Tag Archives: remodel

When you have a man cave instead of a workshop.

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The last vintage beer crate we found had one issue…

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Wooden bottle separators that would have to be removed in order to house my vinyl. This was not simply a matter of pulling and popping them out. They were old, warped, and not in any hurry to go.

Ergo… it required tools.

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And since my husband turned his barn and workshop into a man cave …. this meant doing surgery in the living room.

Lord Dudley Mountcatten did not approve.

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After the first twenty minutes the husband was grumbling.

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After the second twenty minutes he was sputtering.

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But when the clock struck a solid hour of remodeling?

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One empty crate ready for part of my record collection.

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Although judging from the price of an old can of that beer … I think I’d rather have it filled with those.

😳

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Let there be (no) light.

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Next up in the man cave? Blinds. Which were really fun to shop for considering all the windows are different sizes and thanks to my do it yourself I’m too cheap to pay a carpenter to do the finish work husband.

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The price of custom blinds that would have fit perfectly was ridiculous.

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That window, the smallest ( not to mention crookedest ) was quoted at $310. For one blind! I bought all 6 of these light filtering cellular linen shades for $272. That’s a no brainer.

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Working his way around the room, I followed and tried my hardest to get right in his way.

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At least that’s what he’d tell you. I prefer to think of it as active assistance.

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Which is why I was banished to the other side of the room…. where I sat quietly and read a few blogs.

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But when it came to the final window behind the bar I had to speak up.

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Because after he installed this one, which had the best fit… only 3/8ths of an inch off… he plopped his big bullet back on the sill.

( I know it’s a round and not a bullet, I just say that to get a rise out of my husband. Did it aggravate you as well? Then yay for me. . )

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The problem? The blind won’t go all the way down because the bullet is too fat.

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When I told him this was unacceptable (the main reason for putting up blinds in the first place was to keep the sun from fading the bar) and suggested alternate placements for the big bullet, he forbade me to move it ( as if I could, it’s live and weighs a ton and a half ). When I stressed the need for it’s relocation due to the sun baking on the glass door of the mini fridge causing it to work harder, he told me he’d “think about it”. FFS, what is there to think about? Bullet too big, blind doesn’t close, move big bullet. It isn’t rocket science.

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Recent additions to the Barn Mahal.

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After thoroughly whipping my other half in a marathon Scrabble session in the barn last weekend, I took a good look around.

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And realized what an amazing storage building filled with absolute crap ….

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To seriously alcoholcentric man cave transformation we had wrought.

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Yay us.

And to this glorious rustic palace of play? I added a few new things.

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Because if there was ever a more perfect place for my fully operational spastic poop drone… I don’t know where it could be.

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To the bar, I added an acrylic box of appropriately themed cocktail napkins.

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Each more true than the last.

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Alongside the napkins there are now swizzle sticks.

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Some are shaped like twigs in honor of their origin.

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And some are shaped like jazz hands… because it’s just delightfully creepy.

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And since no man cave with a bar should be without them?

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Hair spray and a comb to repair follicle damage the walk from our wind blown house wreaks on my unruly tresses.

And if you’re cringing over that addition gentlemen?

Viola!

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I also added a plant.

Granted, it’s a just small succulent…. but I believe my eventual takeover of the premises is progressing quite nicely.

😈

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The end might be in sight.

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No, not my marriage. Though after the year long storage barn to man cave extraordinaire remodel you’d be well within your rights to think that.

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No, I’m speaking of the actual bar construction . The interior has been walled in….

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And after being given 2 coats of stain and 2 coats of polyurethane… the top is looking pretty spiffy.  (Our contractor elf says he wants 3 more coats of poly and sanding just to be safe.)

So the next question was, what to do with the inside walls. Stain? Paint? Leave bare? We love the black accents scattered throughout the room so we gave black a moment’s thought…. and held up a black sheet to get a visual.

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But the way the bar is laid out, you’d only see a small portion of black as you walked in the door, so it didn’t balance.

And with that much stain on the bar, I just couldn’t see trying to match it. So for now we’re leaving it bare.

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And besides, the mini fridge will be in there.

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Here? The husband’s choice.

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There?  My preferred spot.

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But most likely here.

Because after he settled it in that corner? He informed me his next purchase will be a kegerator… which will be placed right in the middle.

(Remember when I said I wasn’t talking about the end of my marriage being in sight?

I may need to rethink that.)

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I should have known it was coming.

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He already bought the big screen tv.

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And the microwave and the coffee maker.

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He bought the full size refrigerator and is building a bar.

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So is it any surprise he made me go shopping for a mini beverage fridge to put behind that bar the other day?

No. It is not.

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Things got quickly out of hand when he was looking at these….

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At $1,200 per unit.

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But I managed to reign him in and only come home with the one on the left… which, while not a total victory? Was still something to celebrate.

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Oh no, not again.

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I walked into the barn this morning to find my husband working on a template.

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And yes, I cringed.

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Having finished one side of the strapping on the ceiling and running out of that particular wood, he decided it was time to trim the windows.

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And while I applauded the fact he was actually going to corner them properly, I knew it wouldn’t be smooth sailing.

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One day.

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One entire day to frame two windows … because he added quarter round.

Why did he add quarter round you ask?

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Because when he first built this barn to be a… you know, barn? …there were giant gaps around the windows and nothing was air tight. Who was going to complain…. the lawn mowers?

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But now that’s it morphed into a palatial man cave, gaps must be sealed.

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And live ordinance moved.

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Framing on the outside, quarter round on the inside, and extra quarter round on the top corners…. all because he didn’t install the windows correctly the first time.

Jesus wept.

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But two windows were framed…

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And the giant bullet is back home.

To be continued…. unfortunately.

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I’m seeing red.

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No, the husband hasn’t bought the contents of that abandoned Victorian up the road….

I mean this kind of red.

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Weeee!

Our first glimpse of what poppa barn will look like when finished.

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The trim will be added after.

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And there’s a lot of it to add.

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But I’m excited to see him finally sporting some color.

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I think baby barn agrees.

The search for perfection.

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So now the husband wants to add floor moulding in his big barn… and you know what that means.

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An entire afternoon picking through more wood than I thought humanly possible.

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Granted, even I would reject that baby.

But come on…..

If he would take half as much time installing it as he does picking it out I might not mind. But nothing is going to be perfectly cornered or angled or mitered so why bother!

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Our afternoon trip ended here.

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With the moon rising and me refusing to cook the pork roast dinner I had planned.

You want perfect wood? You have to pay the piper.

Or in this case, the pizza place.

Another round if you please.

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Sadly I’m not talking about my kind of round… the one that involves limes and tequila.

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The insulation, ceiling and lights were finished in the big barn project. And silly me…. I thought that meant we were done.

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But upon further deliberation, the husband decided he want to put quarter round moulding all around the top of the walls for a more finished look.

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And while I’m never one to argue with finish work…

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With the husband, things don’t always go as planned.

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Yes, he’s holding  a bottle of glue.

And no, you don’t want to know why.

He even put moulding on top of the steel beam.

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And got me up on the ladder to hold it in place, which wasn’t exactly where it should have been.

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The 327lb prized antique potato planter was moved a few hundred times, because, you know… they’re never where you want them.

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Do we plant potatoes?   No. We never have, and never will.

Enough said.

And while we’re at the porch door…

Kindly look up.

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There… see it?

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That.

A section of plywood ceiling that clearly has writing on it.

Why?

Because the husband says he didn’t notice it and refuses to undo everything to flip it over.

Finish work does not always look finished around here.

😰