How to Design a Rustic Kitchen with No Electricity

My parents have a log cabin in Crivitz, Wisconsin. We go up to their cabin frequently in the summer and fall. I do a lot of cooking while enjoying the northern part of the state. My parents have owned their cabin on fifty eight acres for twenty five years. Back then it was going to cost eighty thousand dollars to get electric hooked up. I guess it is quite costly with hardly any neighbors and living down a long wooded dirt road. My parents opted to use gas for everything in their kitchen as gas was already hooked up. The cabin came with a gas stove. The first big purchase was a gas refrigerator. My parents had to hunt for this unusual purchase as most refrigerators are electric. They found a gas refrigerator for one thousand dollars. Yes, one thousand dollars is expensive for a refrigerator especially twenty five years ago, but compared to eighty thousand dollars it is a drop in the bucket! The refrigerator is not as big as the standard refrigerator, but it gets the job done!

You can find a gas refrigerator online at gas refrigerators.com or use Google and type in gas refrigerators. Many websites come up to find a great deal! My parents have a pick up truck so they were able to pick up the refrigerator and deliver it to their cabin themselves. You could order your refrigerator and have it delivered to your home or second home. I would suggest if the gas refrigerator is for your second home to have it delivered to your first residence. Just in case the appliance is late and you have to get back home at a certain time. If you have no reason to leave your second residence then, by all means, have it delivered to the residence it is needed at.

The cabin is hooked-up with gas from the previous owners so my parents only had to plug in the refrigerator.

Cooking on the gas stove was as normal as cooking at a home with a gas stove although there are a few differences. For one, no toaster will hook-up to their gas concoction. My parents bought a standing wire “toaster.” A contraption you would use on your grill to cook pork chops or toast. You set the wire “toaster” right on the gas burner and watch the toast bake. Flip the toast one time. Be sure to stand and watch as the toast cooks fast!

There is no hot water or running water in the kitchen sink, for that matter! My parents do have an old~fashioned pump in the front yard hooked up to a well. When we arrive at the cabin we fill a huge white bucket with water. We use the water to wash our hands, face, and sponge bathe.

For hot water we have to go to the pump and fill a pan up with water. We then put it on the gas stove to heat the water up. Our kids enjoy pumping the water and seeing what it was like in the olden days.

To make coffee or tea we have the coffee pot and tea pot and fill it with water and set the pot(s) on the stove burners. Both pots are safe to use on the gas burners.

Brushing your teeth is an adventure outdoors. We brush them by filling up a cup from the pump. Brush and rinse outside. Just rinse your mouth and spit in the woods while keeping an eye out for black bears.

Getting dressed in the morning is a chore, heating up water to sponge bath, and rinse. The positive side is all of this work is refreshing in the air that is much more pure than southern Wisconsin.

To bring light into the log cabin my parents have gas lights hanging on the wall. The lights look like they would be powered by electricity. The back is made of wood and the front looks like a regular clear light bulb inside of a glass case. To light the gas lights you have to use a match or lighter. The lamps work very well. You feel like you actually have ‘normal’ lamps lighting up the inside of the house.

My parents have a lovely wood table in the middle of the kitchen to fit the log cabin atmosphere. You can actually see the logs on the inside of the cabin as real logs were used to build this cute three bedroom loft cabin.

The counter tops are handy butcher block for easy cutting and wipe up.

For decor my mother and I chose the rustic woods look. My mom loves it when I help her decorate and it is my pleasure to help out! The table has a nature scene on it with bears, deer, pine cones, and trees. The main color of the kitchen is a forest green to bring the flow of the woods inside of the cabin. A glass bowl is filled in the center of the table with pine cones. Wash cloths and towels have deer or bear on them with checkered green and cream colored borders. Some of the items have cranberry tones. Kitchen curtains are a forest green pulled off to the side for optimal natural lighting from the outdoors.

My parents use their wooden salad bowls, and eight sets of clear dishes to go with their theme. Food looks so good on clear plates and in clear bowls!

A wood stove heats up the cabin when needed in the autumn. Chop trees and get your wood to fill the wood stove from your own backyard. Berries along the drive-way are picked for eating on top of creamy New York Vanilla Ice Cream.

No electricity for television. If one must watch television my parents have a battery operated television with VCR player connected given to them as a gift from my aunt. VCR tapes work best as reception in the wilderness is not that great.

The beds are all made of logs to fit the log cabin theme. Quilts adorn the beds. Old-fashioned dressers in each of the two downstairs bedrooms. The upstairs loft has a double bed, single bed and a love seat with two forest green throw pillows and a cozy cranberry fleece blanket with fringes. An old chest holds extra blankets. We need lots of extra beds and blankets for the kids and grandchildren.

The downstairs bathroom has a porta potty which feels like a regular toilet but it is not. My parents only installed this five years ago. Otherwise, you had to take a short walk to the outhouse with three holes. I know I am grateful they put the porta potty in! When using a porta potty toilet, you flush it but it does not go down into the septic tank. It goes into a part of the toilet that later gets emptied once it is full. No sink is in the bathroom so head to the white bucket to wash your hands! You can find porta potty’s at any RV store or online. Also, you will need to purchase chemicals to use with your porta potty.

There may be extra work with a rustic kitchen and home but it is all worth it bringing the family together with chores and more relaxation time to talk.