Cozy Cabin Vibes at Moonridge Treehouse in Big Bear, CA

Cozy Cabin Vibes at Moonridge Treehouse

I should start with a disclaimer — Moonridge Treehouse is mine & my husband’s cabin in Big Bear, CA. We moved up to Big Bear and lived in our cabin for a month in the winter of early 2021 as we wrapped up our renovation project and moved into the furnishing stages. When we moved in, the place was still covered in sawdust and renovation debris. Our first pieces of “furniture” were two camping chairs we had brought up from Los Angeles, and it took several weeks before this place started to feel a little more like home.

We slept in sleeping bags on top of box springs, scared to move during the night for fear of falling through the box springs and onto the floor. We cleaned and cleaned and cleaned, and somehow it didn’t feel like we were making any progress… until it did.

During the month that we spent here, I had the opportunity to get to know every nook and cranny in this 50-year-old cabin as I touched up paint in corners, and dusted everywhere for-seemingly-ever. As furniture started getting delivered and we started unpacking them, I got to see the transformation of this place first-hand. I watched how the afternoon sun hit that corner next to the fireplace, casting a pretty window shadow on our new pillow basket. I spent nights, after very exhausting days of cleaning and building furniture, watching the snow fall silently on our deck outside. We lit candles and made cookies, slowly celebrating little wins each day.

This was my very first attempt at interior photography, and while my techniques and attention to detail has grown a lot since then, this cabin has — in a lot of ways — a huge advantage over all the others I’ve photographed and will photograph, just because of all the time I got to spend with it and getting to know it so intimately. I had many many days to observe every little thing, the way spaces made me feel at certain times of the day. I wanted to capture how this place made me feel — welcome, comfortable, and warm. I hope these photos translate that.

Drone Photography by my husband Alex.