7 Ways to Make Your Home Feel More Like the Smoky Mountains
Are you wishing you could spend every day in the Smoky Mountains? If your Smoky Mountain vacation never quite feels long enough and you always feel like taking a piece of the mountains back home with you, we can help! Check out these 7 ways to make your home feel more like the Smoky Mountains:
1. Hang your favorite Smoky Mountain pictures on the walls.
The first step to making your home feel more like the Smoky Mountains is to add some pictures of the Smokies to the walls! Whether you want to hang up photos you took with your family on your last vacation, or just gorgeous photos of the scenery, you’ll love having a reminder of the mountain’s beauty every time you look around your house. If you need ideas of some pictures to print and hang up, check out our blog, “10 Photos to Look at When You’re Missing the Smoky Mountains.”
2. Watch the sunrise every morning.
When you visit the Smokies, nothing beats sipping your morning coffee as you watch the sunrise above the mountaintops. While the view of the sunrise at home isn’t as magical as a Smoky Mountain sunrise, it’s still a great way to kick off your morning! Get some fresh air as you watch the sunrise from your porch or balcony.
3. Enjoy a big pancake breakfast.
One thing the Smoky Mountains are famous for is their delicious breakfast restaurants, specifically pancake houses! To make your home feel more like the Smoky Mountains, start with a pancake breakfast every morning. Nothing beats homemade pancakes with butter and freshly whipped cream! Flapjack’s has shared the recipe for their famous Sticky Bun Pancakes on their website if that’s one of your favorites. You can even get creative and make your pancakes in the shape of a bear!
4. Get Smoky Mountain souvenirs from your favorite shops online.
The perfect way to bring a piece of the Smokies into your home is with some Smoky Mountain souvenirs! You can go online and find souvenirs from your favorite Smoky Mountain shops and scatter them throughout your home. Three Bears General Store, a favorite among both visitors and locals, offers home decor like blankets, sheets and pillows, as well as things like paper towel holders, salt and pepper shakers and other kitchen items. You’ll also find Smoky Mountain-themed wall hangings. Other places you can shop online for souvenirs are the Great Smoky Arts & Crafts Community, The Old Mill General Store and The Village Shops.
5. Make famous Smoky Mountain meals in your own kitchen.
Another great way to make your home feel more like the Smoky Mountains is to bring a taste of the Smokies to your kitchen! Make some of the most popular dishes in the Smoky Mountains right in your own house. You can make some of Dollywood’s famous cinnamon bread, Paula Deen’s classic biscuits, The Old Mill’s corn chowder, and the Applewood Farmhouse’s apple julep! Find recipes for the dishes mentioned above here:
6. Keep live webcams of the area up and playing.
You can watch the Smoky Mountains from wherever you are with the area’s webcams! The Great Smoky Mountains National Park has webcams of popular spots in the park like Clingmans Dome and Newfound Gap. You can also watch webcams from Gatlinburg attractions like Anakeesta, the Gatlinburg Space Needle and the Gatlinburg SkyLift Park. These webcams are a great way to keep up with the area while you can’t actually be here. Keep the webcams streaming on one of your TVs or computers to feel like you’re in the Smokies!
7. Decorate your home like a Smoky Mountain cabin.
Nothing beats spending your vacation in a Smoky Mountain cabin! The Smokies are home to gorgeous cabin rentals that have everything you need and more for a comfortable stay. By decorating your home like a Smoky Mountain cabin, it’s easy to feel like you’re in the mountains until you can visit again! Big plaid blankets and bear home decor will have your home feeling more like a cabin, as well as some of the Smoky Mountain-themed wall hangings and decor we mentioned earlier. A rustic, outdoor theme will have you feeling like you’re sleeping in the Smokies! And, of course, it’s not a cabin without a fireplace. Wood-burning fireplaces work best, but any fire you can curl up in front of is perfect!
Now that you know how to make your home feel more like the Smoky Mountains, it’s time to get to decorating! Bring a feel of the Smokies to wherever you are to help hold you over until your next visit. If you’re ready to start making your home feel more like the Smokies, check out these Smoky Mountain shops and start picking out your favorite souvenirs and home decor!
