Moving into a Traditional Mountain Lodge

One of my theories is that when you move to a new place, you should let the place influence you at least as much as you try to leave your influence on the place. In other words, it's a delightful thing to move to a new area and acquire some of its customs and aesthetics. That's why I'm fond of Asheville's many Mountain Lodges and their traditional décor of animals, fish, and forests.

For example, we've hung faux-taxidermy deer heads in the past, including a beautiful carved wooden version from Germany, and I really like them because deer are so much a part of the local culture. Recently we had the pleasure of encountering a new variety. This one used naturally shed antlers combined with a mount covered in repurposed Pendleton blankets.

This was created by artist Chase Halland of Faraway Lovely, whose work has been featured in several national shelter magazine, including House Beautiful.

We snapped these photos pretty quickly, so here are some better examples from his website. He really has an eye for color and pattern placement.

We also installed some classic fish prints in the same home.

While I enjoy contemporary art, I must admit that I have a special place in my heart for classic styles like this. They're perfect in a mountain retreat where you want something restful and undemanding to look at.

With traditional pictures like this, it's nice to hang them in a traditional layout; but hanging pictures in a perfect row like this can be surprisingly tricky if you haven't done it before. Fortunately we do it all the time!

In the same room, we added a heavy round mirror which reflected the fish and reminded me of a porthole.

The homeowners also had an interesting print by mountaineer Jimmy Chin. Of course, this wasn't taken in the rolling terrain of our Asheville hills, but it felt on-theme nevertheless. I like the way the snow is blowing off the side of that splendid peak.

The challenge of installing art in a lodge like this is that the ceilings can be very high, and you often find yourself placing art on stone chimneys or other difficult spots. Luckily we have the ladders and know-how to make installation a breeze.

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