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| Open &Airy Take on the Traditional Man Cave |
The term "man cave" either inspires nostalgic longing and thoughts of frat-like freedom or it brings to mind the image of grown men refusing to grow up. Either way, the term has been around since printed in a newspaper article in 1992 and the desire for an all male retreat has been around since God plucked a rib from Adam and created Man 2.0 also know as woman. The only difference is that corporate America discovered a new demographic of consumers that they had not tapped into. Thus the rise of the Man Cave in our culture.
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| Large Dormer Provides Seating Area and Natural Lighting |
Regardless of what you call it, men have always sought a place of their own. Today this space comes in many shapes and sizes and can be as unique as men themselves. It can be located in a basement, an attic, a garage, a tree house or an out house. The location is not as important as the fact that this space is typically all boy!
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| Salvaged Bar & Reclaimed Pine Flooring |
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| Tabletop Shuffle Board Spans the Stair |
I recently had the privilege of working on one such retreat and found it to be a fun and rewarding experience. In this project the homeowner wanted to build a detached two-car garage with an additional bay for a workroom. He also wanted an upper level studio that would serve as his Man Cave. We designed a structure that would blend with the existing home and created an easily accessible stair that could be closed off from the garage below. We provided a half bath conveniently tucked underneath the stair. The studio is a wide open space with access out onto a deck overlooking the golf course. We added a dormer to provide a seating area and more natural lighting. The vaulted ceiling helps make the space feel larger than it is and the tabletop shuffle board takes advantage of unused space by spanning across the stairwell.
The flooring is reclaimed wide plank pine and the bar is a salvaged piece that fits beautifully in the space. The homeowner is a graduate of North Carolina State University (in case you couldn't tell), so that is the motif he chose to drive his decor.
This man cave is not cave like at all, in fact is it quite airy and open with abundant natural light and high vaulted ceilings, but it a retreat for hanging out with friends and family (male and female) to enjoy sporting events, cocktails or just some good ole fashion conversation.
