What's in a man cave?

Let’s shift gears for a moment here. I left off saying I was going to look for design ideas for Sister’s living room. Off to the crawl the internets I went…but that effort took a turn when I ran into some really cool man cave designs that I could not resist sharing. After rummaging through picture after picture, I began to ask myself: What’s in a man cave?

 via Pinterest
(http://pinterest.com/pin/114630752984944404/)

The answer to this question seemed really varied based on the space that was utilized as the man cave. One thing was obvious though, if women get an entire house as they say, then our men definitely need a space of their own to escape to when they feel like shutting others out and enjoying an uninterrupted game, movie, or anything else.

The spaces themselves ranged anywhere from someone’s converted garage to spaces that looked larger than my entire place. Even something as simple as this…

Anyone remember these guys?
(http://www.days-of-wild.nl/Friends/S02/S02-15.htm)

Below are my most favorite designs schemes in some high-end man caves.

 

via Pinterest
(http://pinterest.com/pin/109282728428152319/)

The design piqued my interest for many reasons. It is very open and spacious with lots of natural light. Granted it is the size of a palace (okay, not that big) but it is still larger than most man caves. I particularly like the use of the deer heads although I’m not usually into that type of décor but it really gives the room a masculine feel. The light fixtures complement that nicely as well. I would say the man who hides in this cave is quite the outdoors man.

 

via Pinterest
(http://pinterest.com/pin/256916353712650910/)

The above room is what I’d like to call the man office. I would definitely like to sneak away to get some “work” done here in this woodsy room. The ladder is a really craft touch to the bookshelf and the antiquated accessories combined with the wood beams on the ceiling set a very rustic tone for the room. Nice touch with the espresso maker as well.

 

(http://www.basementidea.org/2011/12/02/basement-rec-room-ideas-2/)

This room I LOVE but I think it may be a touch too girlie with the flowers on the table and the sunburst accent about the fireplace. You can see the TV hidden in the wall on the left side of the picture as well (next to another frilly looking pillow cushion). I don’t know that men wouldn’t enjoy solitude in this room but I do think the lack of masculinity in the design might imply this is for a very classy guy, the type who prefers golf to football, and sailing to fishing.

So my overall conclusions are that the man cave needs to adhere to the following standards: 

1) Must have a large, flat screen TV.

 2) Generously comfortable seating. 

3) A bar or refrigerator nearby is mighty helpful or as in the second example, a coffee maker.

4) Sports or travel paraphernalia. 

5) Not one bit of anything girly. This means no flowers, no frilly colors or designs anywhere in this space. And most definitely, no women allowed. 

Now the man cave room at Sister’s house still remains to be seen, so without really knowing what those four walls entail, I have a few safe recommendations for furniture. I will venture to say I know Brother-in-law well enough to think these might be to his liking. 

Ashley Furniture – DuraBlend Bark Queen Sofa Sleeper

I found this sleeper sofa on the Ashley Furniture website. Ashley Furniture is known for less expensive, yet still nice quality furniture. I am proud to say I bought my first Ashley sofa set some seven years ago and they still look really good (minus a few spots here and there on the white microfiber fabric from my messy toddler). There was a design comparable to this on the Pottery Barn website for at least five times the price. There is also a nice loveseat and ottoman matching this sleeper. Another reason I suggest a sleeper sofa are for extra guests (although sister’s house has enough bed rooms to sleep a small army anyway). Regardless, once this house is ready to go Diego and I will be there…often.

Pottery Barn has these tables above (Tanner Cube) and versatile in that they can be arranged as shown above, as end tables on either side of the couches, or even side by side (with a little space in between) for a less formal look. Books and magazines are a good touch as displayed here or we can even place some tall candles and coasters on top.

Brother-in-law is really into water sports and has a plethora of surfing picks I know he is anxious to display. I am willing to bet there is a nice wall area for him to display these in gallery style. This is maybe one of my favorite things to do. I am a picture person and a little “artsy fartsy” at that. I mentioned in one of my previous posts that I have a go-to picture frame from Aaron’s Brothers (the Nantucket). On my gallery wall I have quite a few of those in black but would encourage a varied look in frame for a more authentic picture wall. I found the below picture on Pinterest with a dead link to Tumblr. I'm posting it below since it is still pretty legible and helpful for constructing a gallery wall.

