When we moved to the new house on Lyndale Drive Mike was excited when I told him he could decorate the basement and the garage however he wanted…….kind of!
In the basement the builder finished the bathroom, leaving the rest of it up to us. Mike would have been happy with a throw rug, recliner, the biggest TV possible, and a cold beer. (until I stepped in)
See my paper vision, it includes more than a TV and chair! Every time Mike and I start a project I begin to describe to him my idea, then he gives me the “deer in the headlights look” and out comes my paper and pen! We laugh about this because for as long as I can remember this is how we play!
It all started with a shopping trip for Christmas presents, that didn’t go well, so we ended up at the furniture store to “look”. Famous last words, “we are NOT BUYING ANYTHING today”. After 4 hours we purchased furniture for the man cave. GULP!
Now we had to start the project I had sketched on paper.
First we removed all the wrap insulation from the exposed basement walls. (we re-cycled it by cutting it into strips and filling the ceiling joists and any drywall areas to add insulation for noise and warmth).
Our foundation walls are poured concrete, formed to look like bricks. The vision Mike I had for the man cave is an industrial theme. He I wanted the walls to look something like this – brick wall
I like the mix of brick and drywall in this example.
Check out this post to see how I painted my faux brick wall.
We have lots of things going on in this space. We created a dog house (for the dogs, not Mike) in the hard to get to space under the stairs, equipped it with a sliding door, a great trash to treasure piece that we rescued from dads garage, and a plank ceiling.
In the picture above, the table between the two chairs is another DIY project that we picked up when we went junkin’. Pictured below is “my spot”! I get to sit on the couch in the man cave, but only in the corner with the awesome feather pillows from Ikea! The picture of the Camaro is a replica of a car Mike used to have. I painted it for him for his birthday. I saw a picture online that looked similar to this one and thought would be cool down here. Then I decided it would be really cool if I tried to “re-create” it using his car. So here it is……….
Mike’s space has yet to be named – maybe you can help us. His last man cave resided in our detached two car garage, appropriately named “The Two Car Bar”. This space will serve as our family/movie room and entertaining space for friends and family equipped with a bar (which we designed and made ourselves also). P.S. I haven’t included any pictures of the bar area yet – we still have some details to finish…….again, stay tuned!
Leave a comment below and tell us, what you would name the space? It needs to be something other than the “man cave”.
I’ve seen the whole basement and it is awesome what you two have achieved! It’s beautiful and you will get many years enjoyment out of it. I can appreciate all the work you did together and that you are still alive and married!!!! This being said because Charlie and I can’t screw in a light bulb without arguing about the best way to do it!!!! HA HA
I’m trying to come up with a new name for it…..I’ll have to ponder it for awhile!
Oh we have our share of heated discussions!!
I have know Jodi for many years. She has the heart as big as the ocean. She is a very creative and inspiring person…I mean look at what she has done in such a short time. We love you too Mike, for loving Jodi and seeing the results of her brainstorms…Keep up the great work guys! xoxoxoxo
Thank you Lynette for the kind words.
I am truly living out my dream!