaces don't have any walls between them.

Choose the Location of Bathrooms Carefully

If you want to reduce the plumbing costs associated with building bathrooms in a new log cabin, make sure that the bathrooms are placed back-to-back or one-on-top-of-the-other in a two-story cabin. When bathrooms are placed this way, you won't have to worry about adding extra pipes for the toilets, sinks, and drains.

Keep the Driveway Short

Having a driveway installed can be quite expensive and greatly increase the cost of constructing a log cabin. In order to keep costs down, build your cabin on an area of your lot that will allow you to keep your driveway as short as possible so you can be connected to the main road in the area.