Julian’s Man-Cave Reveal

Julian has been wanting a room of his own for a while. As my LuLaRoe business dwindled, and the necessity of having an entire room devoted to that became obsolete, we started planning. And of course I started buying pieces here and there. Here it comes. Wait for it….Julian’s Man-Cave Reveal.

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We cleaned everything out of the room so that we had a fresh slate to start with. I’m not going to lie, it was a little intimidating have such bare bones to deal with. I had a vision though. Thankfully, the end picture is pretty much how I had pictured it.

As you can see, gross peach builder grade paint. TONS of holes to cover/patch due to the racks from my LuLaRoom. We pulled up carpet revealing gorgeous subfloor. Trim and no baseboard due to previous carpet. (Side note, I HATE carpet in rooms where children and/or pets will inhabit. It’s just a recipe for disasters IMO, am I alone??)

The room measures about 175 sq ft which isn’t SMALL but it isn’t huge either. It might seem wild to give a teenager a king sized bed but it’s what we had available mattress wise. Plus his dog, FancyPants likes to cuddle.

_{PS These are the mattresses we are obsessed with! Everyone has one!}

We decided on this bed. I, first of all trust the Zinus brand. That’s the same brand that makes our mattresses. Second of all, that price for the vibe that I was hoping for? Yes please! It came super quick, and sat in my garage for a few months until we were ready to proceed with Julian’s Man-Cave Reveal.

A few months ago, Barry had a conference in Jacksonville. Do you know what else exists in Jacksonville?? IKEA! It’s seriously one store I miss having close by. He was able to stop by though, and get a few things on my list. He picked up 2 of these galvanized metal shelves to use as oversized nightstands, 2 ‘reading lamps‘ that I clipped to the bed frame. He had initially wanted to paint a mural on the wall, and after painting a while room/ceiling the idea of him defacing that brand new paint just didn’t sit well with me. We compromised with 3 canvases in frames above his head. That way he can do whatever he want on them and change them as his mood sways. I asked B to grab three of the famous Ribba frames which, according to my calculations, would be just wider than the bed. Perfect focal! He hasn’t painted them yet but I am so excited to see what he does. We were given a new dresser so I swapped the ornate one that was gifted to us with the plain jane from Emilia’s room, swapped pulls for some manly matte black and called it a day. (Dresser is koppang but no longer available on Ikea’s website in the 3 drawer option?!- Hemnes is close.

I recently changed out my dining room light from what was a modern sputnik style chandelier to a super retro, Quartermaine AF, glam chandy. I didn’t want to get rid of the light that I searched high and low for to put in the dining room initially. And guess what? It’s perfect for the Man-Cave. OG light was from West Elm but discontinued. I’ve linked a similar (literally the same) here.

Flooring was another hot topic around these parts. I wanted to do plywood plank. Barry was fine with that except the literal transporting of plywood was a sticky situation. Then, we came to our senses and found this amazing luxury plank vinyl flooring (Edward Oaks is the color). Install was soooo quick and easy and it looks fantastic! Curtains were snagged from my bedroom, as was the discarded Pottery Barn duvet cover-this buffalo check is so perfect in here. We chose a cool white, Evolve could white (bargain from Dirt Cheap at $10/gallon after my mistake with Benjamin Moore’s Rainier Grey being iceeeee baby lue).

Thanks for reading along. Who’s ready to actually see the new room? Thought so. Without further ado: the AFTER

Everything really worked together in a way I couldn’t have planned. I’m so happy with it and so is Julian, obviously. I’ve hardly ever seen him smile that big.

The surfing skeleton and palm surfboard are from my friend Christina at Southern Mesa Trading. Local shop. Palm trees and peace clock are from Marshalls.

Barry and I are so exhausted but happy with the work we put into this room! It was definitely a labor of love! Seeing that smile on Julian’s face was worth every bit of blood, sweat and tears that went into this room. So there you have it, Juian’s Man-Cave Reveal.