A Cabin in the Pennsylvania Woods Gets Rid of Its “Hall of Horrors” | Architectural Digest

The existing wood kitchen cabinets went out to the gravel driveway, where Margaret took a blowtorch and singed them black using the shou sugi ban method, a Japanese technique of charring wood that makes it resistant to insects and rot—it also looks cool.

After the major changes came the fun stuff: the furniture. Margaret designed two big matching sofas with maker Ryan Cheresson for the sunroom, the main living area that overlooks a small lawn and into the woods. They were inspired by “quirky Brazilian modernist sofas that I’ve always loved by Sergio Rodriguez,” Margaret says, and are covered with marigold yellow leather from Brit Kleinman of AVO. “MacKenzie was a little skeptical as the design was coming together, but I think. . . ” “I like them now,” her wife butts in, smiling.

Elsewhere, Margaret found midcentury chairs by Jens Risom on eBay and Milo Baughman cabinets on Facebook Marketplace that’d seen better days. “A lot of elbow grease, but worth it,” she says.