My Man’s Cave

Otherwise known as his office.  My big surprise plan to update and organize the hubs office while he was out of town on business may have been a big fat failure, but even if it did take longer than a weekend to complete I think the end result was worth the wait!  So, he may not have gotten the “move that bus” moment that I was hoping for, but he still got a great new and improved space to work, lounge, and relax.  I still haven’t painted the ceiling which was one of the things I had planned for this space.  I’ve decided to hold off on that for now because tomorrow the contractor is coming to rip out the carpet and install hardwood flooring!  Woot!  (Since we have to have the kitchen floor replaced, we’ve decided to divert our “enclose the deck” savings fund to the “replace as much old white carpet with hardwood” fund.  If it’s going to get tore up from the floor up in here, we might as well make the hassle of it all worth it.)  So, I think I’m going to wait until after the floor is in to make a final decision on the ceiling color.  On to the good stuff.

Here’s how this room looked before he left for his trip on Friday morning (almost 2 weeks ago).

Here’s how it looked upon his arrival home on Sunday evening.  Awesome right?!

Here’s how it looks now!

In a small room the best thing you can do to maximize storage and create the illusion of space is to work up.  Use your vertical space as much as possible.  In came 2 matching bookshelves (Target $29/each).  I chose this natural honey color over white because I like the way a mix of wood tones gives this room a masculine feel.  I used a grasscloth wallpaper from Lowe’s ($19.99 a roll – I have a ton left over) to line the back of the bookcase for texture and to dress these laminate babies up just a bit (easy peasy tutorial on that coming soon).

I measured the inside of this black frame and cut a piece of chalkboard vinyl to size.  Then I placed the vinyl directly on the wall and hung the frame right over.

I applied 2 coats of satin poly to give this old desk a nice shine.

I used 2 1/2 yds of fabric (The Rag Peddler about $20/yd) and some stitch witchery to make drapes.  I fell in love with this plaid fabric.  I like the look of this traditional plaid with the modern pieces in the room.

The majority of what I used in this room came from shopping the house.  However, I did make a few purchases.

I found this chest at a furniture store here in Lex called Another Man’s Treasure.  It was $140 and it was calling my name!  I had to have it for this room.  It was perfect to use as a coffee table in here.  It adds tones of extra storage and it’s a piece that I could use in any room in our home.  I was crossing my fingers that the hubs would love it too because I kind of broke the rules.  Our house rule is that you’re not allowed to purchase anything over $100 for the house unless the other person agrees.  Thank goodness he loves it too!  Otherwise, I guess I’d be trying to Craig’s List this baby because I wouldn’t have been able to do a return – final purchase!

This same store had an $18 office chair.  The chair screams BRAD!  Did you hear that?!  I told you it was yelling his name.  It’s so his style.  All I had to do was bust out the windex and wipe him down!

I created this sunburst mirror by defacing what was a mid century modern clock that no longer worked.  It was also $18!  I even tried to haggle that price down 🙂  I was like, “But this clock doesn’t work and this wiring looks really bad.”  It was a no go – I paid a firm $18.  A girl had to try right?!  Besides the gallery wall, this is my FAVORITE PIECE in the room!  I big fat love it!  It adds just the right amount of glam without being too much for this masculine space.  (I’ll give all the deets on the creation of this girl later!)

Oh, I almost forgot to mention these lamps.  They were purchased at Target ($39 a piece).  I already had the shades.  I wasn’t crazy about the price, but I did love the lamps.  This room doesn’t have an overhead light and the lighting situation in here needed to be improved.  We’d have to hire out to have an overhead light put in this room and that would probably cost more than what I paid for the lamps.

The most important element needed in this room was better organization.  I purchased 4 of these bins ($5.99 from Target).  I put my label maker to use and sorted out the office clutter.

The magazine files are also from you guessed it Target ($4.99).

The biggest change in this room is the furniture arrangement.  Moving the desk over to the window created 2 different zones.  A work space and a lounge space which is exactly what I was hoping to achieve.  I bought these Thomas O’brien pillows (Target) a while ago when I was just starting to draft my master plan 🙂  I’m a big fan of his vintage modern style.

Using unexpected accessories we already had to add some organization to the desk saved money and added personality.

I kept the old cigarette machine in here (even though I wanted to move it down to the basement) because the hubs loves this thing.  I just worked it right in to the gallery wall display on the other side of the room.  It’s his space and I think he should be surrounded by what he loves.

Speaking of his loves.

Who’s ready for March Madness?  Respect our past, fear our future 🙂   GO CATS!

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