It’s no secret that we LOVE a quirky stay! One of the best parts of house sitting is getting to experience life in all kinds of homes, and when we’re not house sitting, we enjoy finding the kookiest places to spend our time. From Airstreams and yurts to châteaus and shepherds huts, we’ve enjoyed our fair share of unusual experiences and each one allows us to hone in on our idea of a dream home for settling down in the future. (Don’t worry – that won’t be any time soon!) We especially enjoy staying in places inspired by Scandinavian culture, after our first trip to Sweden back in 2014 had us falling in love with all things Scandi. Since then we’ve travelled to Denmark and Iceland, with plans to visit Finland and Norway someday to immerse ourselves in all things Fika and Hygge once more. Since we don’t feel quite confident to travel abroad just yet, we set our sights on finding a Scandi getaway in the U.K. and we’re SO glad we found our latest stay, in a Scandinavian-inspired cabin at Hinterlandes.
We have been following Hinterlandes on Instagram for years now, and are always going googly-eyed over their inspiring posts and beautiful photos from their various properties. This was probably how we came to book a stay at the Scandi cabin, as we just knew we had to see it for ourselves! Hinterlandes have multiple quirky properties available to book, from a bus to a hidden hut, but we knew the Scandi cabin tucked away in the woodlands was the one for us.
The location of the cabin is so private and secluded, that once we’d booked our stay through Canopy and Stars we were given a WhatThreeWords to find it. If you’re unfamiliar: WhatThreeWords is a website where the entire world has been divided up into squares of three by three metres, and given a unique combination of three words, so you simply put in the three words you’ve been provided and you’ll find a three by three metre square showing you the exact location on a map! Of course we can’t share the exact location with you – that would ruin the magic of having a secret location! What we can tell you is that the cabin is perfectly nestled in a quiet woodland at the bottom of a hill, near Buttermere lake in the Lake District.
Coming down the hillside with our bags, we peeked our first sight of the cabin. Its wooden exterior has been painted a slick black, and has four black solar panels camouflaged into the roof, as well as a little chimney from the wood-burning fire inside. Stepping through the thick wooden door and into our little Scandi home for the next few days, we felt instantly at ease and I think we breathed an easy sigh of relief that felt like coming home. The interior style is minimal, with its wooden walls, accents of brown leather and black metal, and neatly arranged items that all complement the space and have some tie to the Scandinavian culture that inspired the cabin. Neatly arranged blue and orange blankets and cushions made us feel instantly cosy, and we spent many hours during our stay snuggled up on the cushioned bench by the big lounge window, overlooking the trees below and watching the changing weather roll in all around us. It was the definition of the Danish word ‘Hygge’ as we were cosy, comfortable and warm inside while watching the howling wind and rain outside.
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Speaking of warm, we loved having the small wood-burning fire to keep us nice and toasty throughout our stay! Even the way that the logs and kindling are arranged in neat stacks in the fireplace reminded us of our days spent in AirBnbs in Sweden and Denmark, where our hosts had arranged everything just so. We were provided with a hefty supply of wood and kindling, which was much appreciated as we got to try out the amazing wood-fire heated hot tub outside! On one particularly chilly evening at the cabin, we lit the fire that would heat up the water in the tub for an alfresco soak amongst the trees. When we were confident that the tub had reached a good temperature, and when it had started to get a little darker outside, we decided it was time to head out.
Carefully we made our way along the wooden walkway surrounding the cabin, making sure not to slip on the wet leaves under our feet. Walking outside in the cold October wind in nothing but swimsuits and clunky hiking boots didn’t feel very glamorous! But once we turned the corner of the cabin and saw our hot tub steaming from the heat of the water hitting the cold air, lit by the solar-powered fairy lights in a nearby tree, the atmosphere felt completely different. Sinking into that tub together, we didn’t feel the cold from the wind or even notice when it had gotten pitch black all around us. There’s something very Scandinavian about soaking in a beautifully hot tub surrounded by nature and the sound of the weather around us. We got so carried away having a long chat about what an amazing experience this all was that we didn’t realise our skin had gone wrinkly, and our tummies had started rumbling for our dinner!
Getting out of the lovely hot tub and back into the fresh autumn air wasn’t something we were in a rush to do, but thankfully another fantastic feature of the cabin, considering how small the space is, was the carefully designed bathroom. Yes, we had a full sized bathroom in our cabin, complete with a lovely hot water shower to rinse off in after our outside bath! Staying in tiny homes or cabins you can sometimes feel like you have to compromise on luxuries. But with extra amenities like shampoo, shower gel and soaps in stylish brown bottles with handmade labels, we didn’t feel like we’d had to compromise on comfort. It’s clear that every detail of the Scandi cabin has been carefully thought out, and every corner of the cabin has been designed to work in harmony with the rest of the space.
There is ample storage space in the kitchen, with all plates, cutlery, placemats etc. neatly stored in their piles. A good-sized fridge under the counter with two hobs, a sink and a kettle, made for easy meal times as we had a good amount of space to prepare our food. We’d eat our meals at the stylish black wooden table, enjoying beer and wine provided by our hosts, before clearing our plates away and cracking out one of the board games or books that were stacked in the shelves next to the open wardrobe. Of course we weren’t surprised that the bookshelf was lined with foraging recipe books, coffee table books about cabin interiors as well as books about hiking and wild swimming in the Lake District. Getting lost in these books let us immerse ourselves in cabin life even more as we pored over the pages, and had long conversations about our own dreams to one day live in a cabin in the woods – though we’d have to have access to a lake for Chris, who is obsessed with the water!
The long, cosy evenings spent talking about our nomadic lifestyle over a steaming cup of hot chocolate, reminiscing over our quirky stays and unusual experiences, made for a perfect and much needed relaxing stay. Being completely off grid with no phone signal or wifi to distract us from simply being together was just what we needed! Sinking into the memory foam bed at night, turning off the lights and being plunged into that total darkness that only comes from being somewhere far away from street lights and other homes, we felt totally at ease with nothing but the sound of trees rustling outside.
On our last day at the cabin we had a slow morning, making one last cup of tea to enjoy while admiring the view, before packing up our belongings and heading out into the world outside. The furthest we’d been from the cabin in three days was the surrounding woodland, and we felt a little sad to leave our little hidden paradise amongst the trees. Taking one last look at the cabin from the hillside, we vowed to come back another time and experience one of the other quirky properties at Hinterlandes!
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We are Chris+Suze