This how to also seems pretty useful and less specific about frame sizes:

 http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/how-to-create-a-gallery-wall-164792

I would also highly recommend doing any wall marks in pencil as I found when I did my first wall gallery I got so ridiculously frustrated with things not being totally lined up (I didn't measure mine out our use pencil to mark where the nails should go, but I don't recommend going about it this way). Take heart when doing this kind of thing and certainly give yourself plenty of time.

With all this said, it's time for this girl to go work on her own mama cave. Hey, if men get caves, I want a cave too, er sunroom! Just something as pretty as this basically. So Husband, wherever  you are, take notes. Please and thank you! ;)

 

via Pinterest (http://pinterest.com/pin/20829216996074739/)

 

It's a party in my tummy!

One of my little man’s favorite things to watch as a baby was none other than that crazy, psychedelic kid show, Yo Gabba Gabba! It is no stretch of the imagination when I say that the show is far out. For those of you unaware, it is an entire twenty-five minutes of dance party for the little bitties. I definitely grew to love the show and appreciated the fact that there was a song for everything from taking a bath to eating vegetables. It is not rare to still hear Diego sing our most favorite line come dinner time at our house: It’s a part in my tummy! So yummy! So yummy!  (After a glass of wine or two it is also not rare for my girlfriends to start singing this one too, but that’s another story…)

That might just be the best dinner tag line ever and I love to think that with certain dining room décor every meal can feel like a party in one’s tummy. As I showed on my first blog, Sister’s kitchen dining area definitely needs some tender, loving care. Growing up we spent many hours telling stories and giggling around our kitchen table and I hope she will have the same experience with her family in the near future. All this said, I’ve sifted through some online catalogs and have come up with the following design ideas.

Another tip I gathered from my interior design interview was about decorating around the wrong items. In reverse of that I have a found a table that is so right it needs attention and is the focal piece for this design idea.

(Kipling Extension Dining Table by Crate & Barrel)

I love this table for plenty of reasons. In this picture it is shown seating six but can seat an additional two persons once the table leaf is inserted. It is a very classic table as shown in Mahogany (just my sister’s style) but I would push for the Grey Wash finish for a bit more country home type feeling (very Dallas). Either color combined with very bright textiles and accent décor would look spectacular in the kitchen dining area of Sister’s home. I do think that chair cushions in a neutral cream or beige would be most practical but would like to see an area rug with a bit more color than what is suggested here.

 

I’m torn between the Porcelain Blue – Popcorn Loop Rug by Pottery barn above here or the Island Graphite Grid and Island Honey Grid by Crate and Barrel (below). They are all neutral enough to not over power the room and yet will still give just the right pop of color to keep it from looking a touch too drab.

 

Often times when I’m developing a vision for decorating an area of my home, a major issue for me becomes knowing what I want without ever really finding if any such item exists. This has become a huge road block for me in the past and I have to admit my first apartment had just one picture on the wall in the living room for the entire three years I lived there because I could never find the other pieces I just had to have to finish that wall (I don’t know how I ever came up with such a grandiose idea to begin with!). I say this now as I realized quite quickly that the Crate and Barrel table I have picked out above would be gorgeous in the Grey Wash finish with a bright chevron runner. Chevron has become more and more prevalent in the last few months and for whatever reason I cannot seem to get enough of it. It doesn’t seem the Pinterest world has either as I have seen many decorating ideas with chevron rugs, tablecloths and the like. However finding something to match my vision wasn’t exactly a walk in the park…

After searching through a few websites, I finally stumbled upon the above picture through a Pinterest link to http://cartergirlevents.com/2011/07/chevron-love/#.T5eUisX4LRZ . Sadly though, The Carter Girl blog doesn’t list where this gorgeous table runner came from. Yet fear not as I am certain a trip to the fabric store and a sewing machine will remedy this situation. I love the bright yellow in this runner as well and hope we will be able to find a good fabric in this same color. It would be accented really nicely on the Grey Wash table with this Gia Centerpiece Bowl by Crate & Barrel filled with fresh green apples. Most home décor stores usually sell wax fruit too which would probably be most suitable for Sister to maintain considering little baby is on the way and we all know no one in that house will be thinking about regularly buying fresh fruit for decoration once the little bundle comes along!

If you recall from the picture of the kitchen dining area on my first blog, there is wall space just above the door (next to the table) going out to the backyard. It doesn’t leave much room for many things and I think it would be too high for a large clock. I found the below quote online and think this would be ideal to have painted on the wall or made into a wall decal (there are plenty of Custom Wall Decal vendors online if you run a Google search and the cost of the decals themselves are usually less than $30). This quote has always been a personal favorite of mine and will lend itself nicely to the homely, country feel of the room.

