DIY: the ManSpace, den & wine bar

DH Jim's dream had always been to have a simple ManCave with a big screen TV, thick green shag carpeting, a Lazy-Z-Boy recliner, and two lowboy refrigerators for end tables.

Designing women would not be welcome. I would not be allowed in there to do any decorating whatsoever. To clean? Maybe.

Well it's still just a dream, because the den space in our new house is just off the foyer, completely visible from the living area - so we compromised :)

Jim's James Bond 007 photo provided inspiration for a more sophisticated space and he suggested we create the wine bar.

Here's how we did it...

details
First, I want to make this perfectly clear: The man is blessed to be married to a woman who's a TV freak, ok? Most women hate big TVs...but I digress.

Here are the details of just about everything that went into the space. Scroll down the page for info on how we "built" it.

color
The faux suede walls are the most popular feature of the room with our female guests. Ralph Lauren Suede paint, 2 coats applied exactly according to Ralph's instructions.

• Pioneer's Mesa (SU82) on the walls
• Faux panels colors are Plaza Blanca (SU 51) and Cordova Cream (SU 59); one shade as the base and the other as the second coat
• Anyone, with time and patience, can do this faux finish - one of the simplest I've done

Other surfaces: Sherwin Williams paint

• Trim & cabinetry, Alabaster, latex semi gloss (SW 7008)
• Ceiling and inside of closet painted by builder: Navajo White, flat (SW6126)

furnishings, finishes, accessories

• Pottery Barn wine grid bases (black)
• Vanguard leather armchairs (color: classic mahogany)
• Wynwood Furniture pedestal game table (island cherry 1620-35)
• LM Flooring Heritage Handscraped Plank, 5 inch, maple (hearth #77986)
• Ultrasuede cheetah print pillow, made from old remnant
• George Kovacs Feather Floor Lamp (black)
• Kitchenaid Architect Series wine cellar (discontinued)
• Vizio VU42LF 42" LCD TV, 1080p
• Juperana Sunset granite, polished, half-bullnose edge
• Pottery Barn decanters, bar accessories
• EasyClosets.com DIY closet system (melamine, ivory)
• Target baskets
• Steinmart poker set
• Office Depot file cabinet
• Bed Bath & Beyond wireless closet lights, plexiglass picture frames
• Photo with Tiger Woods after a round with him - priceless

"before"
This photo shows the basic layout of the den space during construction 3 years ago, viewed from our foyer. It's 12 1/2' x 14' with a useless 13" bumpout along half of the left wall.

Before the transformation, two sets of big white doors, at the entry and closet, dominated the space.

My plan was to use more white woodwork to unify the space with the doors, running it around the room. This also allowed me to drop simple rope lighting behind the crown molding for a beautiful effect at night.

I'm still amazed at how closely the project followed my original drawing, with only a few modifications done on the fly, out of necessity...or was it design inspiration (of course!)

construction zone
On day 1, we hit Home Depot and then Jim started building the "boxes" that form the "guts" of the cabinetry on the floor in our great room. This was our second project doing built-ins. (See our first, the great room media wall, here).

On day 2, we went granite remnant shopping, just like they do on Designer's Challenge on HGTV. We found this small slab at our second stop, Continental Granite & Marble in Bunnell, FL. Their crew came out to make templates and later delivered and installed the two countertops for us. We got a much more exotic granite for 40% less than the builders' standard varieties offered by the big box home center chains, and we still got the dealer's full service.

there's a reason people hire TV installers
Jim hung the TV before the wine bar was anchored permanently in place by the granite installers. We never anticipated how hard it would be. It took him half a day to get the TV hung, perfectly centered inside the panel (that one semester of engineering at Rutgers must have been beneficial after all.)

I ran all the cables behind the wall to the cable box hidden in the lower left display cabinet. Wine fridge slides out for cord access. The TV works perfectly and I love how it seems to float over the bar. But then again, I'm a flat panel TV junkie (catch video of my DIY mirror TV in action here).

finishing touches
If there was one thing we'd do differently, it would be the way we installed the mirrors. But they look fine now - the one on the right took over an hour just to fit it in the space, due to my slight measuring error (memo to self: measure twice, cut once is especially important when it comes to mirrors).

Finishing the space after all the construction took much more time than I thought it would. Just touching up white after painting brown was a big job.

under cover office
The final area in need of a woman's touch was the closet. We love EasyClosets.com and did all our closets ourselves using their high quality closet organizer products. I designed the system for the office to be flexible: We can convert the right side to double hanging space in the event we need to use the room for guests.

When the shelving was in, Jim's stuff still got piled up haphazardly. So I went to work organizing one day after a trip to Target and Staples. While he was out playing golf, his clutter miraculously came under control, and he has maintained the neatness. Thank you, Mission Organization, for the inspiration.

the reveal
It's fun to see the reactions of friends who saw the room before and now see it finished, kind of like on HGTV when you can tell the homeowners never peaked. It's not exactly Queen for a Day excitment (dating myself), but people are pretty amazed.

I have to say it turned out just as I envisioned it back when I did the drawing. I know we saved a ton of money and got exactly what we wanted. And the satisfaction of doing it ourselves is priceless!

Next on the project calendar: the WomanSpace, which is our upstairs bonus room where I do all my geek stuff, computer, sewing, crafts, cool stuff like that. I'd like to go contemporary since the rest of the house is very traditional. Ikea, here I come!

There are a lot more photos of the finished ManSpace here on HGTV's Rate My Space website, and if you like it, please rate it!