Mancave Mania

When we moved into our current home there were two things that drew us into purchasing our house.  The first was the basement.  We have always wanted one and, other than it flooding 4 times so far, we have thoroughly enjoyed it.  

The other thing that really sold my husband on the house was the detached garage in the backyard.  It is 40 feet by 25 feet and the joy on his face when he saw it was measurable!  I did not have a leg to stand on once he saw that garage.  

His first course of action for the garage?  Move the '75 Corvette that he's going to remodel one day into the garage (the key words in this sentence in case you did not pick them up are "one day...").  The second course of action... build a mancave for the "Byrd Street Hooligans"!

Let me explain the Byrd Street Hooligans for a moment.  My husband has an alias.  He was 6 when his great-grandpa called him "Tom Byrd".  My hubby thought that was "cool" and began referring to himself as "Tom Byrd".    When he started school at the tender age of 6, he signed his papers as Tom Byrd.  His teacher thought that she had a new student and added him to the roster.  After a few days, she called my mother-in-law to find out why "David Boyle" was not attending class and whether he was still enrolled.  It was then discovered that "Tom Byrd" and "David Boyle" were one and the same!!  Isn't that a cute story?   

To this day, he still calls himself that...  Seriously...  Not formally of course, but anything that he does, it is done by "Tom Byrd".  Hence, the name of his "gang" is "Byrd Street Hooligans."  

Did you notice that I used the word "gang".  Yep, you read that right.  Hubby thinks that he's in a "gang".  Him and "his boys."  They were all into the television show "Sons of Anarchy" at the time that they "formed" their "gang".   They even  had to have positions within the "gang" such as "President", "Vice-President", and "Sgt. at Arms"...  This is a 50 year old man... 

 They even drew a logo.  Those are wrenches in the skill since hubby is a jack of all trades...

Take a deeper look at the "mancave"...  All design ideas were made by hubby.  I think he did a pretty good job!

He loves his neon... This is the "bar" side of the room.  That's why it is painted green.

 Tony Gonzales... Former Kansas City Chiefs, now an Atlanta Falcons... Hubby forgave him for that... I think...

This artwork was purchased at the Yellow Daisy Festival at Stone Mountain Park many years ago for our son's bedroom.  We have inherited it.  It has military planes on it and hubby used to work on some of them.

Schematic of a cockpit?  Boys are dumb...  

 The obligatory flat screen tv...

The rug was purchased by my MIL for her home.  Once hubby saw it, he badgered her until she gave it to him.  I think it's perfect right where it is!

 

 

The sword to the right of the Coors sign was given to us by our son who was stationed in England at the time.  He got our "coat of arms" while over there.  Pretty darn cool present.  

Hubby created the bar himself.  In fact, he did the entire room by himself.  Remember, it used to be a garage.  The wash bin is his "sink".

 

This Budweiser light was in pieces and hubby gently put it back together.  He got this from my stepdad and has always loved it.

And this is the "sports" side of the room.  That's why it is painted in KC Chiefs colors.

   

 Finger football board.  Lots of fun has been had at that board!

What do you think of our "cave"?  Keep making your space beautiful everyone!  

"Creativity takes courage..."  Henri Matisse

I'm joining Metamorphosis Monday over at Between Naps on the Porch.  

Come over and visit and leave us blogging "love" by commenting on posts that you really enjoy reading!

xoxo,

Tracy

Metamorphosis Monday!

Hi!  I'm participating in Metamorphosis Monday at one of my very favorite blogs, Between Naps on the Porch!  I am also participating in Amaze Me Monday at another one of my very favorite blogs, Dittle Dattle.  Also, I'm participating in The DIY Showoff.   On Tuesday, I'm participating in Tip Me Tuesday!  On Wednesday, it's WOW Us Wednesdays!  On Thursday, head on over to Momnivore's Dilemma!

My metamorphosis took place in my very own craft studio with my very favorite craftsman, my hubby!  He even came with the plumber's crack to boot!!!  How lucky am I?  


My husband and I have been changing our homes from the time we got married.  In our first house, we closed in the garage and made a family room, a bedroom and a laundry room.  In between all of that, we pulled up carpet and installed wood floors, completely gutted the kitchen and remodeled it, rebuilt the deck to a much larger size and even decorated our master bathroom with brown paper bag!  (Hey!  It was very chic at the time!  I learned the technique from Christopher Lowell!)


In our second house, we did the same type of home improvement.  The house was twice as large as our first house, so we didn't need to expand, but: we removed arches in the "formal" living room and installed pocket doors so it was more of an office/craft studio;  removed the arch from the dining room door; re-tiled the surround around the fireplace and removed the mantel; custom built our media stand;  installed wood floors; replaced the carpet upstairs; and gutted and remodeled the master bathroom; and even painted a faux stone wall in our family room.  I loved that house!


Our third house (and hopefully our last) has a full basement and it's my FAVORITE part of the house.  Because in the full basement is an amazing craft studio!  Well, I think it's amazing!  The previous owners used it for their catering business.  So, there was some plumbing that we needed to remove.  Since that time, me and my hubby have been tweaking it to make it just right (we have a long way to go).  Let me show you some pictures.....

This is my stand-up workstation in my studio.  ("Stand-up" because there isn't a place for a chair.  I designed it that way.  I sometimes like to stand to craft.)  It is a solid station that my hubby built to be used for embossing, using my Cricut, using my Cuttlebug, etc.   He enclosed two IKEA shelving units into a frame that he built up off of the floor (protection from flooding - been there, done that!).  So the other evening, Hubby was studying it and said "You need more light."  I said "Uh huh...  (Not really paying attention as I was too busy on Pinterest!).  He said, "I have just the solution!".  And off he went.    


We had these red hanging lights in our bedroom at the last house and didn't know what we should do with them.  (Red is my FAVORITE color!)  Hubby decided those were going above my shelves.  And, it was UNACCEPTABLE for the wires to hang down.  

So here he is wiring...  (BTW:  He was working on another project before this one and TOTALLY got sidetracked on this project.  He loves me...)

The wires had to go up into the ceiling.  That way, no one would see them.  

Him:  "Honey, can you snake me that cord through the ceiling?"...  Me:  "Wha?"

What happened to my clean workstation?

Oh the HORROR!  These are the scenes where I try not to panic.  He is, after all, "in progress"...

And suddenly...

BEAUTY...  

The shelves will eventually have RED fabric baskets populating them, once I can find the ones I want...  My studio theme is black, white and red.

I hope you enjoy these pictures as much as I enjoy the room.  There is still more stories in this craft studio.  Check back often for more metamorphosis'!

Thank you Hubby!  I love you!