I’m feeling like I’m on a roll with these ideas and am going to shift my focus onto another design project. Next up will be the living room. Let’s see what I can come up with…

It's mimi time!

Sister and I grew up in a Mexican-American family in South Texas. For some reason unbeknownst to me, bed time was always referred to as “making mimis”. My grandparents were over quite a lot when we were smaller and I remember the ritual of Grandma taking us upstairs to bathe and get ready for mimis. I say this to my little guy now still without really knowing where the heck that came from (some things just stick!). Whatever the case, can you tell where I’m going with this?

via Pinterest
(http://pinterest.com/pin/9077636718450949/)

Aside from eating, sleep is probably the second most important thing a person can do. Otherwise you will end up feeling like I did a few weeks back when my body decided it couldn’t take this on-the-go lifestyle I have anymore, sticking me with the longest, worst flu I have ever had in my life. But I digress…

One’s bedroom is their own little haven. There is no better feeling than snuggling under a warm down comforter in a pillow soft bed (hard if your back prefers it that way), or being nestled amongst tons of pillows, in your pajamas, surfing the boob tube. Naturally it then makes sense that when you consider decorating your bedroom palace, it is wise to find décor that is aesthetically soothing, yet comfortable. Colors should also be cool to promote a restful feeling. Most importantly, you better pick out designs that you love so that every extra minute spent in your bedroom makes you feel like one mighty peppy person.

Sister was fortunate enough to pick out really great furniture bedroom furniture pieces years back she and Brother-in-law got married. That said, my focus is here is on the bedding and wall decor essentially. I must admit as well that when it comes to bedding I have a general affinity for all things Pottery Barn. The quality is usually extremely great and enduring (I have had some simple PB shams for years now and they look fantastic). Now, Sister isn't usually into very floral prints or maybe just not prints in general which is the hang up here, but I have taken the liberty of finding something still a little busy but in taste that I think she will really like (I don't know how you can go wrong with Paisley like this).

 (Monreale Paisley Duvet Cover & Sham by Pottery Barn)

I would love to see this paired with two shams (only one shown in the picture) and maybe a red quilt and another couple shams like these ones below (also from Pottery Barn).

(Olivia Silk Nesting Quilt & Sham)

Some people are really good at putting a ton of pillows on beds, couches, etc., but I happen to also know that men find it ridiculous and throw most of the pillows on the ground. I think six pillows/shams plus one maybe periwinkle blue accent pillow will pull the job off here nicely. Just thinking about all the fluffiness makes me want to crawl into bed now!
 

What I also noticed from the picture I originally posted back in March of Sister’s bedroom is they have a pretty large TV on the dresser. I am all about aesthetics here, and would like to recommend upgrading that TV to a flat screen or doing away with it all together. I have two ideas here that I am going to bounce off and can’t wait to see what Sister thinks of either.

 

(Solano Floor Mirror by Potter Barn)

 

First off I think a frame like this one above would look amazing above the dresser they have. We could set it up on the wall hanging vertically like it’s displayed in this picture. This could be centered above the dresser and accented with a tall vase of some sort with white silk flowers (fresh would be nice, but again maintaining that can just be downright tedious). This would also allow ample space on the dresser for large frames (perhaps wedding pictures and future baby pictures). I would say no more than three should be displayed and all varied in size. 

My second suggestion here (and one that I really want to try at least for my own house) is what you will see below in this picture I found on Pinterest. 

Via pinterest
(http://pinterest.com/pin/107664247311404399/)

I had to click a few times to get to the source of this idea and found the following link:

http://go.tipjunkie.com/dc/1580/www.rona.ca/project/~make-picture-frame-for-flat-screen-tv-61595_renovation

I think it would be amazing to do this for a flat screen TV of moderate size (not quite as huge as the one suggested here) and I know my D-a-d has all the tools readily available. The process truly does not seem very elaborate and I think it just makes TV watching from bed that much more special. Of course the same decorating idea for on top of the dresser could follow minus the mirror and I’m certain any visitors who get to take a peek at this creation would be completely enamored.

The other area of concern to me in the bedroom is above the bed. I've been searching the internet trying to find some canvas DIYs that would be suitable for this area. I think I spent a good hour into this search looking for just the right thing before I gave up and started browsing for wall art. Still no dice. I'm going to have to update on this when I've found exactly what I'm looking for and definitely reverting back to the canvas DIY. I know it isn't rocket science, and I will find something, oh yes, I will!