Our Adorable Tiny Cabin

Before I can tell you anything more about this little vacation we just went on, I have to tell you about our adorable tiny cabin, because it was just that! An actual tiny cabin! You know I've always been a fan of tiny houses, and this was my chance to try one!

When we started planning this trip several months ago, I asked my Facebook friends for opinions on where to stay while we were there. The overwhelming majority said part of the Hocking Hills experience involves staying in a cabin. It's just what you do there. So we looked around at cabins, but that can get a little tricky when you only need lodging for two. Some cabins are big multi-family places, and we certainly didn't need beds for ten people! We happened upon Carefree Cabins and decided to try out their bona fide tiny cabin, because it was so stinkin' cute!

Our cabin was called the Snuggle Bear Bungalow Cabin, and it was only two years old. It still looked and felt completely brand new, and it was so clean! (Side note: I appreciated how they went the extra mile to explain their cleaning process right now, so we could have extra peace of mind about their sanitizing procedures.)

The four cabins owned by this company are all together - two one one side of the road and two on the other. They were careful to leave a good distance and many trees among them all, so everyone has complete privacy. We loved that!

All the driveways are paved, and it was so nice to drive right up - no cloud of dust behind us! Isn't this just the cutest little cabin? It has 224 square feet inside and 196 square feet of back patio/spare living space outside.

The owners had thought of everything, including a cute little sign to welcome us!

The front porch, as you can see above, provided shelter for a whole pile of firewood, and it also housed these really comfortable rockers!

We sat out there the first night to drink our coffee, and these chairs also made the perfect place to put on our hiking boots the days we went out into the parks! The window you see there behind the chairs was at the foot of our bed, so we could look out in the evening and see the sun set over the trees.

Speaking of our bed - here it is! Right inside the front door.

The cabin didn't feel tiny because it had really tall vaulted ceilings! The bed in this cabin is a queen size, and it was really comfortable. The shelf with the bear on it is actually a luggage shelf for the guests! We unpacked most of our bags and took them back to our car, but we kept a few with us and this was the perfect place to stash them. The little lanterns hanging there had battery operated candles in them, and there was even a spare blanket up on the shelf (by the pillows) if we got cold. We did not get cold. You remember the story about our air conditioning breaking at home. We were just glad to have air! You can't really see it in the above photo, but the bed frame had drawers, so it served as a dresser, too.

Here you can see the "bedroom" beside the "living room."

And here's a close up of the living room! We had full TV and internet service the whole time we were there (even during rainy weather) and there was a landline phone too, since cell service is nonexistent in these hills. The TV hung over a gas fireplace, which we didn't use, since we didn't need it. There was a wall air/heat unit that kept the whole place really comfortable. The top of the fireplace held all kinds of info from the owners - area maps, brochures, an informational binder, and even a discount card to local stores and restaurants. The gliders were really comfortable. We did our devotions there most days!

The other end of the cabin housed the kitchen and bathroom. (By the way - the huge triangle-shaped windows above the living room and kitchen were amazing. They let in so much extra light!) The kitchen in this cabin was small but really well-stocked! It came with grilling tools for the outdoor grill, a microwave, a (small) coffee pot, a two burner stove, a mini-fridge and freezer, and pretty much anything you could need for short term cooking. (Plates, cups, silverware, pots, pans, slow cooker, storage dishes, can opener, knives, scissors, seasonings, and more.) The only thing it lacked was an oven and a dishwasher, and for a stay this short, we didn't need either one. We did max out the fridge and freezer since we'd brought all our own food for cooking, but for the time we were there, it worked absolutely fine.

I will say that if we were to permanently live in a tiny house, I'm not sure I could survive with a refrigerator that small. I need to store stuff!

Everything in the kitchen was high end (most kitchen tools were Pampered Chef, actually!) and really nice. OH! And she had labeled EVERYTHING. It was amazing.

Across from the kitchen was the tiniest little eating area. Two stools and a table. We ate outside for all our meals, but it would have worked well in the winter! Actually, I used it to get ready in the morning. That mirror was perfect for doing my hair and makeup, and there was more room to put all my supplies than there would have been in the bathroom. And as you can see, they'd even left extra sanitizing wipes and hand sanitizer for us.

And as you can see, the bathroom was also right there. It was small, but it was really nice. The sink was small, and the shower was REALLY small, but it had great water pressure.

There was a little closet in the bathroom, but it was locked. Ryan said the water heater had to be in there, and we don't know if it had laundry or not, but that's the door you see inside the bathroom.

The outside area was just as cool as the inside! Check out the back porch! Just outside the door was a little bistro table for two, and this is where we ate all our meals! (Just beyond that tree line was the road.)

This was the only sad part of the whole trip. They had this SUPER CUTE outdoor fireplace - and it wouldn't light! We called about it, and they came to look at it, but they said they'd have to call to have it serviced. I was really sad about it...but next time, right?

There was also a rocky area off the porch that housed the fire pit and more chairs. (We had fires two of the nights we were there, and it was SO peaceful out there.)

And then the best part:

The grill and the trash can! Just kidding. THE HOT TUB!!!!! It was the perfect little tub for two, and we loved it. We took advantage of it a couple of times every single day. (The area behind here is a tall ridge and somewhere up above the trees was the other cabin on our side of the road.)

Did we love this cabin? Absolutely. Was it big enough? Absolutely. If we were going to live in something this small permanently, I probably would have to make a few modifications to the furniture arrangement inside to maximize the space, but I found it really spacious and not confining at all.

We hope to go back to this area someday to actually hike the park we planned to hike this time, and when that happens, I think I'd like to try the next size up cabin, just to see how it feels in comparison. But this one was a gem. An absolute gem. So clean. So organized. So welcoming. So comfortable. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this one to anyone!

(PS - Did I mention the label maker?)