Happy Trails

This 1,000-square-foot cabin in upstate New York gets a whimsical and colorful makeover as a summer getaway.

- BY VICTORIA VAN VLEAR PHOTOGRAPHY BY BRET GUM

Homeowner Wendy Conklin decorated the inside of her cabin from scratch, but also repainted the outside a bold navy blue. But it's the complementary blue-on-blue that makes the exterior pop. "That was initially a mistake," Wendy says. "The paint company had listed this lime green to go with the navy blue. I started with ‘one coat, but the color did not look good at all, so I had to switch gears. I could have gone red, which is patriotic, or yellow, which is expected. But I wanted to do something unexpected and decided to do blue on blue.” She found a vintage life preserver to use as a wreath.

The summer of 2024 was Wendy and her husband Blane's first stay at the cabin. “We went up at the end of April with a van of things we wanted to drop off,” Wendy says. “Then we drove back at the beginning of June, and we were there through August.” Built in 1965, it went up for sale in 2020 and a neighbor bought and flipped it with upgrades. "I was worried that I wouldn't like being away, but I loved it, and then I was looking forward to coming home at the end of the summer," Wendy says.

What colors make you happy? For homeowner and business owner Wendy Conklin, it's bright, cheery colors that make her tick. Her home in Texas (which you can see in our August 2024 issue) is full of whimsy and cheer, and it was her love of color, pattern and creativity that led to her start a successful chair upholstery business, Chair Whimsy.