How many of you have a “man cave” in your house?…you know, that one space in the house that belongs solely to “the man”. Maybe it’s a den, or a manly room to build manly stuff and do manly things (can you tell I’m not a man?).
As you know, I’m not married, but I do have a man (in training) in the house…my 15 year old son. I like to call him “Coolio”.
When he was little I created the most adorable room for him. My little 19 or 20 year old self painted his room one of those new fangled beige colors (this was 1995 people… “beige” was a fairly new concept…at least to me since we were still coming out of the ‘80s), and I picked out cute blue and white striped bedding and a fun little street rug (kind of like the one below).
But just like you can only pick out your kids’ clothes for so long, you can only be in charge of how their bedroom looks for a certain amount of time…and then they takeover. I’m okay with this.
When we moved into the Cottage I let my son pick out his own bedding. It was a striped duvet set on clearance at Pottery Barn (it’s called “Jasper” if anyone wants to look for it on Ebay).
It stayed on the bed for a little while, but where is this bedding set now?
Apparently “duvet covers” aren’t all that practical in the mind of a 15 year old manchild. Nor are “pillow shams”…go figure.
What is practical to a 15 year old manchild? A comfortable, soft, well used quilt. I’ve gently pointed out (about a MILLION times) that it has flowers on it, but he doesn’t care because it’s super comfy. Huh…function over form…what an interesting concept.
Also practical to a 15 year old are random sports posters tacked to the wall. I was able to frame one of them…but I couldn’t sell the kid on framing and artfully displaying the others…again, go figure.
And the most practical thing in the man cave? An emerald green velour recliner purchased for $10 from the neighbors across the street. Yes, nothing says man cave like a recliner.
Do I secretly want to sneak into his room when he’s out of town and throw some paint on the walls, add new bedding, and artfully arrange his posters? Um yes. Will I…no. And here’s why:
I respect my son’s need to create his own space that reflects him. I respect his need to have a space in our painted, pillow filled, artfully arranged house that makes him feel like a man. As long as he keeps it clean and keeps the door unlocked I’m good.
What about you? Do you have a “man cave” in your house?
