Dressing out the Man Cave

I've been charged with a very special mission: making the man cave a functional and comfortable place to be. That in itself isn't that hard, but doing it to my husband's tastes has thus far been more challenging!

One of the things my husband really loved about this house when we bought it is the finished basement that runs under half the house. The idea was that if I get my own personal space (my music room), that he should get one too. That way he has a place to retreat, work out in and watch all the football he wants. He can decorate it anyway he wants and I don't get a say, so he can deck it out in all the Georgia Bulldogs gear he wants, and I don't have to look at it! Haha

So here's what it looked like when we moved in. Very cave-like, no?

Before he took of for the other side of the world, he put down some gym flooring for his workouts (he's big into weight lifting). I also found an arm chair and ottoman at a local thrift store (it was less than $10, and if he had hated it, I could have Craigslisted it). It's comfy and gave him a place to watch the fancypants TV he bought to go down there.

He mentioned he wanted our old couch down there once we got the new one (this happened back in November, and I bribed a couple of college kids from my church with a home cooked meal to come and move it for me).

He also asked me to find a rug so he could walk around barefoot without freezing his feet on the linoleum floor. I approached this with some caution, since I was going to have to guess what he would like. The way I got around this? I started by finding a couple rugs online (this one and this one) I thought he would like and sending him the links for his approval (or non-approval).

I was ready to order one of them, when I was walking through Home Depot and saw this...

Very similar to the others that Jacob had already approved, but less than half the price. Plus, I figured the indoor/outdoor design would be easier to clean/more durable for the situation. I snapped a quick picture with my phone and sent it off to Jacob for approval. Score one for the wifey. He loved it! So I went back a couple days later and purchased the 5'x7' version to fit the TV area. Here's a picture of it in place.

It's a little messy down there at the moment.....I've definitely taken advantage of the fact that he's not here to gripe about it to store artwork etc. while I paint other rooms (yes...I've been at it again) and decide where I want it all to end up.

Next up, figuring out how to get a little more light down there!