Building a Man Cave

Building a Man Cave
Becoming a One-Woman Economic Stimulus Package

My original college major was interior design. Somehow I ended up with a degree in business and education, but ID is still my passion. Well, one of them along with writing and horses.

Anyway, in my book, The Dance, my heroine is an interior designer. In my latest WIP she started out as a designer, but I made myself get out of my rut and have her be an aspiring veterinarian.

My hubbie and I are lucky, we recognize that. We both have relatively safe jobs and in this economy, that’s saying something. Not to mention, I’ve had the same house for 15 years and was fortunate enough to have built up quite a bit of equity in it. So it's no surprise when my husband and I decided to build a long-anticipated addition on our small house that I became a one-woman economic stimulus package. Furniture stores fall at my feet when I walk in the door. The staff at Home Depot and Lowe’s have become my best friends.

So many people have asked me: What is a man cave? By my husband’s definition, it’s a big room with a bigger TV and no female interruptions. Did I mention it’ll have a wet bar? So he thinks that’s what we’re building. But I’ll let you in on a secret. It’s really going to be my den with bookcases and a desk to write at. We’ll see who wins. Wish me luck. I’m guessing it will really be a combination of the two.

I’m getting a laundry room and a small powder room. My current laundry room is a closet. I just brought home a new washer and dryer to replace my 15+ year-old Maytags. (Did I mention that Sears’ appliance department loves me, too?)These things are smarter than my laptop. They toss the clothes around a few times, figure out what the load weighs, then calculate how to best wash clothes and give me the time it’ll take to wash or dry them. They even play a happy little song when they’re done. Now if I could only convince the little suckers to fold my clothes and put them away.

So here’s a before picture of the house. The patio you can see through the trees is now gone and a foundation sits in its place.

I’m tracking the progress on my blog if you want to see how this project turns out. Here’s the foundation with the forms still on:

Since I’ve spent my furnishings budget, I’m not haunting Craig’s List for bargains. I picked up a solid oak mantel, six and a half feet long, last weekend for $80. I just need to strip it and re-stain it.

I’m excited because this will be such a good environment in which to read and write. Where do you do your best writing or where do you like to read?